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Celtic travelled to Palmerstown hoping to continue their high goal-scoring feats of last week. Castleknock started brightly and the early omens were good with good crisp passing across the park. A series of early chances were spurned by Castleknock before the excellent David Jolley provided a great pass to release Robert Lynch who slotted the ball past the advancing Palmerstown keeper for the opening goal. Robert and Aaron Lynch were dominating midfield now and were cutting the Palmerstown defence apart with a succession of incisive passes through to the Castleknock forwards. However, despite creating a handful of excellent scoring opportunities, the Castleknock profligacy in front of goal was alarming as simple scoring chances were missed. However the creativity continued, and Bode Lisoka linked
up well with Aaron Lynch on the right wing and he provided a terrific cross to
Leon Girigan who stroked the ball home from a couple of yards out.
David Jolley and Bode Lisoka were having good games on both wings and released Leon Girigan and Ben Fleming for a series of further chances in front of goal but once again, some terrific goal scoring chances were missed. It looked like Castleknock would be made to pay for this profligacy soon afterwards when Palmerstown were awarded a free kick in a dangerous position outside the Castleknock penalty area. A terrific shot was well saved by Eoghan Kearney, who was our deputy goalkeeper for the day. However the rebound was snatched up by alert Palmerstown forwards for an easy goal. The half-time score was
only 2-1 to Castleknock when realistically, Castleknock should have had a 4 or 5 goal advantage.
Unfortunately the Castleknock profligacy in front of goal continued at the start of the second half, before the next goal came from a more direct route. Eoghan Kearney, playing in goal today, launched a terrific kick from his hands to Aaron Lynch in midfield who raced past the opposition midfield and defence before displaying great composure to beat the Palmerstown keeper with a cool finish. 3-1 to Castleknock. The Castleknock defence were in complete control with Sebastian McMahon and Alex Murphy as impressive as ever. They were ably assisted by both Sean Balogun and his brother Patrick who were keeping the Palmerstown forwards at bay. However a rare lapse allowed a quick Palmerstown breakaway, and they were awarded a penalty when their forward was brought down in the penalty area. A well taken penalty brought the score back to 3-2. Palmerstown were back in the game, despite
the Castleknock dominance.
Fortunately for Castleknock, (and their manager), the Castleknock forwards rediscovered their scoring boots and applied the killer blows to finish off this game. Gareth Healy, who was unlucky not to score in the first half, demonstrated terrific skill and passing to create another chance for the Castleknock forwards which they scored. Shortly afterwards, Leon Girigan used his terrific pace to beat the Palmerstown defence on the left wing and cross the ball to Thomas Balogun who stroked the ball home from 6 yards out. The final goal came after some terrific work down the right flank by Robert Lynch who beat several defenders before cutting inside and releasing one of his trademark spectacular shots with his left foot. The shot hit the underside of the crossbar, and bounced down and across the goal before Gareth Healy stepped up to volley the rebound in to the empty net. Castleknock finally ran out deserved 6-2 winners. Well done boys and compliments also to the parents who provided great encouragement for the team throughout the game
