Boys U16 (2009) Major - Castle Villa

For our first league match of the season, we travelled to Castledermot for an away game versus Castle Villa. We kicked off under sunny skies at 12:30. We started the game strongly, creating chances and controlling possesion in the opening minutes. We were playing an unfamiliar 4-5-1 formation, but we made great use of Sean Onwere and Tadhg Keane on the wings. With that in mind, with around 15 minutes gone, Sean Onwere made a charging run down the right hand side and played a great ball across the box to Tadhg Keane, who finished in style. 

With the lead in our hands, we only got stronger. Castle Villa piled on the pressure but it was nothing our defence couldnt handle. Late in the first half, Castle Villa were awarded a free kick in a dangerous area, just outside the box. With the shot heading for the top left corner, Craig pulled off an unbelievable save to deny the opposition their equaliser, bringing us in 1 nil up at half time. 

In the second half Castle Villa really upped the tempo, bringing attack after attack upon us. We had our work cut out defending for a large part of the second half, but two great performances from our center backs, Ross and Conor, left Castle Villa with no option but to shoot from range time and time again, which Craig handled like it was nothing.

Towards the end of the game, with the score still at 1-0, a few heavy challenges were put in and the game turned sour. Castle Villa were very physical, and showed us an area of our game we need to improve. 

Entering the closing stages, Sean O’Donnell broke down the left handside and saw clever Daniel Taritas run through their center backs. Sean played a great pass and Daniel came onto it first time and lobbed the opposition keeper, who was helpless to stop it as the ball soared over his head into the net. This put is 2-0 up with the game almost over.

Castle Villa began to lose their heads at the end of the match, putting in some horrible tackles and even earning a red card with a just few minutes left. We kept our composure and held out for an opening day win and clean sheet, which was all down to Craig and the hard work of the defence, who were unreal today.

2-0 was a great result against a team coming down from the top division, and shows us we can compete and win at this level. Overall a great performance. Well done lads 👏👏