- OUR PARTNERS
It was the first day back after school holidays and what a feast of excitement the spectators of Castleknock and Harolds Cross were treated to in Rosary Park. No rustiness following their pre-season preparatory training under Stephen and Dre.
The game was just 2 minutes old when Sean Odusole struck his first of the day when he latched onto the ball in the penalty box and it was 1--0. The Cross striker hit back to level things soon after, and we knew we were in for a cracker. Sean's next effort shaved the angle of bar and post. He was on the mark soon after when he tapped in from close range to make himself a candidate for a hat-trick. They could have gone further ahead when Bogdan Rusu went close - he was having a terrific game in the middle of the park. Triain Rebegea was next to shine with his trickery before his effort was only kept out by a fabulous save from the Cross keeper. It wasn't long though before Francis Uy, who was producing some dazzling runs on the wing, broke through the middle, following a pass from the industrious Gavin Cameron. Francis struck the ball hard and true and it bulged the net. The hosts were back to 2-4 which kept them in touch after Celtic looked like they would run amok. The game swung from end to end, and it was only after 2 tremendous interventions by Gavin that Celtic went in 4-2 ahead at half time.
As appropriate, 4 new men were introduced at half time for Celtic. It did not stop Celtic stretching their lead, when Kacem Touihri slipped the ball to Callum Lynch, who was now on the left wing. He struck a beautifully sweet shot into the far corner of the net from an impossible position. 5-2 and they must have thought it was all over. Not a bit of it. John Pereira hit a looping shot over the defence which came back off the cross bar. Harolds Cross raced forward however and it was 5-3. Nervousness started to creep into the Celtic team, and it was only due to magnificent defending by Robert Best, who was having an inspired morning, that they were kept out. They did make it 5-4 when a corner kick bounced up and off a Celtic defender into the net. Triain had taken over goalkeeping duties in the second half, and he made a spectacular save to prevent a Cross goal. At the other end Olti Berisha was making some threatening runs, with Luca Ursache menacing on the right. Sean Odusole had returned to the fray and was giving his usual 100 per cent no-nonsense performance, putting in a powerful shift. He was introduced to try and help to keep out the hosts, but he broke forward on one occasion to go within a whisker of completing his hat trick, only to be denied by a diving save. The final chance for Celtic fell to Olti who got the ball and smashed it off the cross bar and over the line for what was believed to be the insurance goal, but alas the ref waved play on, thinking that the whole of the ball hadn't crossed the line - shades of the 1966 World Cup Final all over again. And, as luck would have it, the hosts who must have been saying their prayers, broke free and into the Celtic box to shoot home the equaliser. Incredible stuff altogether.
A great game played in a very competitive but fair spirit, and the sportsmanship was evident at the end as they shook hands to say 'well done' to each other. Yes indeed well done to both sets of players, and it's back to training on Monday at 6.30 in Porterstown Park.
