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Celtic have had a tough introduction to this division, and were finding it difficult to recapture the winning formula they had at the start of the season. Today they took on Dalkey who had also been going through difficult times. They both however stepped above the atrocious weather conditions and served up a feast of entertainment.
Celtic had a greater belief today following their intensive training session on Thursday and it was well-founded. Playing in a 4-4-2 formation, they were intent on giving it a real go. Ryan Brady and Ahmad Shah were Celtic's main strikers at the start and they threatened with every attack. Ryan was his usual battling self and looked like he could make the break-through whenever he got possession.
The central defenders, Sheto Raman and Danny Hanrahan, were a robust partnership in front of keeper Darius Harincar and gave the team a solid launch-pad to initiate attacks. Rashid Almowag and Myles McCague were almost impregnable in the full back positions. Karl Sampil on the wide left had his best game to date, as did Gentian Ramadani who never the gave the opposition a moment on the ball. Matthew Coughlan showed his skill on the wide right, and he put in an impressive shift as he patrolled the flank, from box to box. Inside Matthew, it was Ryan Shields who was creating opportunities feeding passes through.
Unsurprisingly, it was Ryan Brady who gave Celtic the lead midway through the first half. His power saw him get possession and he smashed his shot to the back of the net. The game swung from end to end, but there were no more goals in the first half.
Celtic continued to battle for every ball and it was heart-warming to see such endeavour, especially on a morning that only ducks relish. By this stage, a host of changes had been made, but it seemed to have little effect because they all were up for the contest. Artyom Averyanov had come into the left full slot, with Gareth Corpuz at left back. Devang came into the middle of the park, as did Angelo Harincar, and they showed lots of intensity in their play. Kamil Suchomski and Yusuf El Morsy were now supporting captain Ryan in the attack.
Dalkey did break into the Celtic box and took a sweet goal to level things in the third quarter, but it was only a temporary relief for them because, after he had been re-introduced, Gentian surged into the box and buried his shot past the helpless keeper, and the day was won.
Indeed a great win for the drowned hoops, but the team spirit was very evident after the game, as they all celebrated a fine victory, and they all look forward to another tough training session next Thursday in the NAC under Pat Reilly, to whom we are very grateful for the time he is giving up to help our development.
And by the way, no marks for guessing man of the match, yes indeed, Captain Courageous Ryan Brady who made sure everyone on the team gave their best endeavours today. Only pity today was that the cameras were not there to record the victory - unfortunately the cameraman had decided he didn't like the rain!!
