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Another home match for Castleknock Celtic with Richard Ogu captaining the side after his great performance last weekend. It was a hectic start with both teams looking to pass the ball. Finglas were sharper with their passing and started to get on top, putting Jesse and Gideon under pressure in defence. They held firm until some of Castleknock's passes started to go astray. Richard gave a captain's team talk before the match and told his team to A.I.M. - Action, Imagination and Move, but the players were a bit off target with some passes. This led to a first goal for Finglas, with Castleknock not reacting quickly enough to clear a ball. The midfielders Owen Boyle and Dylan Coyne were providing some neat skills in midfield and helping to work the ball up to Eoghan Smithers and Dylan Thompson upfront. However they could not stop the pressure from Finglas who had the wind at their back and playing downhill. It was not long before Finglas netted the second goal with the Castleknock players not closing down quickly enough. With Neil Kirtane taking up position in defence, Jesse had to give in to his headache and could not carry on any longer. Castleknock forced their way back into the game with strong runs by Gideon from defence. Dylan Thompson was crossing some great balls in but no players were on hand to finish with the keeper stranded. 2-0 at half time and some work to do.
The second half was much more even with Castleknock playing with the wind at their back and downhill, some good moves were resulting in more shots on target. Neil and Gideon were starting moves off, one move leading to Dylan Coyne volleying well but the keeper made a great save. However Finglas were quick to counter attack and two quick moves led to goals with clinical finishing; but the Finglas players were given too much time to shoot. With a quick word in the coaches' ear from an experienced head, some changes were made and these led to full on pressure from Castleknock. 4-0 down but suddenly if was all out defending by Finglas. Richard Ogu mixed up his distribution from the back, Owen Boyle and Dylan Coyne moved back and Gideon and Neil moved forward. 2-2-2 was the new formation and it led many chances for Castleknock. The pressure told and eventually led to as clear a penalty as you could get, Dylan Coyne taken down having started the move from defence. Up stepped Dylan Coyne to neatly drive the penalty low to the keeper's right. 4-1 but time was running out. Castleknock finished the stronger team but time ran out with Finglas the 4-1 winners.
The effort shown by all players was very impressive. Gideon Durojaiye wins man of the match for effort he put in today. He gets to pick the skill for training on Monday. Well done Gideon.
There will be a surprise in store for this team on Wednesday at training, so make sure you don't miss it.
