A heavy defeat at the hands of the team likely to win the league

We knew we were facing a tough match against Clontarf because they are strong contenders for the league title and had beaten us 4-0 in a recent match.

It was a lovely sunny day and both sides played great football. We attacked strongly from the kick-off and both Zhudi and our captain Niamh came close to giving us an early lead. However, we were too intent on attacking and left our defence a bit weak. it was Clontarf who went into an early lead when one of their counter-attacks found us with too few defenders in position. It was clearly not our lucky day when shortly afterwards a speculative shot from far out slipped in over the head of our goalie David giving him no chance.

Clontarf gained confidence from this early lead and they continued to pile on the pressure for the rest of the half. However, our defence was solidly lead by Dylan our man-of-the-match. and Clontarf were not able to put any more scores on the board in the first half.

The second half got underway with both sides attacking strongly and both sides had plenty of scoring chances. However, it was Clontarf's lucky day and they managed to sneak in two more goals early in the second half to put the score at 4-0 and the result beyond doubt. However, Castleknock were not willing to give up and they managed to get a goal about 10 minutes form the end. We hoped this might be the start of a revival, but it was Clontarf who managed to slip in another goal to leave the final score at 5-1.

After this result, Clontarf are 2nd in the league one point behind Dunshaughlin. However, they have a game in hand and judging by their form in this match, they would have to be favourites to take the title.

We have our final match of the season on Monday night. I hoe we can end on a good result.