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Celtic welcomed Terenure Rangers for a Saturday lunch time kick off with the visitors keen to reverse their recent loss. Clearly they had done their homework as their well organised defence were marking the prolific Esse Okirikpo out of the game. Indeed it was Rangers who looked their more likely as they made the Celtic defence of Ryan Sherlock, Ryan Mc Gregor and Conor Simmonds work overtime and when all else failed stand in keeper Caitlin La Bont was putting in a performance that will make “Mad Max” wonder will he get his place back.
As the half wore on Celtic came into it. Luke Hughes, Andre Ungareanu and Ben Forde were the busy bees in midfield while Tara O’ Hanlon was showing flashes of brilliance on the left. It was becoming a game of attrition. Fresh legs in the guides of Abdullah and James Browne were introduced and within minutes we had the breakthrough as Andre broke through before finishing well to make it 1-0. HT: 1-0
In the second half Celtic took the game to Terenure but could not break down the strong Terenure defence where their tall centre back was in great form. As the half wore on both defences were made to work and Celtic were thankful for a wonderful double save from “The Cat” La Bont when it looked for sure Rangers would equalise. Rangers pushed for the equaliser and it was becoming clear that the next goal would be crucial. With 12 minutes left Celtic got that crucial goal and who else but Esse scored it as he finally evaded his marker to make it 2-0. Rangers were still recovering when Esse pounced again this time running 30 metres before a cool finish made it 3-0 and with it saw the game out with relative ease. FT: 3-0
A 3-0 win but a slightly flattering scoreline for Celtic as this game hung in the balance up until the last 10 minutes as Terenure matched Celtic all over the pitch. Like Palmerstown last week Terenure showed how much they have improved since the start of the season and credit to their Players and Coaches. As for Celtic this was not their best performance and they will need to up their game in future matches. Still there were also plenty of positives – the wonderful display by Caitlin ,the mature patient performance of ace Marksman Esse and what will have pleased the Coaches the attempt to always play passing football. There’s more to come from this motley crew of U12’s.
