Castleknock Celtic under 9 soccer team

We will have no league match this Saturday 3rd/March. Instead we will host a visiting team from Athenry who are coming up to play us in a friendly match. The kick-off will be at 12:30 in Porterstown, but we have offered to give them some sandwiches before the match so if any parents could help out by bringing along a plate of sandwiches at 11:30 I am sure they would be much appreciated by our visitors after their long drive from Galway.

Labels: fixtures, notices

The rain was threatening as we drove to Howth. We were a few players short, but nevertheless we were determined to avenge our previous defeat. The rain held off for the duration of the match, and although the pitch was very muddy this did not spoil an exciting match.

This was a cracker of a match with both sides throwing everything into attack for the full 40 minutes. Omar and Nedim dominated mid-field and kept our forwards well supplied with possession. Castleknock seemed to have the edge overall with Zhudi having two shots go narrowly wide and Niamh forcing the Howth keeper to make a few dramatic saves.

Howth made many attempts at attacking but our defenders Cathal, Dylan, Robert and Andy made sure that very few shots got through to David who had a great game in goal as usual. However, man-of-the-match goes to Andy Merriman for the great way he cleared up any loose ball.

Despite numerous chances for both sides the score was still 0-0 with 5 minutes left on the clock. Howth had a free kick on the edge of the box. They hit a strong shot which rebounded off the crossbar and the Howth team were quick to pounce on the rebound to slip the ball past David's outstretched foot to open the scoring.

Castleknock threw everything into attack, but Howth managed to slip in for a great goal with a rocket of a shot into the corner of the net. Castleknock continued to push forward in the dying minutes of the game. Unfortunately this left us exposed at the back and allowed Howth to slip in another goal just as the final whistle was blowing.

The final score 3-0 was a little disappointing, but we can be very proud of our performance.

Labels: match_report

Our next match will be an away match against Howth on Saturday 24th of February. Kick-off will be at 12:15pm in Grace O'Malley Park. This is quite a long trip so we should meet up beside the all weather pitch at 11am.

Labels: fixtures

Rivervalley were very confident coming into the match, because they were top of the league table with three wins out of three games so far. They also had home advantage.

Castleknock were not scared by their opponents reputation and got off to a storming start. Captain Nado scored a great goal in the second minutes. A few minutes later Castleknock extended their lead when Nado slotted a free kick into the upper corner of the net.

Castleknock continued to dominate the match and Omar seemed to score another goal. However as the Rivervalley goalie retrieved the ball from the net we were all surprised to hear the referee say that the ball had not crossed the line and tell the goalie to kick out the ball.

Rivervalley then got a goal back before half time so that the score was 2-1 at the break.

As the second half got started Zhudi got a goal to stretch our lead to 3-1. Rivervalley put everything into their attempts to get back level, but Andy, Frank, Cathal and Colin played a rock solid game in defence and David O'Connor saved the few shots which managed to get through.

Rivervalley got two goals to pull back to level score. With only 10 minutes played in the second half, the referee surprisingly blew for full time. But after some consultations with the Rivervalley coach the match was restarted.

Castleknock continued to put pressure on to get a score back. Zhudi and Niamh took turns to head up the attack and were ably assisted by Nado, Omar and Robert who in midfield.

At one stage Dylan and Nado were clean through with the goalie beaten and a score seeming inevitable. However, the referee intervened again to call play back for an infringement which nobody could explain. The match then ended level at 3-3. All in all, we did great to break Rivervalley's 100% record.

Overall it was a team effort - for example Jean played a great game at mid-field and her little sister Ellen did her bit too by taking the pictures. After much discussion, the judges finally awarded the man-of-the-match title to Omar Emara.

Labels: match_report

The annual Eve-of-Lent (Pancake Tuesday) Quiz will be held in Kavanaghs Lounge, Laurel Lodge, 9.15pm, 20th Feb. Parents should organise themselves into teams of 4. All support is very welcome.

Labels: notices

The venue for the Man United soccer school during the Easter Holidays has been moved to Verona Sport and Leisure Club. Further details will be sent out soon to people who registered.

Labels: notices

This weekend we have an away match against Rivervalley Rangers. The match will be at Rivervalley Park, in Swords with kick-off at 10:45am. We should meet up beside the all weather pitch at 9:45.

The Rivervalley secretary said that there is a chance that the pitch will be declared unplayable. If this happens we will send out a text message on Friday evening.

Labels: fixtures

The match against Priorswood has been cancelled due to the pitch being unplayable again :-(.

Labels: fixtures

Our next leage match will be at home match against Priorswood. Kick-off will be at 12:15 next Saturday (10/Feb). All players should be at Porterestown by 12noon at the latest.

Labels: fixtures

Unfortunately we were forced to field an understrength team for our first cup match. Due to illness and other reasons a few players were missing. We only just about managed to field seven players - indeed it seemed right up until the last minute we might be short of players.

Woodlawn started strong and we made a few errors in defence. As a result they were in the lead from early in the game. The game continued to go their way for the rest of the first half and we were 5 - nil down at half time.

Nado was forced to retire with a sore stomach and so were were forced to start the second half with only 6 players. It was looking bleak, but Andy went back into defence to help out Cathal and Frank. Colin was more than able to deal with any shots that got though. In fact Niamh and Zhudi made several strong attacks on the Woodlawn goal, so it looked like we might get back into the game. But the fact that they had an extra player meant that we could never get through and score.

Colin McGuinness our substitute goalie played a great match to keep a clean sheet in the second half. He was the clear choice for the man-of-the-match award.

Labels: match_report