- OUR PARTNERS
Hard working Kevins break Celtic hearts”
The scene was set - a sunny spring morning, a pitch at Shanowen Road that was immaculate having just the previous week hosted the Academy Cup with the cream of Spanish, Portuguese, Scottish, English and Irish football displaying their silky skills. This week the hosts, St Kevins Boys, welcomed Castleknock Celtic FC in the semi-final of the Jimmy Flood Cup. Could the Celts once again box above their weight and deliver a knockout blow to one of the great powerhouses of Irish football? The young Celts have enjoyed a wonderful season in the League and All Ireland Cup competitions and all they needed was one more gutsy performance to reach what would be a deserved Cup final.
With Dylan joined on the side-lines by Alex San Emeterio Celtic were down to 12 players and preparations were not helped by the arrival with only minutes to go of key defender Franc Ajunomah. St Kevins started the stronger but even their side-line was shocked when the Referee awarded a penalty after 5 minutes which was duly despatched by the Kevins striker, Dwayne. 1-0. Minutes later it was two. Celtic were penalised for an alleged tackle on the Kevins player on the half way line despite a blatant dive by the home player. From the resulting free kick the Castleknock defender headed back towards the Celtic goal for the grateful Dwayne to score his and his team's second. 2-0. Kevins tails were up and persisted with their game plan – FIND DWAYNE and it was only resolute defending by Alex Doyle and Matthew Elliott that kept the deficit at only two. As the half wore on Celtic worked their way into the game with Ciaran Collins in particular, on the left, seeing plenty of the ball. However despite being in the ascendency Celtic failed to trouble the Kevin's keeper. HT: 2-0
The half time talk was simple – “Lads, you have to work your way into this game. Score first and you will win”. Kevin's game plan remained the same - FIND DWAYNE but this half Franc had the measure of his man and with Matthew looking assured at the back, keeper, Tommy Bowe was a relative spectator. This provided the platform for Celtic to dominate possession. Mark Hughes and Antonio Neto were seeing a lot of the ball but the Kevins defence were soaking up every through ball. Chances came – Ciaran, following a dazzling mazy run, saw his shot from 25 yards just graze the cross bar. Minutes later good play by Aaron Rice saw him feed the ball to Leigh Reilly who whipped in a cross that Kian Ryan, who had made a great run, just failed to connect from 4 yards out. Shortly after Ciaran was fouled on the left. 35 yards out near the left touch line – no danger or so we thought. Mark’s curling kick beat the keeper hit the underside of the bar and bounced back across the goal off the far post. Cruel luck. Then Aaron hit a terrific shot from 25 yards that the Kevins keeper did well to palm away. It just wasn’t Celtic’s day. The final nail was put in the Celtic coffin with three minutes left. Kevins took a quick corner and the ball was played into the box where, following a miscued clearance, the ball fell to the Kevins midfielder who touched the ball home. FT: 0-3.
Well done to St Kevins and best of luck to them in the final. They wanted it more, worked the harder and deserved their victory. Are they a better footballing team than Castleknock? Absolutely not and that’s the disappointing thing from Celtic’s point of view. Despite enjoying more possession the Celts just didn’t play to their potential. This year the Boys have at times dazzled us and have set their own high standards but today they fell short of those high standards.
A final thanks to our hosts, St Kevins, whose Coaches acknowledged it was never a 3-0 game and complimented the lads with “see you in the Major next year”. We shall see. The Castleknock Coaches do not demand results they demand performances because it has been performances that have made this group of players, on their day, an excellent team. The Cup dream is over but there are more adventures to look forward to – 4 of them this season!!!. C'mon the Celts.
