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- Castleknock Celtic FC 5 – 3 Palmerstown FC
It has been a crazy summer, not just the weather but this year it seemed like everyone was on holidays and in turn this meant that the U12’s were late starting pre-season – the end of August to be precise with squad finalisation only occurring this week. On top of this the Boys, following some great performances last season, saw themselves promoted 4 (YES 4!!!) divisions meaning that tough but exciting challenges lay ahead.
To start this campaign Celtic welcomed 3 “Newbies” (Abdullah, Conor and Denys) to their squad as they entertained near neighbours Palmerstown on a beautiful Autumn morning for what proved to be an exciting spectacle on a freshly mown Porterstown pitch.
The early exchanges were even but as the half wore on Celtic began to push for the opener and it duly came thanks to two of our old Boys. A Luke Hughes corner touched home by ace marksman Esse Okirikpo. 1-0. The goal opened the game up. Celtic pushing for a second and Palmerstown probing repeatedly. At the back Celtic were assured – Luke was at right back looking like wing back might just be his position while Ben Forde looked like an old pro at centre back. Of course having the wise young head of Ryan “Maccer” Mc Gregor monitoring things always helps. And when our defence was breached we had Max “The Cat” Ostapchuk as the safe pair of hands. In a frantic first half one felt the next goal would be crucial and thankfully it came Celtic’s way and boy was it special. Palmerstown cleared a Celtic attack and the ball fell to James Brown 20 yards out. The talented youngster looked up , picked his spot and drove the ball high and right into the back of the net. What a goal what a strike . 2-0.
However Palmerstown were straight back into it as they pulled one back within a minute although there was a strong suspicion of offside. 2-1. Celtic quickly regrouped with Conor Simmonds and Caitlin La Bont probing down the wings with the latter showing a great understanding with Esse. With 3 minutes of the half remaining Esse ,following a great run, finished in style. 3-1 but again Plamerstown showed their character to respond within minutes to make it 3-2 . HT: 3-2
At half time all the Celtic Coaches could do was to praise their charges but demanded more of the same for the second half. Abdullah and Denys came on to make their league debuts for the team and all we can say it that the quality remained just as high – Denys providing the hard work and steel to match Abdullah’s silky skills on the wing. Mid way through the half Celtic scored a spectacular fourth. James’ midfield partner Andre Ungareanu, who was having a great game, was keen to show that crowd that anything James could do he could do better. It may not have been better but for sure it was as good. Picking the ball up 30 yards from goal he unleashed a pile driver in to the left hand corner and no keeper would have stopped it. 4-2. Within minutes it was 5-2 with Abdullah getting in on the act with a nice finish. Credit to Palmerstown who pulled a goal back following a nice move to make it 5-3 but time was against them as Celtic saw the game out to win 5-3.
First of all well done to Palmerstown who gave their all and but for an unfortunate injury to their keeper may have got something more from the game. For Celtic , while the win was welcomed the Coaches were mostly pleased with what was an encouraging performance with all 11 players contributing and giving their all. There were positives all over the pitch – Abdullah, Conor and Denys making impressive debuts, the strong performances of Luke, Ben and Andre playing in new positions and the great understanding shown up front by Caitlin and Esse. On top of this 5 great goals, most notably the strikes from James and Andre. Of course Coaches being Coaches they will always see areas for improvement so it will be a case of back to work on Monday night. Still we will enjoy the moment and say a deserved “Well done” to our young Celts. Enjoy your weekend lads.
