Victory over St Maelruans

Castleknock burst into action today from the kick off in Porterstown today. Early attacks from Omar, Gavan and John left the visiting side feeling that today was not going to be their day.
It was Kevin who opened the scoring when he broke with the ball just outside the St Maelruans penalty area, beat the defenders and slotted the ball home to put Castleknock one goal up.

Castleknock kept the pressure on as Mohammed and Robert were winning lots of the ball in midfield and passing it through to the danger area, Gavin took possession in the St Maelruans penalty area and was almost certain to score when he was brutally taken down in the box. The referee pointed to the spot for a penalty which John converted to make it 2-0 to Castleknock.


St Maelruans made a few breaks in the first half but were unable to get past a tight central defence as Dylan and captain for the day Cormac cleared all danger from the Castleknock half.
Zuhdi was on top form in goal and managed to keep a clean sheet on the day.

Late in the first half Castleknock could have made it 3-0 but Omar's strike was disallowed as John had been caught by the offside trap. Kevin also had a great scoring chance but collided with the goalkeeper and had to be taken off injured, making way for Sam to join the game.

The second half started with at the same exciting pace with plenty of attacking runs from Sam and Mustafa providing some great crosses and passes to the forwards. Sam came close to scoring as he had beat the keeper but saw his effort cleared off the St Maelruan's line.
Frank and Andy were also able to turn some defensive moves in to excellent attacking and scoring chances.

Robert made way for Shane in the second half and it only took minutes for Shane to put Castleknock 3-0 up with a great strike.
Cathal and Donagh joined the game and brought some new energy to the game and kept the pressure on St Maelruans.
There were late chances from David, Sam and Andy but the game ended 3-0 and the Castleknock supporters were kept very entertained throughout.

Picking a man of the match today was very difficult as there were a number of great performances from all members of the team, but this weeks it goes to Sam for working very hard on the left side and creating a lot of scoring chances.

Well done everyone!

DDSL League Table

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	WAYSIDE CELTIC	2	2	0	0	8	1	7	6
2	SMITHFIELD FC	2	2	0	0	9	3	6	6
3	BALLYBRACK BOYS	2	2	0	0	7	2	5	6
4	DUNDRUM ATHLETIC	2	2	0	0	6	2	4	6
5	CONFEY FC	1	1	0	0	5	4	1	3
6	CASTLEKNOCK CELTIC	1	0	0	1	1	2	-1	0
7	CABINTEELY FC	2	0	0	2	7	10	-3	0
8	DUNBOYNE AFC	1	0	0	1	0	3	-3	0
9	KNOCKLYON UTD	1	0	0	1	1	5	-4	0
10	TEMPLEOGUE UTD	2	0	0	2	2	7	-5	0
11	ST MAELRUANS	2	0	0	2	1	8	-7	0

Home fixture this Saturday

We will play St Maelruans this Saturday, 27th of Sept. in Porterstown.
Kick Off is at 11:30 so we should be there for 11:15.

Friendly Match this Saturday

We will be playing a friendly match against Ballyoulster FC this Saturday, 20th at home in Porterstown.
Kick off will be 12:00 so we should meet up in Porterstown at 11:45.

Training - Monday 15th September

Training will take place this Monday on the All Weather Pitch in Laurel Lodge, starting at 7pm and finishing at 8pm.

Ballybrack steal victory with late goals

The new season finally got underway with an away match against Ballybrack FC. Castleknock arrived just in time for the 10:30 kick off, but with Zuhdi and Omar still on the way, Donagh bravely decided to start his first game for Celtic in goal.

Castleknock started the first half brilliantly, putting the home side under pressure with some promising breaks down the right side with Dylan and Gavan causing problems for Ballybrack.
Castleknock had the game under control with the back four of Dylan, Andy, Cormac and Frank catching the opposing forwards off side and clearing any danger.

Omar made way for Donagh in goal after goalkeeper Zuhdi arrived with a dubious hand injury and decided not to start in his position. Omar was tested straight away as Ballybrack made a break and managed to shoot, but Omar stayed in control as the shot hit the cross bar and was collected by the keeper.

Midfielders Robert, Mustafa, Gavan and Sam worked very hard to supply the forwards with some chances and it paid off just before half time as Kevin managed to find the back of the net after some great skill on the box making it 0-1 to Castleknock at half time.

The second half saw Castleknock under pressure to keep their lead but some great defending by the back four kept Castleknock ahead. Donagh and Shane made way for some tired legs in midfield and worked very hard to get the ball back in Ballybrack's half, but the home side managed to bring things level after a lucky long range shot.
Ballybrack managed to get a second goal later in the second half, making the score 2-1 to the home side.

Castleknock restarted the game and immediately went on the attack with great chances for Kevin and David to bring the score level. John saw his great shot saved by the keeper before the full time whistle went.

Overall a great performance by all, and some excellent first time performances from Donagh and Cormac who played their first games for Castleknock today.