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The new look Castleknock U17’s claimed theirs and the Clubs first Silverware of the season after a nail biting final win over Swords Celtic. The Cup is a Memorial Cup named in honour of the late James O’Reilly who passed away suddenly in 2012. The competition was hosted by James’s club Navan Road United and it turned out to be a wonderful day of sport.
Castleknock qualified for the final having finished with wins over Ballymun Utd (3-2) and Navan Road Utd (3-0) thanks to goals from Narcis Catre (2), Alex Regan, Luke Mulcahy, James Davy and Cian Galvin. Their opponents in the final were Swords Celtic who qualified by virtue of an exciting penalty shootout win over Dunshaughlin Youths.
Castleknock started the brighter and were two up within 10 minutes – Regan doing what he does best, finishing clinically, and Galvin , who showed incredible awareness, with an audacious first time shot from fully 45 yards that caught the Swords keepers off his line. 2-0 and Castleknock were in cruise control. The only surprise was that it remained 2-0 at half time.
The second half saw Castleknock continued with their passing play and swift movement forcing Swords into conceding a lot of frees. However credit to Swords who stuck to their task and with Castleknock tiring on a long day for all the teams started to create chances. Castleknock’s keeper Eoin Farnham made a good save with 5 minutes left before Swords scored a consolation goal in the final minute. FT: 2-1
There were wild celebrations from players and supporters alike and the applause for the Castleklnock team at the presentaion was well deserved not just for the win but the manner of it playing arguably the best football of their young careers along the way.
The Coaches could not have been prouder of their charges. Having had a difficult pre-season the Boys have worked hard and got their just desserts to-day. There were some star performances all over the pitch – Sean Costello was coolness personified in defence while Rob Laffey was a giant in the middle of the park. Up front Liam O’ Neill looked sharp and was unlucky to have had an excellent goal ruled out for some unseen infringement elsewhere. Out wide Narcis Catre and Daniel Hughes, in an unaccustomed attacking position, were impressive while new boys Eoin Devlin, James Davy and Gavin Keane showed that they are here to take the team to a new level.
There will be a long road ahead in the league this season and there are some top teams in the NDSL but this win will have boosted confidence levels, none more than with Captain and Player of the Tournament Alex Regan who told his team mates “ This is great but it’s only the start. I want more”. Watch this space.
Finally a special thanks to our hosts Navan Road Utd for both the invite and the organisation involved in the James O’ Reilly Memorial Cup and all concerned should take great pride in their efforts.
