Celtic shine in Under-13 final
middle Innes was ready to cut out the danger, and when they went over the top both centre-backs and goalkeeper were on the same wavelength. It was a fantastic display, all over the field.
On the other hand, All Blacks will be sick after this game. They never let their heads drop and battled on without much joy but could never find the form that saw them dispatch Carrick in the quarters and Evergreen in the last four. Some days things just don’t work out and they’ll be back, stronger for the experience.
Celtic pounced on them from the kick-off and were ahead inside five minutes when O Lionáin whipped the ball in from the left and Oisín Kavanagh nodded past James Wright from the edge of the six-yard box. At the other end, Killian Whelan was quick off his line to deny Ben Rossiter in the eighth minute.
After a period of sparring, the crucial second goal went Celtic’s way eleven minutes before the interval. This time it was a simple Harry Curtis ball over the top that caught All Blacks napping. Jack Dempsey latched onto it and sent a vicious half-volley past Wright between the sticks.
A Kyle Rankin free that drifted high and wide was as close as All Blacks came to pulling one back at the end of the first-half. They came out after half-time with plenty of purpose but found Celtic a tough nut to crack.
The game was over as a contest in the 39th minute when Dempsey used his pace to sear clear down the left, round the last defender and finish expertly to the far corner. It was four nine minutes later when O Lionáin’s left-wing free-kick fell to playmaker Darby Purcell in the box and he poked to an empty net.
With the game meandering to a conclusion, deep into injury-time Celtic scored their fifth. Again O Lionáin claimed the assist, chipping through for Curtis to volley with great accuracy to the All Blacks net.
On a side note, Southend beat Borris St. Kevin’s in the preceding Under-12 Jack Carthy Cup final and it was great to see a big Wexford contingent, especially members of Jack’s family, there to present the cup to the victors.