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It was indeed an exhilirating return to football for Celtic’s Under-10B’s who took on their good friends from Skerries Town in a challenge game in the Abbotstown all-weather pitch.
It was Skerries who started the brighter and looked the more likely, and they looked like they had gone ahead after 5 minutes when Tim Deering finished nicely but the ref adjudged that the ball had already gone out of play. Celtic were showing their battling qualities in keeping the scoresheet blank, with Aaron O’Reilly putting in a great shift with the number of tackles he made. It was against the run of play that Celtic made the breakthrough on 10 mins. Aidan Thom and Sean Hosford fought for possession, and Aidan’s shot on goal was deflected across the goal, where Ronan Wells, Dominick Odujebe and Calum Daly were ready to pounce. It was Calum who got the final touch for the first of his goals. 5 mins later, Calum got possession in the middle of the park and from 20 metres, he shot low and hard into the bottom corner out of the reach of the diving keeper. The match had been close and in fairness, the scoreline at half time flattered Celtic.
The second half saw Celtic again prove how dangerous they are. Ronan Wells had been enormous in the first half in defence, and now as a striker, he challenged for the ball before rifling home into the far corner. 3-0.
Skerries were shocked by this scoreline and responded with a goal of their own, possibly a contender for the goal of the match as the Skerries player, Harley Williams, weaved his way through the defence before slotting home. 3-1. Celtic themselves bounced back to restore their 3 goal advantage, when Calum Daly completed his hat-trick when the ball fell to him in the box before he rifled home from close range. 4-1. Skerries hit back with Tim Deering slotting home to make it 4-2. Ronan capped his excellent performance when he got possession on the edge of the box and shot home for his second. The spectators, thinking it was all over, were not surprised when Skerries got their reward for their fine play throughout the game. First Tim buried his penalty following a robust tackle by James Whooley in the Celtic goal on the Skerries striker. Skerries’ tails were up now, and they soon added their fourth with Harley finishing a nice move for his second. Only a goal between the sides, and it was all hands to the pump as wave after wave of attack came from Skerries. They had a number of chances which just missed the target or were brilliantly saved by James Whooley, for which he was given the man of the match award by the ref despite legitimate claims from hat-trick hero Calum Daly. A draw would perhaps have been a fair result, but football is a funny old game, as the man said.
Thank you lads for a fab morning’s entertainment which warmed us up on a bitterly cold but sunny day in Abbotstown. It certainly killed any lingering inertia after the Christmas pudding and trifle. 5-4
Castleknock Celtic: James Whooley, Dominick Odujebe, Sean Hosford, Aaron O'Reilly, Ronan Wells, Calum Daly, Aidan Thom.
Skerries Team: Niall Jordan McDermott, Tim Deering (2), Harley Williams(2), Joseph Delany, Tom Harrington, Adam Davidson & Ryan McGeehan
