Castleknock through to the last 8 of the NDSL Cup

Castleknock Celtic progressed to the quarter finals of the NDSL with style as the managed to fire 8 goals in against Swords Celtic.

Both teams observed a minutes silence before the match to pay respect to a Swords Celtic player who lost a parent yesterday.
Following this, both teams broke into action.
There were plenty of chances for both teams at the start of the match, but it was Swords that were on target first, only to see their shot tapped over the crossbar by goalkeeper John.
Castleknock stepped up their game and started delivering some great passes into Zuhdi and Omar, who's blistering shots were just off the target.
After piling the pressure on Swords defence and testing the Swords goalkeeper, it was Nado who finally got Castleknock off the mark with a shot from just inside the box which was helped home by Zuhdi's head, but had already crossed the line..

Following this, it was Demi, who put the game beyond doubt that Casleknock Celtic would be playing in the quarter finals.
With great support coming from the left and right of midfield from Cathal and Robert, Demi was given every chance to run at the Swords defence and made no mistakes when he managed to put four goals past the home team in succession.

With the score at 5-0, the play was all Castleknock and when Swords managed to get get into the Castleknock half, David and Frank made no mistake in stopping any danger and returning the ball to the Swords half.

Omar added to the score with a long range shot, making it 6-0.
Cathal worked hard today on the left wing earning him the man-of-the-match title, and it was his pass that allowed Nado cross the ball into the penalty area to see Zuhdi strike it home for Castleknock's 7th and a well deserved goal for Zuhdi.

The referee was just looking his watch but Casleknock were not finished.
Demi put the game beyond doubt when he fired home a record fifth goal for him and 8 for Castleknock.
David was unlucky not to made it 9 when he made a run from defence for a corner and struck the ball just over the crossbar, but the final score was 8-0, a record win for the team and a place in the quarter final of the NDSL cup.

Well done team, a great result and some great teamwork displayed today.

This super team will be signing autographs and packing bags in Tesco on Sunday, December 23rd from 1:00pm to 2:30pm.. parents are also invited to attend!

Christmas Party Arrangements

As we did last year, we will be having a 5-a-side competiton Christmas party. The arrangement for our team  is that we meet up in the community centre at 12:30 on Saturday next 22nd of December where players will be assigned to teams for the competition.

Blogged with Flock

Bag Packing in Tesco

The club is organising bag packing in Tesco to raise money fo rthe new clubhouse on Saturday/Sunday 22nd/23rd of December. Our team has been assigned the time slot from 1pm to 2:30pm on Sunday. We need 12 children and three adults and will be looking for volunteers at training on Monday next (non-team members can help also).

Blogged with Flock

Cup tie this weekend

Our next match will be an away match against Swords Celtic. Kick-off is at 11:15 in Balheray Reservoir on Saturday 15th of December. We should meet up at 10:15 at our usual spot beside the all-weather pitches.

This is the quarter final of the cup so we will need to be in top form.

By the way, the club calendars are now available at a price of 5 euro each with many of our players appearing prominently on the front page. You better buy them quick before they sell out.

Blogged with Flock

Match called off

As you konw our match this weekend was called off due to bad weather. I took advantage of the free Saturday to put up my Christmas decorations inclusing the cool rocker which you can see below:

The club Christmas party will be held the weekend after next (i.e. Saturday 22nd of December). Watch this space for more details.

Details announced for the Christmas Party

The details of this years Christmas party have been announced on the club website. Our team has been allocated to 12:30pm on Saturday 22nd of December. We should all meet up at the community centre at this time to be divided into teams.

Be sure to be there on time to make sure you are not left out.

Blogged with Flock

Home match against Dunshaughlin

Our next match is a Home match against Dunshaughlin. Kick-off will be at 10am on Saturday 8th of December. We should all meet up in Porterstown by 9:45am.

Castleknock miss a chance to take some away points

It was another away match for Castleknock and another missed opportunity to take some points home with them as Woodlawn proved to strong on their home turf.

