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On a fine bright morning, Celtic played their first home game of the season against Lucan Utd. Celtic started brightly and completely dominated the early exchanges. Sean Balogun was creating chances down the right flank and a number of quality deliveries into the Lucan penalty area by Alex Murphy and corner kicks from Eoghan Kearney should have been converted in to goals but Castleknock failed to take advantage. Thomas Balogun and Leon G looked dangerous every time they received the ball. However Lucan started to get a foothold in the game and a corner kick for Lucan was not dealt with properly and Lucan opened their account with a first goal.
Castleknock responded immediately from the kickoff and some excellent play down the left wing involving Eoghan Kearney and David Jolley resulted in a first chance for Leon Girigan which he cooly stroked into the Lucan net. Two goals in two weeks for Leon.
Lucan were applying more pressure now, but Dylan Dwyer in goal made a couple of key saves to keep Castleknock in the game, under a lot of physical pressure. His ability is matched by his courage. However, Lucan scored once again from another set piece, a free kick which bounced around the Castleknock penalty area before being converted by Lucan. Alex Murphy was completely dominating his opposite number and the distribution from Sebastian McMahon in defence was back to his sublime best. His partner Aaron Lynch also made a number of key interceptions for Castleknock but Lucan had some real pace on the right wing and disaster struck when they converted another chance to lead the game 3-1.
Castleknock refused to panic and continued to play football. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Robert Lynch scored a second goal for Castleknock after some excellent interplay with
Patrick Balogun on the right wing and Robert scored a deserved goal for Castleknock from a tight angle. Gareth Healy was now combining well with Thomas Balogun on the left wing. Shortly afterwards, Eoghan Kearney worked hard on the left flank to play a pass back in to the path of Robert Lynch who struck a stunning shot from over 20 yards out in to the top corner of the Lucan net. An early contender for goal of the season. It was now 3-3. Game on.
Castleknock were now pressing hard for the winner. Deep in to injury time Castleknock played another excellent ball up to Bode on the edge of the Lucan penalty area. Bode showed composure and a lovely deft touch and was certain to score the winner until he was chopped down by the advancing Lucan goalkeeper. A clear penalty. Robert Lynch stepped up and despite a very hostile environment, and under great pressure, he struck a superb penalty in to the Lucan net . A hat trick for Robert and a winning goal for Castleknock in the last minute of the game. The never-say-die spirit of Castleknock resulted in two wins in two games. Congratulations to every player in the squad.
