- OUR PARTNERS
Castleknock found wanting as Ratoath remain unbeaten”
Having put in some excellent performances of late Castleknock travelled to unbeaten league leaders with confidence. In what was always going to be a tight game Castleknock began well. However while enjoying good possession the Celts looked lacklustre off the ball – slow to react and slow to close down. This lethargy would cost Celtic early on. Ratoath won a free kick and amazingly Celtic failed to organise and from the resulting cross the Ratoath midfielder headed in unchallenged. Minutes later it appeared that no lessons had been learned as from a Ratoath corner the same player nearly doubled his and his teams tally when unmarked he forced a good save from Celtic keeper, Eoin Farnham.
Rob Laffey was introduced and thanks to his industry Celtic gradually re-gained dominance with Alex Regan in particular creating mayhem up front. A deserved equaliser duly came. Quick thinking at a corner from Peter Germaine and Regan resulted in a perfectly executed cross that saw Cian Galvin make a carefully placed header past the stranded Ratoath stopper. 1-1. Celtic continued to push but could not breakthrough the well organised Ratoath defence. HT: 1-1.
The pattern of the second half was similar to the first. Celtic with more possession but struggling to breakdown a hardworking Ratoath defence that always looked to counter quickly. Regan and Germain both came close but there was always a feeling that if Celtic did not make their dominance count they may come to rue the missed chances. And so it came to pass. Celtic conceded a free kick that, ironically in a passage of play where a Celtic player was clearly fouled but for some reason the Referee , not for the first time, chose not to punish the opposition. The innocent enough cross was unfortunately dropped by the Celtic keeper and although he recovered well the on running Ratotah striker appeared to kick the ball out of his hands into the net. NO GOAL but amazingly the Referee awarded a goal that was met with applause and laughter on the Ratoath side and by bewilderment on the Celtic line. 2-1.
There was 15 minutes left and still plenty of time to recover but a minute later Celtic, still smarting from the controversial decision, lost their discipline and Rob Laffey was sent off for a second bookable offence. What transpired was unacceptable as the Referee was berated by a couple of the Celtic players. To their credit the remaining 10 players regrouped but try as they did they could not find a way through the strong Ratoath defence. FT: 2-1.
From a footballing perspective Celtic did not deserved to lose but once again it was a case of Celtic beating themselves – not the opposition and not the Referee. In this column we have praised repeatedly the footballing quality and potential of this group but they must understand that discipline and self control is an important factor if they want success. Today certain players let down themselves, their team, their Coaches and their Club. Castleknock Celtic have high standards relating to conduct which can be seen week in week out with our teams but today the Club was betrayed by the comments of some of its players. This Team can succeed this year but control as much as talent will determine whether the Boys deliver.