Castleknock got off to a great start after a few minutes and make a promising break into the Woodlawn half, Omar and Robert kept the ball away from the home defense and delivered the ball to Zuhdi, who made no mistake and put the ball in the back of the Woodlawn net.
It was 1-0 to Castleknock and with only 5 minutes of the match played.
Castleknock continued to pile on the pressure but Woodlawn had learned their lesson and stepped up their defence. Zuhdi had some more great chances and Robert, Demi and Nado create some more opportunities for the greens.
Castleknock's luck changed as Demi came off after suffering a toe injury and Woodlawn managed to get an equaliser shortly before the half time break. This goal was disputed by a strong Castleknock defense who saw the ball crossing the line for a goal kick, only to be taken back in to play and put kicked across the goal line.

Castleknock started off the second half playing into a very strong wind and John was soon put to the test as he had to make some spectacular saves to keep the game level.
Luck was on Casleknock's side as an attack from Nado, Cathal and Zuhdi forced an own goal, putting Castleknock in the lead for the second time.
Woodlawn responded with a quick attack and were soon at level terms again.

With a strong wind behind them and a number of free kicks awarded to them, Woodlawn managed to take the lead.
Despite having a great game, the overworked defensive line of Dylan, Frank and man-of-the-match David were outnumbered by the Woodlawn attack and were unable to stop two more goals for the home side making the final score 5-2.
David had played an excellent game and single handedly cut out some dangerous attacks towards the end of the game, earning him the man-of-the-match title.

A minor setback for Castleknock, no points today.. but a good team performance throughout.

Away match against Woodlawn

Our match next Saturday 1st of December is an away match against Woodlawn. Kick-off is at 12:30pm in the Oscar Traynor Road grounds. We should all meet up at 11:30 at our usual spot. Hopefully we can keep up our winning form.

A brilliant win against Rivervalley Rangers

The weather was looking ominous as the match time approached. However, we were lucky with the weather and the rain held off for the duration.

The game was only about five minutes old when Zhudi opened the scoring with a brilliant shot into the side of the net from the edge of the penalty box. Rivervalley fought back bravely, but the Castleknock defense held strong. About half way through the first half, Zhudi scored another similar goal to stretch the lead to 2-0 at half time.

In the second half, Rivervalley made a brave attempt to get back into the game but the Castleknock defense stood firm, with out captain and man-of-the-match Frank playing an inspirational role by closing down on all attackers immediately.

It was beginning to look like the score might end up 2-0 until Nado made a great break up the right hand side before slipping the ball to Demi who placed the ball into the back of the net. However, Rivervalley were not willing to give up and they promptly scored a goal to keep the match alive.

The Rivervalley team got slightly carried away with the excitement of the game at this stage and one of their players was booked at this stage for a tackle from behind. The Rivervalley coach took exception to the referees decision and ended up being cautioned himself.

Meanwhile back on the pitch, Demi put the game beyond doubt by scoring two more goals in the dying minutes to making the score 5-1. A brilliant win for Castleknock, well done everyone!!

Cup match at home to Rivervalley Rangers

Next Saturday (24/November) we have another cup match. This time we are home to Rivervalley Rangers. Kick-off is at 10am so we should all try to be there by 9:45am. This will be a tough match so we will need to be on top form.

Castleknock cruise their way to the second round of the NDSL Cup

Warm ups were the order of the day in Ratoath as the visiting Castleknock team waited for their cup campaign to start. With no referee in sight, we were informed that the referees own cup campaign was in progress as he had disappeared for a quick cup of tea before the match.
So out came the gloves and the wolly hats as a cold breeze blew across the pitch for the hottest cup fixture of the day.

Just as the rain started, Castleknock got the game underway as the and broke into attack looking for an early goal. Castleknock got some early chances as Niamh and Robert challenged the Ratoath defence only to see their efforts cleared or saved by the Ratoath goalkeeper.
Ratoath also had many chances in the first half but a well organised defensive line of Andy, Dylan and Frank gave Castleknock goalkeeper and captain John a quiet game.

After 30 minutes, the game was still in the balance with no goals on the scoreboard.
Niamh had to come off at the half time break to fulfill her shepherd duties at the rehearsals of the upcoming christmas nativity play. Zuhdi took over her position in the front.
Castleknock started the second half with goals in mind and broke into action.
Passing was excellent in the wet conditions and before long, Nado was set free to put Castleknock ahead.. The passes kept coming from midfielders Cathal, David and Demi with Nado there to stretch the lead again and again. By the time he had scored his third goal, Nado was blowing kisses to his freezing fans on the sideline..

