Connacht U-18 Shield Quarter-Final
Strand Celtic 1 Swinford 2
THIS encounter kept the attendance on their toes throughout but the heated game was decided in extra time when Celtic captain, Carl McEnroe scored a powerful goal from a corner in the opening minute of that added period.
From the off, Celtic had been putting the pressure on the Swinford side, but two early chances went wide of the post. Despite some strong defending from Swinford’s James Henry and Tomas Gallagher, an impressive attempt by Celtic’s James Keaney almost opened the scoring but just tipped the crossbar and went over.
Then a powerful strike from Adrian McMunn, from the left corner of the penalty area deceived the Swinford goalie, Damien Geraghty, and nestled in the back of the net, granting Strand Celtic their first goal. Hot on their tail, Swinford made an immediate effort to respond when Barry McShea headed the ball just over the crossbar.
In the 31st minute a melee broke out in front of the Swinford goal, such was the hard-fought nature of the contest. Both Dara Price from Swinford and Keelan Cawley from Celtic picked up yellow cards from the incident.
Four minutes later Swinford levelled the tie when Martin Sweeney headed the ball into the back of the net after an impressive cross from Kevin McShea.
Celtic were not to be fazed by this however and within four minutes, a good strike from McMunn accounted for his second score of the game. The Sligo player had an excellent game despite a small injury picked up after a collision with Swinford goalie, Damien Geraghty, and he would easily emerge as the best player on the day.
The second half began with a lively burst from Swinford, who this time were assisted by a strong wind. Again, Kevin McShea who proved to be Swinford’s best player on the day, made two good attempts to score but the first went over the crossbar and the latter resulted in a great save by Celtic’s goalie Noel Stephenson.
Changes were made to both teams at this stage. Swinford’s Chris Reddington came on for Martin Sweeney and Celtic replaced Paul Leonard with Ryan McEnroe. Reddington proved to be very effective setting up chances for his colleagues.
Keaney came close to putting the Sligo boys further in front in the fourth quarter after a neat cross from Jamie Gaughan and as the end of normal time approached, it looked likely that victory belonged to Strand Celtic. However in the 87th minute McShea poked home a fumbled ball by the keeper after a long through ball and the game was level again. Swinford were now notably on the attack as the game came to a close and when the match went into extra time, it was clearly visible that both teams were beginning to tire.
A corner from the left in the opening seconds of extra-time saw Strand Celtic’s captain, Carl McEnroe put his side on top again. This goal proved decisive and subsequently the game began to peter out despite a few vigourous runs on Swinford’s behalf. The game drew to a close with further goals and Strand Celtic now go on to play St. Johns in the semi-final.
STRAND CELTIC:
Noel Stephenson, James Gaughan, Paul Leonard, Brian Hamilton, Carl McEnroe, Adrian McMunn, Declan Brennan, James Keaney, Yuki Osada, Keelan Cawley, Ross Gildea Sub: Ryan McEnroe.
SWINFORD: Damien Geraghty, Dean Gillespie, James Henry, Tomas Gallagher, Kevin Moran, Marty Conlon, Martin Sweeney, Dara Price, Barry McShea, Pearse Walshe, Kevin McShea Subs: Chris Reddington, Paul Convey, James Tully.
Referee: Aidan Nevin.
