Boys U13 (2013) Premier - Kilcullen AFC
It was a very windy morning on the Kilcullen astro pitch. It made for very tricky conditions for both sides but they managed to serve up a very entertaining game.
Playing into a strong wind in the first half Naas set the tempo winning their duels and being very solid defensively. Building on that Naas worked the Kilcullen defence with several probing balls from Rian White and Peter McBride through to wingers Adam Conroy and Kellum Finnegan. The final ball just failing on numerous occasions.
On the twenty minute mark the deadlock was broken when Rian White and Frankie O’Leary combined well to set up Peter McBride who finished high into the net from the edge of he box. It was no more than Naas deserved given the collective defensive efforts of the back four of Max Kennedy, Jamie Dunphy, Callum Hartigan and Christopher Sheridan with help from defensive midfielder Sean Hayden.
The strong winds continued into the second half with Naas having much of the possession. Kilcullen did create a couple of chances but found Finn Dudley on form when they did breach the Naas defence. As Kilcullen probed with a deep free kick set piece the ball bobbled around the box and found its way into the corner of the Naas net to draw the game level.
Naas introduced the fresh legs of Charlie O’Connor, Kian Shanaghy, Mikey Danu and Oscar Ross who put the Kilcullen defence under serious pressure with a high press. Oscar Ross almost put Naas back in front after winning the ball back high in the Kilcullen defensive third but a great save from the Kilcullen keeper kept the gane at 1-1.
As the game was drawing to a close Naas pushed for a winner and when a through ball from Shanaghy was blocked by a Kilcullen arm inside the box the referee pointed to the spot. Kian Shanaghy stepped up to take the penalty himself after winning it and made no mistake sending the keeper the wrong way with a low shot to the bottom left corner.
Naas saw out the remaining minutes with good defending from Dunphy / Hartigan and Jason Gleeson
to claim the win. It’s now two wins from their first four games for Naas in a division that is seeing surprise results & teams taking points off each other every weekend.