Castleknock were unstoppable at this point and kept punishing the Ratoath defence with more shots at goal from Robert and Zuhdi.
Zuhdi managed to make the score 4-0, making sure that Casleknock would be in the next round of the cup..

The rain kept pouring and the pitch was fast becoming a mud bath but this didn't stop man of the match Nado from adding to his goal tally with a fourth goal for him, a fifth goal for his team and a place in the next round of the NDSL cup.

Our cup campaign gets underway

We will play our first match in the league cup as an away match against Ratoath next Saturday 17th of November. Kick-off is at 1:15pm so we should meet up beside the all-weather pitch at 12:15pm.

Two late goals turn vistory into defeat

Colin was our captain for the day and he chose to play into a strong wind in the first half. This did not hinder our play very much and about mid-way through the first half, our man-of-the-match Zhudi opened the scoring for Castleknock with a fine shot. Shortly afterwards we nearly stretched our lead when Zhudi had another shot dramatically saved on the line. Both sides had several chances, but the score remained at 1-0 at half time.

Early in the second half Castleknock managed to stretch their lead even further when Robert managed to stop the ball from going wide and make a perfect cross that was headed home by Omar. Although Castleknock though this would be the start of us taking control of the match, Maynooth had other plans and quickly scored a goal to narrow the gap back to 2-1.

Both sides played plenty of exciting football for the rest of the match and John pulled off a number of dramatic saves. However, as the match drew to a close neither side seemed able to extend the scoring. With two minutes to go it looked like the match was going to end 2-1 to Castleknock when the Maynooth number 3 managed to score two goals in quick succession give Maynooth a 3-2 victory.

Lady luck did not smile on us today. Nevertheless we can be very proud of a great performance.

Kick-off time for Maynooth match moved earlier

Maynooth have contacted us to request that we move forward the kick-off time of our match tomorrow. Kick-off will now be 11:30am and so we will need to meet up at 10:30am beside the all-weather pitch.

Sorry for the short notice of the change. If anyone can't make it please get in touch with Brian or Gavin to let us know,

Away match against Maynooth

Our next match is an away match against Maynooth. Kick-off is at 12:45 on Saturday 10th of November. We will meet up at our usual place beside the all weather pitch at 11:45 so we have time to travel out to Maynooth.

This is a different Maynooth team than the one we played already so we will need to be on top form.

We get off to a winning start in our new division

Our first match in the newly re-organised 10C match was a home match against Grange Woodbine. This team was formerly in the 10B division so we knew that we would have a tough match.

The match was hotly contested from the start with both sides attacking strongly. However, mid-way through the first half we managed to take the lead. Our man-of-the-match Niamh attacked up the right wing and although her shot was saved, Nado was on hand to catch the rebound and slot the ball into the right hand corner of the net.

It was a tightly fought game and both teams had plenty of chances for further scores. In fact John had much too many chances to show off his goalkeeping skills, but none of the shots went in and so the game ended up 1-0.

Well done everyone, you proved that we are more than capable of competing in the higher division!

Promotion to 10C division

I have just found out that due to our strong performance since the start of the season we are to be promoted from the 10C1 division to the 10C division. Our first fixture in the new 10C division will be a home match against Grange Woodbine. Kick-off is at 11:15 am on Saturday next (3/Nov), so we should meet up at Porterstown before 11am.

I believe that some of our players won't be able to play on Saturday, so it is vital that all available players turn up on time. Grange Woodbine were previously in the 10B1 division so we will have to play well to keep up the good showing that we have been having so far this year.

The previous note about the fixture against Clontarf is incorrect. Sorry for any confusion caused.

Away match against Clontarf

The league tables have been re-arranged. Some teams have moved division and everyone starts level again with 0 points.

Our first match of the newly arranged 10C1 division will be an away match against Clontarf. Kick-off will be at 12:15 on Saturday 3rd of November in St. Anne's Park. Because we will have a long way to drive we will need to meet up at 11am beside the all weather pitch. Please let us know if you can't be there.

