Boys U14 (2012) Major 2 - Clane Utd

Our second game of the season saw us travel away to take on Clane United with a strong breeze blowing down the slope it was always going to make this the cliche game of 2 half’s. Naas played the first half with the advantage of the wind and had the Clane defence pinned in from the very first moment with a ball over the top from the kickoff that had the Clane keeper rushing out to shut down Luke as he tried to latch onto the through ball. Two minutes later a shot from Ben was forced behind for a corner. Charlie took an out swinger that somehow managed to elude everyone inside the six yard box and put out for a corner at the other side. Again Charlie went over to take the corner and like the first effort this too eluded everyone but as it was an in swinging effort it found the back of the net at the far post. It was a goal that was well deserved if not for what happened so far, but for the rest of Charlie‘s man of the match display in the centre of the park. 17 minutes in and Naas nearly doubled their lead after some great work by Scott Byrne and Ben found the latter beating his man and sending a great cross into the centre where Luke rose highest to head the ball goal-wards only for it to clip the top of the bar.

Clane really were struggling to play into the stiff breeze but on their rare attempts on the Naas goal they found the impressive keeper Finn in fine form, saving down low at first and then from a free kick that held up in the wind he came and collected high above the attackers head. We really needed the second goal if we were to make the most of the advantage and with five minutes left we got it! Clane cleared the ball out towards the halfway line but as the ball rolled towards Scott McGarr, there was only one thing on his mind and from 40 yards out he returned the ball with a ferocious hit that the Clane keeper could only parry onto the post and in.

The second half saw the role’s reversed with Clane now using the wind and Naas finding it hard to cope with it. The deficit was halved 10 minutes in when a long ball over the top caught the defence off guard and sent an attacker through one on one and he made no mistake. The second followed not long after when a corner from the right found the Clane centre half on the 6 yard box and he headed beyond the diving Finn. We could have feared the worst but to the lads credit they dug deep and started to reassert themselves on the game and had the best of the chances in the closing minutes firstly a scrambled clearance closely followed by a deflected shot onto a post and then right at the death a free kick that was headed off the line. The lads may feel a little disappointed not to be leaving with all three points, but they showed determination in the face of adversity and remain unbeaten.