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Castleknock travelled to Drogheda for an Ita Farrell Q/F fixture to play unbeaten Drogheda Marsh hoping to put their indifferent league form behind them. The Boys knew the Cup was their best chance of silverware this season and approached the game in a determined mood. The task would be all the more difficult on a pitch that resembled a farmers field – small, uncut, uneven and with a big slope not to mention a howling wind.
Winning the toss Castleknock chose to play “uphill” into the strong wind. Drogheda’s tactics were simple – long balls over the top but Castleknock dealt with the early onslaught, thanks to assured defending by Daniel Hughes, Adam Radaman, Omar Emara and Narcis Catre, limiting Drogheda to one shot that went high and wide. Celtic were buzzing with fit again Rob Laffey and Sean Costello imperious in centre midfield while there were strong performances all over the pitch in a dominant first half none more so than Luke Mulcahy on the left where he was showing how good he can be with a display that was quality to say the least while Liam O’ Neill was at his liveliest in weeks as he created mayhem up front.
Unfortunately Celtic’s dominance did not result in the goals their play deserved thanks to a very strong Drogheda defence and when that was breached they had a very competent and capable keeper. Disaster struck for Celtic with 12 minutes of the half remaining when a long Drogheda clearance fell to Radaman who unchallenged slipped on the difficult pitch allowing the Drogheda striker in for a simple finish. This was totally against the run of play but no blame should be attributed to Radaman who was beaten by the poor quality pitch not the striker. 1-0 and of course this lifted Drogheda and frustrated Celtic in equal measure resulting in Drogheda doubling their lead minutes later. This time there was uncertainty at the back leaving the striker unmarked to shoot past keeper, James Igoe. Despite these setbacks Celtic regrouped and finished the half in the ascendancy. HT: 2-0
At half time the Coaches asked the question “Do you believe you can win this game?” and the answer was an emphatic “Yes”. Unfortunately Drogheda thought so too as they sought to frustrate Celtic by packing their defence and some unfortunate time wasting tactics none more evident than the sight of a player opening his laces and then asking the Ref to wait while he re-tied them. The constant time delays which the Referee did little to stop saw Celtic lose their rhythm and they allowed themselves to become frustrated and the more they they complained about the injustices the more they seemed to be penalised for what would normally be deemed fair challenges.
With 20 minutes left and the score still 2-0 the Coaches made changes with a clear instruction – keep the ball on the floor. The Boys listened and once again began to dominate. There was a strong feeling that if Celtic scored one they would score three. Regan and O’ Neill both came close and Daire Walsh tested the keeper from distance. Then at the far post Regan and Emara just failed to get the final touch to an excellent Hughes free kick. With 4 minutes left Celtic finally got their reward when following good build up play Regan released Laffey on the right who from a tight angle placed the ball into the corner. 2-1. With 4 minutes left and at least 4 minutes of stoppage time to go there was still plenty of time. Minutes later the sides were nearly level when a shot just edged wide. Then inexplicably with just two minutes of normal time to go the Referee blew the final whistle. FT: 2-1
A heartbreaking defeat for Celtic who dominated possession but credit to Drogheda too for their hard and defensive display. Drogheda got the fright of their lives and won’t play much tougher opposition this season than this Celtic team who gave their all. Their was nothing the Coaches could say at the end other than that the Boys should take great pride in their display. It would be unjust not to mention the Man of the Match performance of Sean Costello who showed , when he applies himself, what a quality player he can be. The potential is there to play at a high level and on the day it was a pleasure to watch his courageous, never say die and technically gifted performance.
