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Clontarf 1 Castleknock Celtic 4
The 17A’s took to the pitch today knowing that a win would move them to the top of the table. Due to injuries and illness Castleknock travelled with just 12 fit players. The last time they travelled to this venue in early December, the game didn’t even start due to poor light. This morning, despite another delay, the match went ahead in glorious sunshine.
Castleknock skipper, David Hickey won the toss and elected to play uphill and against the breeze. For the first time this season, Celtic started with the same 11 as the previous week. Although Castleknock were in control with the majority of possession, Clontarf were first to score thanks to some very sloppy defending by Castleknock and they held the lead up to the break.
The restart saw Shane McDonagh in for Ciaran Buggy who was carrying a slight knock. Castleknock also adjusted formation to a 4-4-2 to add some additional firepower up front and take advantage of the hill and the breeze. It took some time for the moves to pay off, but when they did, they did so in spectacular fashion with 3 goals in a 5 minute spell, the best being a header from half time substitute, Shane McDonagh, scoring for the second week in a row. Castleknock made the game safe when Aidan Sampson scored his second and Castleknock's fourth.
Once again this was an excellent team performance with many fine performances, in particular Aidan Sampson with his 2 goals, David McCabe & Cian Kelly in midfield whilst captain, David Hickey & Tom Fitzsimons were excellent in defence. As always, goalkeeper Luke Kearney kept everyone alert.
