Thanks to an unbeaten run that goes back to early October with 5 league wins in the meantime, the 17A’s were confident as they welcomed Premier Division opposition to Porterstown for this Mary Farrell Cup fixture.

Ashbourne can boast a number of NDSL Academy players in their squad, some of whom have attracted the attention of scouts from the English Football League, and for lengthy periods of the game they dominated possession.  However, Celtic battled for 90 minutes and with just 6 minutes remaining, Aidan Sampson was on hand to finish off an excellent move started by Cian Kelly who broke down the right wing, beat 3 Ashbourne players before crossing the ball into the penalty area.

With just a minute remaining, Cory Power was fouled in the penalty area.  Aidan Sampson made no mistake with the resulting penalty to make the final score 2-0 to Celtic.

Overall, this wasn’t the best performance from the 17A’s.  The game was very cagey, with neither side able stamp their authority. Ashbourne despite having the majority of the possession only had a handful of chances on target, all of which were dealt with by keeper Luke Kearney.  Celtic for their part, weren’t able to put together the passing moves which have become a feature of their game this season.

However, they are into the quarter final of this prestigious competition. In the meantime it’s back to league next week where Celtic are very much in the hunt for promotion in what has become a battle of four for 2 automatic spots.