u15 Rock Celtic 6-4 Bellurgan
ALAN SMITH and Killian Dempsey both scored hattricks for visitors Rock Celtic as they picked up the points in this free-flowing and entertaining Under-15 Division 1 clash last Saturday.
Bellurgan started well and were deservedly awarded a penalty which was coolly dispatched by Conor Loughran, but this woke Rock from their slumbers and soon they were 3-1 up, with goals through their leading front men, with Conor Boyle, Chris Williams, Alex Hanneffy and Craig Bannon excelling in midfield.
Smith added another goal soon after the break, but the introduction of Shane Gregory resulted in Bellurgan taking control in the second half and scoring goals in quick succession from Gregory and Lorcan O’Hanlon to trail only 4-3.
An injury to Malachy Quinn unsettled Rock for a while, but they responded with another two goals from Smith and Dempsey who both completed their hat-tricks, only for Bellurgan to hit back through a well-taken Conor Lynch goal – 6-4 to Rock.
Both teams had chances to score further goals before a late attack by Rock resulted in Ciaran Fee adding a late strike.
Best for Bellurgan were Conor Loughran, Shane Gregory, Conor Lynch and Lorcan O’Hanlon. Man of the match for Rock was Craig Bannon, closely followed by Hanneffy, Dempsey, Smith and Niall Campbell.
Rock Celtic: B Mooney, S Gallagher, C O’Sullivan, C Williams, C Boyle, N Campbell, C Bannon, J McGowan, M Quinn, A Smith, K Dempsey, P Farrelly, A Lynch, F Joyce, A Hanneffy, C Fee.
1 December 2012
U13 Premier: St Domnics 0- 4 Rock Celtic
Rock continued their brilliant form with another emphatic win over St Dominic’s. On a bitterly cold night Rock stamped their authority on the game from the offset with the brilliant Mark Hanna and Conor Soraghon sniffing out any attacks from the opposition. This lead the foundations for Rock to launch their own attacks with Oisin Meegan and Oisin Murtagh rampant on both wings. The first goal came when the ref rewarded a penalty after heroic rearguard from St Dominic’s. Oisin Meegan stepped up and cooly slotted home. Rock should have added to that lead with the impressive Oisin Geogaghan and Jonathan Kieran’s causing all sorts of problems for the Doms back line. The second goal finally came when the left back goal machine Aidan Curtin slotted home after good work from Oisin Murtagh. Rock rang the changes but it didn’t impact on the flow of their game, with Patrick Craven, Niall Smyth, Kerry Obeigfun, Josh Connolly, Conor Neary, Jack Barron and Dara Farrelly all making a hugh impression on the game.
The third goal came when Oisin Murtagh finally latched onto a loose ball and scored the goal his overall played deserved.Oisin Geogaghan continued his fine goal scoring form when he slotted in the fourth. In what was once again an all round brilliant squad display ,special mention has to go to Mark Hanna,Conor Soroghon, Johnaton Kieran’s, Dara Farrelly, Oisin Murtagh, Oisin Meegan, Aidan Curtin and Mr reliable himself Liam O Callaghan.
A special thank you to our match sponsors M+G Footwear
U11 Premier: New Generation 2 – 2 Rock Celtic
A bitterly cold morning in Bellew Park as Rock Celtic took to the pitch to face a stiff test against 2nd place New Generation. The pitch itself was frost free but very wet underfoot which would play its part in this exciting clash. The early exchanges were evenly matched with the first clear chance falling to Rock’s Charlie Murdock. Players on both sides found their passes falling short being held up by the wet conditions. Rock settled first and pressed hard taking full advantage of confusion in front of the goals to notch up the first goal after 7 mins. Donal Leavy came close to extending the lead a minute later. Declan Curtin created havoc on the left wing when, in a scene reminiscent of Top Gun, surrounded by 4 opposition players he still managed to get his pass away. New Generation started to come into the match towards the end of the first half as their number 7 began to make an impact. A great header by Rock’s Conor McVerry was saved brilliantly by New Generation’s keeper who had a busy first half. A quick breakaway saw New Generation’s No. 7 get the equaliser just before the half ended.
The second half started brightly. Rock moved defender Cillian Duffy to the right wing to counteract the no. 7’s pace, and Rock settled into attack. Donal Leavy forced the best save from the New Generation keeper who managed to stretch a leg to stop a certain goal. Mark Durkin followed up quickly with another effort that was again foiled by an excellent save. The pressure finally paid off when Declan Curtin somehow managed to score from a corner giving Rock the lead into the last few minutes of the match. A long clearance by New Generation forced a corner and they lined up and profited from an excellent cross and some poor Rock defending to equalise once more. New Generation had the best of the remaining minutes forcing a great save by Neil McQuillan in the dying moments to keep the score 2- 2. Overall Rock had the best of the play and were unlucky not to come away with all the points from this encounter. Man of the Match was Donal Leavy who will lead out Rock as captain in the next match.
