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Despite last week's great performance, the Celts have struggled for consistency this season. Today they were seeking to protect their unbeaten home record against Carriglea Boys. If the match was anything like their last encounter, a 3-3 draw, then we were in for a thriller.
There was a late KO as Carriglea were delayed by traffic. The opposition only had 6 players and Andre Ungureanu showed great sportsmanship in lining out for the opposition. It was all Carriglea at the start and it was no surprise as it was they who struck first with a well taken goal. In truth Castleknock looked lethargic having been on the pitch for an hour previous may have been a contributing factor nobody could deny that Carriglea were deserving and Andre playing far too well for Castleknock's liking.
Carriglea came close to increasing their lead on two occasions but slowly but surely Celtic started getting into their stride with “Maccer” Mc Gregor and Ryan Sherlock gaining the upperhand at the back and “Stevie G” Forde dominating in midfield. A goal duly came from who else but the Esse “Express” who finished well following a great ball by the “Lukemeister” Hughes. 1-1. The goal settled Celtic and soon it was 2-1 when again a lovely ball through from Luke to the goal machine, Esse, who duly supplied a quality finish.
Soon it was 3-1 when Catlin Labont was on hand to follow up after the Carriglea keeper had parried Luke’s shot. Esse duly completed his hat-trick with a fine individual goal to make it 4-1. Not to be outdone Ivan Hristov weaved his magic, as only he can do, to make it 5-1 at half time.
With Andre back in the fold Celtic quickly extended their lead when Luke, now playing centre mid, in place of the hard working “Stevie G”, made it 6-1. To their credit Carriglea battled back to score a well worked second before Esse scored his fourth to make it 7-2. With 5 minutes to go Luke scored a special goal from 35 yards before Catlin, following a lovely break, unselfishly laid the ball into the on running Ryan Sherlock who, having made a great run from deep, deservedly got on the scoresheet to make it 9-2.
And so a fine win for Celtic but in fairness to Carriglea it was always going to be tough when you are missing so many players and as we saw last season they will be a tough proposition when the teams meet again later in the year.
The Celtic Coaches were well pleased with all 9 lads on duty. The Boys improve every week. Hopefully recent performances will give them confidence on their travels where they have struggled at times this season. There were so many positives – Esse is in the form of his life and Luke arguably gave a man of the Match performance playing in two positions and celebrated by scoring twice and having four assists. However the Hero of the Week is Andre for his Sportsmanship not only for playing for the opposition in the first half but also for his display in both halves. Well done Andre. Well done lads.
