Boys U15 (2011) Premier - Clane

Clane United 6 vs Naas AFC 2

Hard to complete a report on today's fixture. For a game that was so tight for an hour and reached a scoreline of 2-2 with 10 minutes to play its difficult to explain how the game got away from Naas so badly late on.

Naas started the match brightly with Dara O’Shea and Conor Gillespie carrying their usual level of threat in attack in the early stages.

After 3 minutes Dara was swiftly on to a ball clipped in behind the Clane defence. From his shot the Clane Keeper made a fine save which broke to Conor Gillespie to provide a composed finish from 11 yards to give Naas the lead.

A fine match was been well contested over the next 20 minutes with little to choose beetween the teams. At this time another ball was clipped behind the Clane defence which Conor Gillespie was smartly on to. He was very unlucky to see his finish come back of the Clane post in what would prove to be a big moment in the match

On the last play of the first half Naas were then fortunate to see a free header conceded from a free kick come back of the underside of the crossbar to be picked up by Alec Walsh in goals.

Early in the second half Clane enjoyed a strong spell and were rewarded with two well taken goals in the first 10 minutes.

Naas then responded and were very unfortunate not to equalise when Conor Gillespie, Dara O’Shea and Senan Browne all had goal bound shots blocked in a scramble close to the Clane goal

Shortly after on a ball which broke on the edge of the Clane box Conor Gillespie very bravely got his head to the ball beetween the Clane goalkeeper and Centre Back with enough power for it to reach the net and level the score at 2-2. This was a deserved second goal for Conor who along with Dara O’Shea were both outstanding performers throughout the match. But for some awful offside calls against Dara in particular both lads could have scored multiple goals today

With 15 minutes to go it was all to play for. Then unfortunately from a position where a Clane player was tripped going away from goal a penalty was awarded.

From the spot Alec Walsh made a terrific save while also holding on to the ball. It's not the first penalty save Alec has made this season in a match where he was also a top performer with excellent box management skills very evident and a number of fine saves made during the match.

At this time we really thought the penalty save would energise the team. The loss of team captain Sean Durnin at the back who has been struggling recently with an ankle injury during the 2nd half was also now being felt for the leadership quality he provides.

From the moment Clane scored their 3rd goal in the 61st minute the energy just seemed to fade totally from the Naas performance. 3 further goals followed within 5 minutes allowing for a very disappointing finish to what was an absorbing contests for the first hour.

Naas will regroup and with some key squad members to return we will look forward to our next match with Kilcullen next Saturday with a full squad available. In a league where teams are capable of taking points of each other there is still plenty to play for

Best for Naas today

Conor Gillespie

Dara o Shea

Alec Walsh

Henry Walsh

by Fran G.