Boys U15 (2011) Premier - Kill Celtic

Naas AFC 3 vs Kill Celtic 2

With match referee Wayne Doyle wisely asking for an earlier 6-45pm kick off this strongly contested local derby was played in testing windy conditions on Pitch 1. It must be noted pitch 1 is in very impressive condition to play football at present.

Naas started the brighter with Fabio Kolakowski linking well with Dara o Shea on a couple of occasions early on. Dara forced a good save from the Kill goalkeeper to earn a corner after 7 minutes.

Dara and Conor Gillespie were also unlucky not to put each other through on goal in two other dangerous Naas moves in the first 10 minutes.

Another corner was earned in the 11th minute. Roddy Cummins flighted an excellent ball with pace which was met with a really powerful and excellent header by Jamie Byrnes from 10 yards to give Naas the lead. It was no more than Naas deserved at this point.

From the 15th minute the team performance became a little disjointed for a period. Kill were clearly very motivated for this fixture and were pressing quickly on our players in midfield and defence. On occasion we tended to take more touches than necessary rather than moving the ball on to a team mate in a better position to help create space.

In the 25th minute of a free kick played into our box the ball was initially blocked on the line but a Kill player was first to react when the ball broke to force home the equaliser.

There was no clear opportunity for either team as half time approached. In the last minute of the half Nass delivered a corner which was half cleared and as the ball was played back into the box Conor Gillespie with real hunger got to the ball in front of the Kill Centre Half who tackled him heavily from behind. Without hesitation the Match referee pointed to the spot and awarded a penalty. After taking a moment to shake of the effects of the tackle Conor stepped up and finished clinically from the penalty spot, sending the keeper the wrong way to give Naas the lead on the verge of Half Time.

The 2nd Half continued as the first had finished with Naas being drawn into a physical battle with a number of long balls being sent down on top of our defence. During this spell the team were struggling to get their usual level of pass and move football going.

Team Captain Sean Durnin and Tyler Gleeson were competing strongly in getting in important challenges during this spell. Ilya Cerepanovs was quite simply masterful throughout the match. His ability to read danger and sweep up balls played in behind is most impressive. On top of this he also has the class to be able to find a team mate with a pass when coming out of defence.

Alec Walsh our Goalkeeper was also managing his box area really well with the multiple long balls being played in behind by Kill especially in the second half. Alec was able to judge when to play and when to clear his lines as necessary in another impressive display this evening.

Naas did put together a very good move on which a free kick was earned on the left wing in the 48th minute. Roddy Cummins again flighted a lovely ball which broke to Jamie Byrnes whose shot was blocked on the line. On the rebound Conor Gillespies effort was well saved by the Kill Keeper.

In the 53rd minute Naas conceded a free kick on the left side of our box. A well flighted ball was attacked with more desire by the Kill players and for the second time they were back on level terms.

From this point on the game went from side to side with Naas playing more football and shots on target coming in from Jamie Byrnes and Senan Browne. As the last minute approached Jamie Byrnes inside his own half showed strength and quality to break a tackle. He moved the ball nicely to his midfield colleague Fabio Kolakowski who came on to the ball with pace and showing a lot of skill drove Naas forward. Fabio spotted the run made by Conor Gillespie in front of him and delivered a perfect pass. Conor still had a lot to do but showing real composure he drove into the Kill box and finished very smartly beyond the Kill Goalkeeper to put Naas back in front. The players produced a move of real quality just as it looked fairly certain the match would finish 2-2.

The referee played a few minutes injury time and Naas defended solidly during this spell to earn a very hard fought 3 points.

There are aspects in this performance we will certainly look to improve on. It is important to note this may have been a match we would have lost earlier in the season but the team even when not at their best this evening really rolled up their sleeves and kept going.

The players will now look forward to our next fixture which is the first of two league games to come at home with leaders Kilcock on Wednesday evening next.

Best for Naas this evening

Conor Gillespie

Ilya Cerepanovs

Roddy Cummins

Fabio Kolakowski

Jamie Byrnes

Alec Walsh