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This game had it all - goals,disallowed goals, penalties, and a sending off that made this a real old fashioned all action Cup tie. Rivervalley arrived knowing that a draw would be enough to see them through to the knock out stages while it was a straightforward situation for Celtic who simply had to win to qualify and it was clear that the Boys knew this as their willingness to work off the ball and pressurise was evident from the start. On the ball Celtic looked totally composed with their passing play a joy to behold. It was therefore no surprise when they went one up. A quick corner was taken by Peter Germaine to Rob Laffey whose exquisite cross was met at the back post by Omar Emara who rose high to placed a deft header into the net. Minutes later Celtic made it 2-0 but the Referee adjudged that the ball had not fully crossed over.
Credit to Rivervalley who battled their way into the game. As the half wore on the football played became a bit ragged with both defences mopping up easily from a number of long balls. The Coaches encouraged Celtic to keep the ball on the ground and introduced Stephen Lynch in an attempt to restore Celtics superiority. It seemed to work as Celtic upped their game once again and got the reward their play deserved. Luke Mulcahy found Germaine on the left who proceeded to weave his way through three players before squaring the ball to Alex Regan who kept his cool to finish from 4 yards out. The crowd thought it was 3-0 when Emara headed in from a lovely Cian Galvin corner however the goal was ruled out for another infringement. HT: 2-0
The second half became a war of attrition as Rivervalley looked to get back in the game . No quarter was given and none asked as 4 players from both sides entered the Referees book for over zealous tackles. While Castleknock had more of the ball Rivervalley always looked dangerous from counter attacks. Indeed it was one of these counter attacks that saw Celtic concede a needless penalty. One sensed how important it was as a 2-1 scoreline with 20 minutes to go with make victory very uncertain. Thankfully the coolest player on the pitch was James Igoe who dived to his right to make a wonderful save. A match winning save as Celtic breathed a sign of relief and with it there was a renewed belief.
One of the performances of the day was from Liam O’ Neill. Young O’ Neill had been in great form at the start of the season but in recent weeks had looked a shadow of his former self but today he was back with a vengeance as he caused mayhem up front. Denied a blatant penalty he carved out two great chances for himself and only good goalkeeping denied him. But it wasn’t just on the ball that O’Neill shone as his work ethic off the ball constantly forced errors from the Rivervalley defence.
No more goals but Celtic always liked comfortable and the only black mark was the sending off of the impressive Laffey for a second bookable offence in the last minute.
At the end of the game there were plenty of smiles and I’m sure the Coaches were thinking why can’t the team perform like that every week. It wasn’t just the good football played it was the work rate and commitment that caught the eye. Maybe the Coaches should tell them it’s a Cup game every week.
In this Reporters opinion this team can go places if the commitment and appetite are there week in week out. Well done lads.
