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Naomh Padraig Celtic 2, Doddervale 3 (Players Report)

1.Joe Doyle, 2.David Donavan, 3.Peter Doyle, 4.Kieran Carey, 5.Keith Berrigan

6.Nigel Brothers, 7.Darren O'Flaherty, 8.James O'Rielly, 9.Liam Nugent, 10.Fran Fortune

11.Seamus Powell. Subs: Noel Flannery ( Seamus Powell 45 mins).

Sunday morning started off with a poor turn out yet again. Despite some words at Training last Thursday certain Team members let the side down. However we approached the match in an upbeat mood. Ciaran Burke was unable to play due to injury so Joe Doyle returned between the sticks. Noel was a notable absentee at the start but made it down for the second half. Seamus Powell got a chance to prove himself up front with another start.

We got a good warm up prior to the match and everyone was positive about the game. The game kicked off 15minutes late. Celtic struggled at the start with an unfamiliar look to the defence. Noel missing from his regular centre half position seemed to cause an uneasiness. We were to go a goal up early on when their keeper was unable to hold on to a venomous shot from Liam Nuggent. The lead was to be short lived. They broke down the right flank with a good move and took an early shot which evaded JoeDoyle.

The game was fairly tight, but Doddervale were to take the lead before the end of the half. Celtic's defenders had pushed forward for a corner,the keeper kicked the ball out early and caught the defence offguard.The striker ran through the centre despite two attempted tackles and slotted the ball past the keeper into the far corner.

The second half started off well with Noel Flannery coming on for Seamus Powell and taking up his usual role in the centre of defence.The game seemed to go to and fro for a while, but then during an extended period of pressure from the opposition they were to go 2 goals into the lead. Despite a good save from Joe Doyle the ball came back out and they were quickest to react. We kept trying to get something from the game and the persistence seemed to be paying off when Liam Nugent excellently chipped their keeper to score a great goal. But time ran out and Celtic were to lose yet another game.

Despite some recent good performances Celtic seem unable to get out of the rut of losing. There was some good performance from Fran, David, Liam and Keith, but some seemed to lack conviction.

1.Ciaran Burke, 2.David Donavan, 3.Peter Doyle, 4.Noel Flannery, 5.Keith Berrigan,

6.Nigel Brothers, 7.Joe Doyle, 8.James O'Reily, 9.Liam Nuggent, 10.Fran Fortune,

Sunday morning started off badly for Naomh Padraig as a disappointing turnout left them with the bare 11.It was a bright sunny morning. Ideal for a match. Ciaran Burke started in goals as recent regular goalkeeper Joe Doyle felt he needed a change. He was to get his chance to prove himself outfield as he got the nod for the leftside of midfield.

We began the match with a 4-4-2 formation with Seamus Powell getting his first start partnering Liam Nuggent up front. We started the game brightly and had a lot of early possession but conceded a goal about half way through the first half due to a defensive mix up. The heads went down at this stage, as losing has almost become inevitable at this stage.But we picked ourselves up and continued to create some good openings.Just before half time we got what we deserved when we equalised through a well taken shot from Nigel Brothers.

Early in the second half Barn got a free kick just outside the box when Peter Doyle was harshly judged to have handled the ball when charging down the shot. This was one of many strange decisions from the Referee on the day. Unfortunately from the free kick Barn were to go one ahead again. Shortly after that Noamh Padraig were to find themselves another goal down when Barn broke through while the defence was out of position.

This seemed to inspire Celtic as they created chance after chance. Joe Doyle did well to put himself in some excellent positions, but unfortunately was unable to do the business in front of goal, Fran Fortune had a goal disallowed for a questionable offside decision but eventually the pressure paid off when Liam Nuggent scored an excellent goal. This excellent resurgence was to be spoilt shortly afterwards when what would be a normal bread and butter clearance for Noel Flannery spun off his foot and went goalwards. Although Ciaran Burke got a hand to it the spin caught him out and it fell agonisingly into the goal.

Celtic tried to pick themselves back up, but with time running out Barn managed to score a very late goal, although it has to be said their scoring player was blatantly offside. On refection it was a game that Celtic should have won as they created far more chances than the opposition. But football is a cruel game and if you don't take your chances you only have yourselves to blame. Yet again there were some good performances by the whole Celtic team, but especially from Liam Nuggent, Fran Fortune and David Donavan.

1. Joe Doyle , 2. David Donavan, 3. Peter Doyle , 4. Noel Flannery, 5. Ciaran Burke,

6. Nigel Brothers, 7. Kieran Carey, 8. Fran Fortune, 9. Liam Nugent, 10. James O'Reilly,

11. Darren O'Flaherty. Subs: 12. Keith Berrigan (Ciaran Burke 45mins), 13. Seamus Powell .

The most noteable absentee from the Celtic starting line-up for the St. Johns game was centre-half, Keith Berrigan. Keith was the only one to be caught out by the clocks going forward on Saturday night, so it was Ciaran Burke who got the nod to partner Noel Flannery at the heart of the Celtic defence.

Celtic started the game the brighter but couldn't turn possession into goals. It was St.Johns who got on the score sheet first when they beat the off-side trap to open the scoring. Their second was down to a defensive error to put them 2-0 in front.

Celtic pulled one back just after half-time when a corner from Nigel Brothers was finished well by Kieran Carey. With Naomh Padraig still having trouble finding a goalkeeper this season, St.Johns hit back almost immediately after a terrible error to restore their 2 goal advantage. When St. Johns went 4-1 ahead Celtic enjoyed the last 30 minutes of total possession. Fran Fortune cut St. Johns lead back to 2 goals and Brothers went up to partner Liam Nugent in a 4-4-2 formation.

Although Brothers went close on two separate occasions, Celtic couldn't make the possession count. For Celtic, the performance of the side was the most important thing at the end of the game, most notably that of David Donavan, James O'Reilly, Liam Nugent, Fran Fortune and Kieran Carey.

1. Joe Doyle, 2. David Donovan, 3. Peter Doyle, 4. Noel Flannery, 5.Keith Berrigan,

6. Nigel Brothers, 7. Fran Fortune, 8. James O'Reilly, 9. Liam Nugent ,10. Darren O'Flaherty,

Naomh Padraig Celtic went into this game on the back of a very disappointing 2-0 defeat by Red Star Cabra. Bath Rangers, currently in second place in the league having dropped just three points this season, were always going to be very tough opposition. Naomh Padraig Celtic welcomed back leading goalscorer Liam Nugent and he didn't disappoint.

With just seven minutes on the clock Naomh Padraig took a shock lead when a high clearance from Keith Berrigan was met brilliantly by Nugent who ran on to calmly slot home from ten yards. Bath Rangers were left shell-shocked after this but failed to find a way past the Celtic rearguard despite a lot of pressure. It was only after a poor clearance that Bath Rangers got back into the game. This was short lived however, as moment's later Darren O'Flaherty was ajudged to have been fouled in the penalty area and Noel Flannery stepped up to score from the spot. Bath Rangers frustration showed minutes later when David Donovan was released down the right wing only to be sent sprawling by a vicious challenge from a Bath Rangers player. The Referee had no choice but to send him off. The half-time score saw Bath Rangers trail Naomh Padraig Celtic by 2 goals to 1.

In the second half, Naomh Padraig were forced to make changes with Abdullah Benn replacing the injured Kieran Carey. Naomh Padraig could not make the extra man count and Bath Rangers equalised. This seemed to knock the fight out of Celtic. Two more sloppy goals were conceded and Bath eventually ran out 4-2 winners although we felt we deserved more from this game. We will certainly welcome Bath Rangers to our home patch, were, with our growing confidence, we believe we can give any side a run for their money.

6.Nigel Brothers,7. Kieran Carey, 8.Abdullah Benn, 9.James O'Rielly, 10. Francis Fortune,

11.Darren O'Flaherty . Subs: 12.Noel Flannery ( James O'Rielly 65mins), 13. Seamus Powell

This was a much improved performance from Naomh Padraig Celtic following disastrous results in recent games. It was our first game for three weeks and as we started brightly we were hit with a super strike from Red Star. Goalkeeper Joe Doyle, although he did get a touch, was helpless to stop the venomous strike. Minutes later, Doyle pulled off a superb point blank save to prevent Red Star taking a two goal lead. Although we felt we deserved more from a spirited first half we went into the interval trailing by a goal.

After some encouraging words from stand-in captain Francis Fortune at half time we felt we could win the game. Our best chances fell to Nigel Brothers and Noel Flannery, playing in an unfamiliar forward role after replacing James O'Rielly mid-way through the second half. Indeed Flannery almost scored with his first touch, only to see the goalkeeper save superbly to his left. Then we conceded our sloppy trade mark goal. With some slack marking there could only be one outcome. The ball was crossed in from the left wing and headed downward by the Red Star attacker just inside Doyle's left post. After the goal we changed from a 4-5-1 formation to a 4-4-2. We played some decent football but ran out of time. We must now build on this result an look with some confidence to next weeks game.

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