Old Bawn Athletic cruised in to round two of the cup with a 5-0 win over Clondalkin Celtic
Five-star show from Old Bawn
OLD BAWN Athletic sailed into round two of the UCFL Challenge Cup when they met Clondalkin Celtic, in Sean Walsh Park last Saturday, and ran out comfortable 5-0 winners, reports John Mooney.
Despite the strong wind and driving rain sweeping in from the Dublin mountains this was a really good game of football, even if it was a huge disappointment for Clondalkin.
The Celts have been doing well in Division 3C, then again they did have to switch venue due to the weather and Old Bawn, from Division 2, took full advantage with their five star performance.
They wasted no time in settling into the game and on 13 minutes went in front through Aaron Breslin, when he ran onto a through ball from Lewis Talbot and slotted home.
At the half hour mark it was 2-0, this time after Ciaran Melligan chased a long ball from Sean Doran and made no mistake when presented with the chance.
Now, if Clondalkin had thoughts of tightening up in the second half and snatching a quick goal, that was totally undone within two minutes as Breslin struck his second in the 47th minute from a Melligan pass.
An uphill struggle for the visitors but, in fairness, they didn’t drop their heads and carried the game forward.
But, as usual, chasing a game means leaving gaps at the back and the Bawn were only too happy to fill those gaps.
Clondalkin Celtic were well beaten but dug in and kept going until the end
Two more in the space of five minutes put the gloss on a great performance, as Cian Bates bagged two for himself after being set up on both occasions by Breslin on 73 and 78 minutes.
Clondalkin manager David Gilligan commented “We were well beaten by a very good Old Bawn team and just couldn’t get to grips at all with the game.
We made some changes and grew into the game a little but they sat back, and were never in any danger. However, I am happy our lads dug in and kept going till the final whistle”.
CLONDALKIN CELTIC: T. Byrne, G. Greene, E. Murray, C. Forte, S. Bermingham, D. Daly, C. Dobbyns, D. Mitchel, M. Gibson, E. McCusker, D. Brennan.
OLD BAWN AFC: C. Keating, K. Glass, J. Ryan, C. Lyons, S. Doran, G. Perry, A. Breslin, F. Ptak, C. Bates, C. Milligan, L. Talbot, M. Lovett, C. Casey, K. Doran, B. Prout.
