Deadly Denver strike completes Celtic’s confident comeback
ARKLOW CELTIC CARNEW AFC 3 0
A stunning late strike from Fionán Denver secured a dramatic victory for Arklow Celtic in the Under-14 Interim Final second leg at the Back Alley last Tuesday evening.
In bitterly cold and wet conditions it was the physically stronger Arklow side who dominated the fixture although the brave Carnew side never gave up until the final whistle sounded.
That final whistle inspired pure delight among the Arklow Celtic players and sideline as they had succeeded in overturning a 2-0 deficit from the first leg at Celtic Park to the 3-2 victory that secured the Under-14 Interim title.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable battle from start to finish with some lovely football played despite the sweeping rain and numbing cold.
Both defences were battling hard in the opening 15 minutes with the Arklow side managing to keep a lid on Ben Gilligan’s efforts as the Carnew attacker did his best to threaten James Ffrench’s goal and hold up the ball until support arrived. Carnew’s Conor Neville and Shane Byrne were also very busy trying to thwart the intentions of Ronan Gilpin and Danielle Lambe.
The main danger on the field from an Arklow Celtic point of view was Ryan Kavanagh. Over the course of this game the Arklow lad was excellent in everything he did, and it was his cross that unlocked the Carnew defence to give Celtic a massive foothold in the game.
Carnew had committed numbers to an attack at the other end and a speculative shot had been cleared. The impressive Danielle Lambe provided a vital addition to the move when she swept the ball out to the onrushing Kavanagh who took a nice touch and swung it into the Carnew box where Ronan Gilpin was on hand to send it home past Rolan Chlechitozw for the game’s opening goal.
It was obvious that Arklow Celtic really believed that this title was theirs for the taking and they produced plenty of quality attacks for the remainder of the first half with Carnew’s Dan Redmond saving the day from one attack and Conor Neville shining shortly afterwards to keep out a Ryan Kavanagh shot.
There was no letup in conditions as the second half got underway. Arklow Celtic could call on Fionán Denver who arrived late at the fixture while Danielle Lambe had retreated to a more defensive role late in the first half to stymie the threat of Ben Gilligan. Sadly, for Lambe, her game ended in the second half when she went over awkwardly on her already bandaged knee and had to be helped from the field. The Arklow Celtic player had put in a massive shift at both ends of the field and remained on the sideline in the bitter cold to cheer on her comrades.
It took them 28 minutes to find the goal that levelled the tie. In that time both sides showed plenty of endeavour and enterprise, but it was Fionán Denver who was the ultimate difference. A fine sturdy footballer with lovely feet, he pounced on a defensive error to wallop home to make it 2-0 to the visitors and 2-2 overall.
Could Carnew lock it down for the last few minutes to force extra-time?
The answer was an emphatic ‘no’. A ball broke in midfield. Denver pounced, showed sweet feet and brought the ball into space where he could swing the left boot. Roland Chlechitozw never for one second imagined that Denver would have a go from all of 30 yards but have a go he did. He launched a missile that flew into the top corner of the Carnew goal and sent the Arklow Sideline wild with delight.
To their credit, Carnew kept searching and searching and Trevor Gilligan had thrown caution to the wind and instructed them to attack at will but the performances of Sean Poku, Adam Mullervy, Conor Gahan and Marcus Wolff to name a few kept the Carnew attack at bay and helped their side to a wonderful win in a bitterly cold Back Alley.
1. James Ffrench,
2. Sean Poku, 3. Adam Mullervy 4. Conor Gahan, 5. Marcus Wolff, 6. Ryan Kavanagh. 7. Eoin O’Neill, 8. Seán Britchfield, 9. Michal Ciszek, 10. Ronan Gilpin, 11. Danielle Lambe, 12. Seán Murphy, 13. Riain Fortune, 16. Fionán Denver.
Arklow Celtic:
1. Roland Chlechitozw, 2. Will Molloy, 3. Conor Neville,
4. Shane Byrne, 5. Dan Redmond, 6. Christopher Nolan, 7. Aaron Fitzpatrick, 8. Richard Greene, 9. Ben Gilligan, 10. Mike O’Sullivan, 11. Charlie O’Sullivan, 12. Jack Keogh, 13. Josh Byrne, 14. Daniel Wright.
Paul Canavan
Carnew AFC: Referee: