Boys U15 (2011) Premier - Rathangan

RATHANGAN 1 NAAS AFC 2

As the Naas Premier team lined out for a tough away fixture with Rathangan on Wednesday evening the players were asked to match the recent performance level against Kilcullen in the Cup. We were missing a number of key squad members for this fixture but the team certainly produced.

Naas started the match well with some good passing moves allowing the majority of players to get an early touch. In the 5th minute Fabio Kolakowski played a good pass towards the left wing to Conor Gillespie.

Conor came on to the ball and with real pace and skill cut inside past the left back and then beat the Centre Back before finishing clinically past the Rathangan keeper to open the scoring in style.

Naas continued to dominate as the half progressed. Danny Diver playing at right back was outstanding throughout and was leading the way in defence with returning Captain Sean Durnin and Ilya Cerepanovs also both very impressive at Centre Back.

Jamie Byrnes despite being on the end of two very heavy early challenges neither of which received yellow cards was controlling the midfield area in his usual impressive style giving another outstanding display this evening. Tyler Gleeson was also central and performing strongly in the CDM role as he continued to do throughout the match.

Matthew Courtney who had stepped in to help the squad this evening played very well and worked very hard on the left wing during this period also.

In the 22nd minute Conor Gillespie showed strength and determination in winning a ball ahead of the centre back who then went through the back of him 30 yards from goal to earn a free kick.

Another outstanding performer Roddy Cummins who had just arrived stood over the ball and planned with Ilya Cerepanovs who would strike. Ilya stepped up and the ball deflected of a Rathangan defender and with a strikers instinct Conor Gillespie was in the right place to double the lead. Conor had an outstanding match this evening and lead the line brilliantly throughout showing real leadership with his usual strike partner Dara o Shea unavailable for this fixture.

Naas were flying at this point and in the minutes that followed Tyler Gleeson was desperately unlucky to see a bullet of a header from 10 yards come back of the underside of the crossbar.

Shortly after Conor Gillespie played a perfectly weighted reverse pass for Finn Ryan who showed great determination in holding off the left back before forcing an absolutely brilliant save from the Rathangan keeper. Finn played very well on the right wing this evening and shows the depth in our squad. We are very fortunate to have a player of Finn's calibre within the group and he has also shown a superb attitude all season.

With 4 minutes to go to HT our only concern was the team should have been out of sight and then we were caught. A well put together move from Rathangan saw their striker do very well to hold off Sean Durnin and finish smartly past Alec Walsh.

During the Half Time break the message was to keep playing football and stretching the pitch and continuing to control the fixture. There was a good energy within the group and a collective determination not to let things slip.

Naas were to dominate the 2nd half with Jamie Byrnes, Conor Gillespie, Roddy Cummins, Danny Diver, Tyler Gleeson,Finn Ryan, Ilya Cerpanovs and Sean Durnin all excellent during the opening 20 minutes.

Naas created further chances with Tyler Gleeson and Jamie Byrnes both getting off shots. Roddy Cummins forced another good save from the keeper while Conor Gillespie was unlucky the ball did not fall for him after chasing a lost cause to get in a great block close to the Rathangan goal.

In the last 10 minutes Kai Hammersley was by now adding refreshed energy on the right wing also. Kai is another player who is an integral member of our squad. Naas continued to probe and showed excellent game management in the closing stages lead by Jamie Byrnes, Tyler Gleeson and Fabio Kolakowski in midfield with Roddy Cummins, Conor Gillespie and Kai Hammersley all showing their football intelligence in winning a number of throws and corners for the team during this period.

Rathangan were given no opportunity to test Alec Walsh in search of an equalising goal throughout the second half.

A very good Naas performance. Back to back matches were opportunities for the opposition were very limited. With the group showing great togetherness and with a run of upcoming fixtures we will look to keep building momentum.

There is still a lot to play for in the league and an upcoming Cup 1/4 Final to be played also

Roll on the next fixture at home to Kill on Wednesday evening April 15th

Best for Naas today

Jamie Byrnes

Conor Gillespie

Danny Diver

Roddy Cummins

Tyler Gleeson

Finn Ryan

Ilya Cerepanovs

Sean Durnin