Super strike by Carroll boosts Celtic in 12A match against rivals Dunboyne

21/10/01 :  Castleknock Celtic  1  Dunboyne   0

To be honest, the scoreline does not reflect the supremacy of possession which Celtic enjoyed for long spells.  It was an impressive Michael Daly who controlled the midfield from the first whistle.  It was he who started off a fine move deep inside his own half which was to result in the winning goal. Daly fed the tenacious Phillip Germaine who danced by the Dunboyne defenders and pulled back a perfect pass to Carroll on the penalty spot who made no mistake with a first time shot into the top corner for a magnificent goal that Celtic fully deserved.  Celtic tried in vain to double their lead before half time but were to go in at half time with only one goal to show for their efforts as Dunboyne who didn’t offer much in the way of attack, but never gave an inch to their more skilful opponents. So at half time there was only a goal in it and the game was on a knife-edge, was Celtic’s failure to finish going to come back to haunt them?

Dunboyne came out committed as ever in the second half and put some pressure on the Celtic defence early in the half but to no avail as the impressive Cian Mc Caffrey kept his troops on top with some superbly timed tackles. Celtic got to grips with the game and marshalled by Daly in midfield and the electrifying pace of Carroll and Paul Sheridan down the flanks were causing all sorts of discomfort for the Dunboyne rearguard who couldn’t cope with the flurry of attack after attack. At 1-0 anything could happen and you sensed that a second was needed but it was not to be as Sheridan missed with a Ronny Rosenthal type effort with the goal at his mercy as his shot came off the bar and the follow up was scrambled away. Wave after wave of attack continued with Sheridan and Carroll twice having efforts stopped by the impressive Dunboyne keeper. As the tension mounted you could almost sense a dramatic twist was still on the cards as Dunboyne would not give in and Celtic just couldn’t find that killer goal to reflect their dominance. However it was not to be and the reigning champions Celtic held firm and got their title hopes back on track.  But they will need to be more clinical with their finishing if they want to repeat their success of two trophies out of three last season.