Arrangements for the Bank Holiday Weekend

There will be no match on Saturday next 27th of October due to the bank holiday. Similarly there will be no training on Monday the 29th of October. I hope you all have an enjoyable break.

Back to our winning ways in Maynooth

When we traveled to Maynooth it was two weeks since our last victory and so we were anxious to get back to our winning ways. The match was late starting so we had lots of time to practice beforehand. We knew it was going to be a lucky day when john found a perfectly good football which had been lost in the ditch beside the pitch.

Zhudi was our captain for the day, but he was forced to start without his arm band, because match was on for five minutes when his father brought it. This seemed to provide inspiration to Zhudi because about 10 seconds after putting on the arm band he scored a goal.

However Maynooth had no intention of making life easy for us and they leveled the scores a few minutes later. But Demi put us back in the lead a few minutes later with a brilliant shot from the edge of the penalty box. Then Zhudi knocked in two more to give us a commanding 4-1 lead at half time.

Just as we were beginning to be confident Maynooth scored two goals to bring the score back to 4-3. The tension at this stage was too much for the Maynooth linesman to control himself and after one of his outbursts the referee was forced to send him off. I think this is the first time I have seen a linesman sent off in a match.

Castleknock reacted better to the pressure and Demi scored a goal to give us a more comfortable lead. Nado followed up with another goal to put us 6-3 ahead and the result beyond doubt.

The team performed very well overall today and the passing was much improved. However the judges decided that Robert was a deserving winner of the man-of-the-match title for the best overall performance.

Away match against Manooth

Our next match will be an away match against Maynooth on Saturday 20th of October. The match will be at Maynooth's Dublin Road pitch. Kick-off is at 1pm, so we should meet up beside the all weather pitch at 12noon to travel in convoy.

Tightly fought match with Malahide ends in a draw.

The referee was adamant that all players tucked in their jerseys for the match. So Nado was looking very stylish indeed.

Both sides played very defensively in the first half, so it was no surprise that the score was nil-all at half time.

Shortly after the restart Malahide managed to score a goal and the match came much more to life from that point onwards. Castleknock attacked strongly and it was not long before Demi managed to level the scores. Both sides battled to break the deadlock, and our attackers made many exciting raids on the Malahide goal. Unfortunately the ball did not seem to want to go into the net.

Our defense came under enormous pressure also, but we managed to keep them from scoring. All of the defenders played well, but Andy was a deserving winner of the man-of-the-match award. I think his new boots helped him play so well.

Malahide come to take us on in a rematch

Our next match is a home match against Malahide United. Kick-off is at 11:15am next Saturday 13th of October. All players should be at Porterstown before 11am.

We will have to be on top form, because Malahide will be keen to avenge their defeat from earlier in the season.

Disapointing defeat at the hands of Dunshaulghlin.

We knew when we went to Dunshaughlin that we were in for a tough contest because both teams had very strong records coming into the match. It was a beautiful day from the weather point of view, but we should have realized that it would be unlucky when Niamh lost a tooth before the match even started.

Castleknock got off to a good start when Zhudi opened the scoring with a well taken shot in the third minute of the game. However, Dunshaughlin were not about to let us take control of the match and they brought themselves back onto level terms almost straight away with a rocket of a shot into the top corner of the net.

Bought sides attached strongly for the rest of the first half. However, the only score was when a Dunshaughlin shot took a deflection off a Castleknock defender. This meant that Dunshaughlin had a narrow 2-1 lead at half time.

Castleknock were determined to pull back on level terms in the second half and they managed this quite quickly when Omar lobbed the ball in over the goalies head. Dunshaughlin had other plans however. When Dunshaughlin managed to get a third goal, Castleknock continued to battle to get back into the match. However, when Dunshaughlin managed to get a fourth goal, the Castleknock team seemed to fall apart and lost their concentration. This allowed Dunshaughlin to score two more goals before the end to leave the final score at a convincing 6-2 to Dunshaughlin.

Both of the Emara brothers got their names on the scoresheet today, but Omar had a stronger overall performance to earn this weeks man-of-the-match title.