2 December 2012
U10 Premier: Rock Celtic 1 – 0 Muirhevnamore
A great team performance this morning involving all 13 players. The midfield trio of Mark Gallagher, Fiachra O’Hanlon and Dara Quinn set the tone with a commanding first half display, winning most of the ball around the middle of the park and sniffing out the constant danger posed by the long kick outs from the visitor’s goal keeper. The first half defensive unit of Cillian, Adam and Eoin Byrne were well on top. Upfront Sennan Carroll had his best game of the season constantly harassing the Muirhevnamore defenders and playing some nice passes back to the midfielders. The team responded well to the pre-match request for plenty of shots on target with Fiachra, Steve, Dara and Mark all letting fly from distance during the first half. Cillian Duffey was in flying form breaking from defense down the right side and playing in a number of great balls into the danger zone. With a little bit more composure and perhaps an extra touch or two the Rock lads could have found themselves a few goals up at the break. Half time changes for Rock saw the introduction of Jamie Callan for Adam and Layo Adenajo for Steve Kamtchou with Gavin Lynch on for Sennan Carroll early in the second half.
The Rock goal finally came thanks to a super individual run by Dara Quinn weaving his way into the penalty box from the left side of midfield. His shot on goal was deflected away to the incoming Mark Gallagher whose follow up shot looped off the defender and into the net. Keeper Jack Donhoe had a great game in goals, making a number of fantastic runs off his line to clear up behind his defenders when the visitors broke through later in the second half. His smart passing out to Eoin Byrne and Cillian Duffey allowed them to make some great forward runs out of defense. Mark Gallagher switched to the right wing for the second half tortured the Muirhevnamore back line with his skill and pace and was always a danger. The second half strike force of Gavin and Layo worked hard and held the ball up well and showed some nice touches. Gavin was unlucky not to get on the score sheet when his left foot strike hit the post. Muirhevnamore pushed everyone up for the last 5 minutes in an effort to get an equaliser and one of their forwards had a good chance to score when a wonderful sliding tackle by Jamie Callan averted the danger. All in all it was a great all round performance and a well deserved win.
A special thank you to our match sponsor Lisa Hanna
U12 Division 1: Bellurgan Celtic 2-2 Rock Ville.
But for a pair of defensive lapses in the second half Rock Ville might have registered a second win of the campaign in a match they dominated from start to finish away to Bellurgan Celtic but had to settle for a share of the
points with the home team. Rock started brightly, attacking from the off and Bellurgan proved unable to get a foothold in the game. Rock central defenders Oisin McDermott and skipper Conor Casey proved impassible. Though most of the first period was spent in Bellurgan’s own half, Rock didn’t break the deadlock until a rare Bellurgan breakaway gifted Rock’s ‘keeper James McNamara the ball. Thinking quickly and no doubt aware of the hard ground from last night’s frost, James launched a high ball for Rock striker Oisin Cleary to chase. Oisin watched the bounce and timed his run to perfection striking an unstoppable shot past the Bellurgan custodian. Rock kept probing, Peter Woulfe pulling the strings in midfield alongside Thomas Jackson and Adam Stewart, both of whom were tireless and tenacious giving Bellurgan’s midfielders and defenders a torrid time. Declan Curtin ever a mercurial presence along the left touchline came close several times and Isaac McGahon his colleague on the right wing found plenty of space but somehow Rock couldn’t add to their tally and went into the break ahead by the slender margin of Oisin’s goal.
The pattern of previous games had seen Rock let up somewhat in the second half and sure enough Bellurgan began to find more of the ball. Defenders Conor, Liam and Niall O’Reilly called into sevice to make some well timed interceptions and substitutes Eamonn Daly and James Carron came on in turn to bolster the defense. The home team eventually saw their efforts rewarded with an equalizer though in truth Rock might have done better in trying to clear the ball in the buildup. It wouldn’t be fair to blame Rock central defenders who had held firm. Liam Cafferty who had moved back to the centre alongside Conor having played right back in the first half was tigerish in the challenge and he and Conor repelled almost all that Bellurgan fired at them. However they were left outnumbered with the full backs and midfielders a little tardy in tracking back. Rock were undaunted though and unlike previous games they did not let the setback affect them unduly as they continued to press Bellurgan, Adam and Thomas getting stuck in to win the
ball. Peter Woulfe’s wonder goal eventually gave the initiative back to the away side. Peter capped off a mazy solo run, slaloming his way through the home midfield and defense with a fine finish. Moments later Isaac attempted to emulate him making his way past several defenders but seeing his strike saved by the beleaguered Bellurgan ‘keeper. Rock kept pressing, Declan seeing more of the ball, tormenting the Bellurgan right back but the keeper rebuffed a series of Rock efforts. Rock won corner after corner but couldn’t double their advantage and were left to rue missed chances when a defensive mixup gifted Bellurgan a precious equalizer. Still Rock pressed, winning corner after corner but they just ran out of time to seek a winner. It may have felt to the away players like two points dropped as they walked off the pitch but they can still be satisfied with a precious away point and a much improved performance.
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