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Celtic went down fighting in Porterstown against Dalkey Utd. It is no exaggeration to say that the home side threw everything but the kitchen sink at Dalkey but their goalkeeper was in inspired form and he kept Celtic at bay until late in the second half.
Dalkey had taken an early lead after 4 minutes when they outfoxed the Celtic defence. On 12 minutes they doubled their advantage with another strike. All the while, Celtic were creating chances but the visiting shot stopper was equal to the challenge. Marcus Clinton, James Cremin and Dawid Nycz all tested the keeper as the shots rained in.
The second half was more of the same with Dalkey’s no.1 continuing unbeaten. Rhys McLoughlin was having his best game in a Hoops shirt, up and down the park from box to box, with plenty of tackling and distributing in equal measure. Joe Martin and Kenan Tutundzic alternated with Oliver Moore and Kevin Balaban in the full back roles. Seb Balaban worked hard in the middle and at the back when required. In goal, Niall Maloney put in another fine performance and had no chance of stopping the 2 goals.
Late on in the game, James was through one on one with the keeper, but the goal minder was quickly off his line to block the Celtic striker. A couple of minutes later, Celtic got their reward for the monumental efforts. There was a beautiful piece of combination play in the middle of the park that saw Marcus and Dawid exchange passes before Dawid finished sublimely with the perfect shot past the diving Dalkey keeper. 1-2 with minutes remaining. There was some injury time, but it ran out in the end and Celtic were left pointless despite a huge effort. Every one of the team had performed magnificently, and on another day, they would have won with goals to spare, but the Dalkey keeper must have done a stack of novenas as he stopped everything bar Dawid’s rocket - yes we have our very own rocketman in Castleknock Celtic. Well done lads, you showed there is great spirit in the team, and see you Monday at 6pm as usual. A final word for the most invisible man on the park who was the referee, which is always a good sign for the man in the middle - well done Liam.