By my calculation ourselves and Dunshaughlin should be tied at the top of the table after this match with the same points and even the same points difference. But Dunshaughlin have played one less game played. If you want to check the official tables click here.

Change of Day, time and location for training

Due to the nights getting dark earlier, we will have to move to floodlight training from next week onwards. Starting from Monday 8th of October we will have our training on the all weather pitch at 6-7pm on Mondays.

I appreciate that this time is not ideal for many of you, but this is the only time we could get access to the all-weather pitch.

Away match against Dunshaughlin

Our match next Saturday (6th of October) will be an away match against Dunshaughlin. Kick-off is at 12:45, but since this is quite a distance to travel we will need to meet up beside the all weather pitch at 11:45 to ensure we are there in time.

Clontarf bring our winning streak to an end

This was a tightly fought match from the start and both sides were attacking strongly. Niamh had an excellent chance to open the scoring, but the Clontarf keeper managed to keep the ball out of the net. Luckily Nado was on hand to poke home the rebound and give us the lead.

Clontarf tried hard to level the scores before half time, but our defence was rock solid. John was forced to make several dramatic saves which maintained our lead and earned him the title of man-of-the-match.

We went into the second half with our slender 1-0 lead, but Clontarf managed to pull back onto level terms. Both teams had several scoring chances during the rest of the match, but the match ended up 1-1 which was probably the fairest result as both teams played very well.

This was the first break in our 100% winning record for the season, but we are still undefeated so we can be very proud of our results so far. Keep up the good work!

Another home match

This weekend we will have our third home match in a row when we play host to Clontarf. Kick-off is at 11:15 on Saturday (29th of September) so everyone should meet up in Porterstown by 11am.

Our winning streak continues

At the start of the match it looked like it would be a hard fought match. Both sides had plenty of chances and John Lennon-Maher had to pull off several dramatic saves. However, it was Castleknock which went into an early lead when a Demi lobbed a speculative shot over the head of the Ratoath keeper. The keeper managed to scramble back and get a hand to it, but he could not keep it out of the goal.

Shortly afterwards our man-of-the-match David scored another goal to stretch our lead to 2-0. Things were looking good when we were awarded a penalty for hand-ball, but Dylan's powerful shot was narrowly wide. Ratoath managed to get a goal before half-time so that we had a narrow 2-1 lead at the break.

The second half was barely started when Demi had a brilliant run down the wing followed by an excellent shot to give us a comfortable 3-1 lead. Shortly afterwards
Zhudi managed to volley home a cross to stretch our lead to 4-1.

However, Ratoath had no intention of giving up and pulled the score back to 4-2 with a well deserved goal. They continued to put lots of pressure on and Frank, Andy, Cathal and Nado had plenty of work to do keeping them from getting further scores.

Castlkock had other plans however and Demi scored two more excellent goals to leave us with a comfirtable 6-2 margin at the end.

Training moving to an earlier time

Due to the fact that the nights are getting darker we will need to move our training time in future to 6:30pm rather than 7pm.

In a few more weeks when the nights get even darker, we will be forced to move to the All weather pitch so that we can use the floodlights. The time which has been allocated to us is 6pm on Monday. I know this time is not great for many people (including the coaches), but this was the only slot we could get.

Another home match

Our next match will be a home match against Ratoath. Kick-off is at 12:45 on Saturday 22nd of September. We should all meet up in Porterstown before 12:30.

Now that we are top of the league all the other teams will be making a special effort to beat us.

Castleknock go clear at the top of the table after tight match against Maynooth

We had a bigger than normal turnout of supporters for our match today. This was partly due to the excitement of a top of the table clash, but also due to the lovely weather. The sun was shining brightly and the weather was warmer than the "summer" as the match kicked-off.

It was clear from the start that this was going to be a close game as both teams were playing very well and were determined to get top spot in the league. Both sides had plenty of shots on goal in the first half, but it was Maynooth who opened the scoring. Shortly afterwards Zhudi brought us back on level terms with a powerful shot into the corner of the net. Unfortunately Maynooth replied by scoring another goal almost straight away. The score remained at 2-1 for Maynooth until the half-time break.

