- OUR PARTNERS
Celtic quality display not enough to deny Whitechurch
After last weeks poor performance against second place St Mochtas the last thing the Celtic Coaches needed was a trip to table toping Whitechurch. Still if there’s one thing you can say about this group of Castleknock 10 year olds is that they are predictably unpredictable and the question on everyones lips was which version of the “Crazy Gang” would turn up on Saturday.
On a poor playing surface it was Celtic who started the stronger as they took the game to Whitechurch. With Ivan Hristov, Andre Ungareanu and Esse Okirikpo winning the midfield battle chances were being created with Caitlin Labont coming closest in a frantic first 10 minutes. However Whitechurch are not top of the table for nothing and there quality soon became clear as they scored twice in quick succession albeit against the run of play. 2-0.
Their followed a difficult period where Whitechurch were on top with their No 10 and No 6 in midfield showing their quality. Thankfully due mainly to the trojan efforts of James Brown and Ryan “Maccer” Mc Gregor the deficit remained at two.
Midway through the half re-inforcements in the shape of Ryan Sherlock, Luke Hughes and Ben Forde. The fresh legs made a difference – with “Stevie G” Forde orchestrating in midfield and releasing the Wide Boys (aka Luke and Esse) at every opportunity the goals would surely come. And come they did.
“Maccer” played the ball forward to Ivan who sprayed the ball wide to Luke. Luke took it to his right past the defender and just as it appeared he may have delayed his shot too long he powered the ball home into the left hand corner. 2-1. GAME ON. Minutes later Esse drilled home the equaliser following good work from “Stevie G” and Luke . 2-2 and it was all Castleknock. However on the strike of half time against the run of play Whitechurch broke and scored a good goal. HT: 3-2.
Still shellshocked from conceding the goal at half time the Celts were further knocked back when within a minute of the restart Whitechurch went 4-2 up. This was decision time for the Celts – lay down or fight. It’s at times like this that footballers are made and today the Celtic lads stood tall as they set about their task. The re-introduced Ivan and Andre had a spring in their steps. Celtic were on top – Ryan and Maccer were in control at the back releasing Luke and Andre at every opportunity. Andre was playing the game of his life and on another day could have had a hat-trick and would have were it not for the heroics of the Whitechurch No 1. Having all the play Celtic finally thought they had scored the goal their play deserved only for the Ref to indicate “play on” as he could not see if the ball had fully crossed the line. Cruel luck for the Celts but as we know the Ref has to be sure.
To their credit Celtic continued to push but cruel luck and quality Whitechurch defending kept the scoreline unchanged. With literally the last kick of the game Celtic conceded following a defensive error that allowed Whitechurch a fifth which put an unjust complexion on the scoreline. FT: 5-2
Let us first of all applaud Whitechurch – they are good, they are very good and their midfielders are some of the best in the business. They play good football and will challenge the very best. Their lofty league position is warranted. But let us all be clear, on the day Celtic played the better football and were the better team. This was their performance of the season and it warranted more. Whitechurch, despite all their quality, did a snatch and grab a la Dick Turpin. Essentially the team that finished the best won the day. But to play your best against the best is commendable and all 10 lads should be proud of themselves. As the Coaches keep saying to the Boys “it’s not about the scoreline it’s about performances and development”. Keep this up and the Boys will be just fine. All 10 gave their all but special mention to “Maccer” who played arguably his best game for the Club. All in all a big improvement so keep it up lads - a bright future awaits.
