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On a sunny autumn morning the Castleknock welcomed St Josephs Boys to Porterstown in what was an early season top of the table clash. Despite a strong start to the season Celtic had looked a little fragile of late and against a team of St Josephs’s class that any lapses would be severely punished.
From the off Joeys showed that they meant business – firm tackles and crisp passing was the order of the day. Early on the visitors were denied the lead when Tomas Bowe made a fine double save. It was Celtic who then nearly took the lead when some fine play led to John Kane lifting the ball over the Joeys defence to Leigh Reilly who took the ball down well before seeing his shot well saved by the Joeys No 1. Minutes later Mark Hughes came close with a long range free kick which was saved well by the confident Joeys keeper.
Even though Celtic were enjoying good possession the Josephs defence always looked comfortable and as the half wore on gained the upper hand once again. It was therefore no surprise when with 5 minutes of the half remaining Joeys took the lead when the right winger pulled the ball back to the unmarked striker who finished with a well placed shot. HT 1-0.
The second half was a bit like the first with Joeys always looking in control despite conceding a lot of possession. Unfortunately Celtic were out of sorts and could not get their passing game going although credit to Joeys for their good organisation and strong tackling. The game was effectively over as a contest in a 2 minute spell 5 minutes into the half with Celtic conceding two soft goals following lapses in concentration in defence. 3 -0 and one feared the worst and it wasn’t long before it was 4-0 . All this and still 22 minutes to go.
Kian Ryan came on as Celtic went 2-4-2 and the combination of fresh legs and a new attacking formation saw Celtic start to play. The move of the game came from Celtic when Ciaran Collins floated a lovely ball to Ryan who drifted right before playing a lovely ball that Reilly was inches away from finishing. Castleknock finally clawed a goal back when the hard working Dylan Mc Donagh hit a right footed piledriver into right hand corner. With confidence growing Celtic were beginning to win 50/50 balls with Hughes and Mc Donagh was winning tackles that they could not get close enough to make in the first half. Chances came and Reilly and Ryan will feel unlucky not to have got on the score sheet.
A strong finish but there was no doubting the better team as St Josesphs Boys proved they are a major force in this division. It wasn’t the defeat but the manner of it that will have disappointed the Coaches as in truth Celtic looked flat and just never got going. A lot will have been learned to-day by both players and coaches. Still it’s early in the season and despite this set back it has been a good start by the Boys. It is a team that’s learning their trade and despite being well beaten the boys will not fear playing St Josephs again.