Niamh was forced to come off early with a sore ankle, but luckily it was not a serious injury.

As the second half got started both teams were making every effort to score. The Castleknock defence was rock solid with Frank Collins playing a particularly good game clearing any loose balls that came in. The few shots which Maynooth managed to get past him were kept out by our goalie John who had another great game.

It was beginning to look like another bad-luck day for Castleknock when suddenly our luck changed when Dylan took a long shot that bounced over goalies head to leave the teams level 2-2.

From this point onwards our luck definitely changed. Demi dribbled most of the length of the pitch before slipping the ball past the goalie to make the score 3-2. Almost straight afterwards he did a similar move to give us a 4-2 lead.

All credit is due to Maynooth who battled strongly until the final whistle. However they were unable to get any more scores so the game ended 4-2 and Castleknock were the clear early leaders in the league table.

With so many good performances it was tough to select a man-of-the-match but after much dicsussion we decided to give it to Dylan our captain for today.

Click here for some pictures.

Next match is a home game against Maynooth

Our next match will be a home game against Maynooth. Kick-off is at 12:30 on Saturday next 15/Sept so we should all be in Porterstown before 12:15am.

I see that Maynooth also had a big win in their opening game last weekend, so this is a top of the table clash. I am sure we will be able to continue our good form.

A dramatic opening for the new season with a 6-2 victory over Malahide

The sun was shining brightly as we arrived in Malahide Castle. This was surely a good omen because the match was only barely underway when our newest team member Demi Dare scored an opening goal when his shot was deflected off a Malahide player into the corner of the goal.We kept the pressure on after this and soon afterwards Zhudi managed to connect with a loose ball in the box and score another goal to give Castleknock a strong lead.

Malahide battled strongly to try and get back into the game but the Castleknock was very strong especially Frank Collins who was on hand to clear up any loose balls and our new goalie John Lennon-Maher who played a very solid game. Nevertheless Malahide managed to get one back before half time. So the score was 2-1 to Castleknock at the break.

Castleknock came out strongly in the second half and Demi scored his second goal with a rocket of a shot which gave the Malahide goalie no chance. Zhudi did not want to be left out of the action so he scored a second goal soon afterwards.

Malahide managed to get another goal which seemed to bring them back into the game. But Castleknock had a firm control of the match and our star newcomer Demi managed to get another goal to seal his hat-trick and put the result beyond doubt. Shortly afterwards Dylan managed to sneak in a cheeky chip which went over the Malahide keeper's head and left the score at 6-2.

With so many strong performances it was hard to pick a man-of-the-match, but I think that Demi Dare has to be the choice in recognition of his hat-trick in his debut match.

Our two new players are pictured below. Click here to see a full set of pictures from the match.

Registration forms

Rosemary Lennon-Maher (John's mom) has agreed to collect the registration forms. Please give your completed forms to Rosemary as soon as possible. If you mislaid the form you can download another one here. If there is more than one player from a single family, the registration fee should be sent to the manager of the oldest player's team but the registration form itself should be returned to Rosemary in all cases.

Our fixtures will be announced in the Evening Herald each Monday, so you should keep an eye out for that. Also don't forget to read and abide by our code of ethics.

An away matchagainst Malahide

Our first match of the new season will be an away home match against Malahide. Kick off will be at 12noon on Saturday next 8th of September.

We should meet up at our usual location beside the all weather pitches at 11am so that we have time to travel to Malahide before the match.

Training restarts

Training for the new season will start on Wednesday 5th of September. Our training sessions will be held at 7pm on Laurel Lodge Green for the first few weeks. However, once the evenings start to get darker we will probably move to an indoor venue and probably a different day/time.

A new blog for the new football season

Since we are now starting a new soccer season, we are starting off on a new blog site. This site will relate to the Castleknock Celtic 10C team for the 2007/2008 season and will be a direct follow on from the under 9 team last season whose exploits were described on over on http://cc9d.blogspot.com

Brian and Gavin would like to welcome you back to the soccer season. We are now moved up to the under 10 division where the teams are 9 a-side and the matches last 30 minutes per half. We will have to be better to survive in this tougher division, but I am sure we will have even greater success (and have even more fun) than last year.