Castlebar Celtic 2 - 1 Raheny United

Resolute defending and no little amount of luck saw Castlebar Celtic come away with all three points from their home encounter with Raheny United. After going behind early to a Shauna Cook goal, the hosts reclaimed the lead with two goals from Emma Hansbury and then had Marie Harrington and Aisling Concannon to thank for keeping the visitors at bay with stellar performances at the back for Celtic.

The game was in its infancy when the greater cohesion in attack displayed by United paid early dividends. Mary Waldron, who would go on to have a war of attrition with Harrington, forced an early corner to be taken by Kate McCabe. The left footers cross was met expertly by Shauna Cook who finished with aplomb.

With the way Raheny began the contest it seemed as though this might be a long afternoon for Celtic. Rebecca Cray in particular was effective down the right side for a Raheny side that in its entirely looked accomplished on the ball and dangerous anytime they ventured into the Celtic half.

Celtic however, were dogged in their pursuit of parity and soon started to work the space on the break to fashion some half chances. Hansbury came close after 12 minutes when she was the recipient of a Emma Mullen pass after the striker had rode two challenges, but the strikers effort was blocked out for a corner. The resultant corner would ultimately lead to the equaliser. Shauna Jackson floated a cross into the danger area that was not dealt with properly by the Raheny defence and Emma Mullen was able to get a shot off that was blocked into the path of Hansbury who made no mistake from six yards, slotting home into the bottom corner.

Despite the leveller, Raheny stuck to their fluid passing game with Sandra Mulhall and Mary Waldron, again, to the fore. Celtic were playing a high defensive line that suited the pace of Harrington who was able to cover adequately when the ball was played in behind, but such is the danger with this system Mulhall, Waldron and McCabe all nearly found themselves in one on one situations that would surely have put the game back into Raheny's favour, only for the flag to go up
with routine consistency.
 

Castlebar made good use of the space on the break again on 28 minutes when they took the lead again the run of play in rather fortuitous fashion. Mullen again made a nuisance of herself on the edge of the area shrugging off the attentions of Ciara Grant before feeding Hansbury down the right channel. Hansbury’s high cross was taken by the wind towards the goal where Niamh Reid Bourke fumbled to the net under the crossbar.

With the lead now secured, attention clearly turned to keeping the Raheny ladies at bay, which was no small feat. Waldron was the first to come close when she fired over from the edge of the area after good link up play with Mulhall. She again came close when her snapshot on the turn was blocked by Harrington who was playing out of her skin in competition with Waldron.
 

In the lead up to halftime it was all Raheny as they pressed for the equaliser before the whistle, Siobhan Killeen had the last shot in anger of the half but screwed her shot wide and Celtic had half the job done.
 

A few changes were made at the interval for both sides as the respective mission statements evolved in different directions. Megan Campbell came in for Raheny as they sought to equalise as Suzie Cunningham came in for Celtic as they looked to consolidate their lead. Both changes had the desired effect in what turned out to be a war of attrition. Raheny started to command the ball with authority in the second half and yet could not break down the Celtic rearguard that was well drilled and ferocious in the tackle.
 

It wasn’t until the 70th minute that Raheny started to make their possession show in the final third. Mulhall should really have done better when she found a sight of goal 8 yards out but fired over much to the consternation of the management who were getting more and more animated as the clock ticked down. The heart rates in the visitors camped weren’t helped either by what they judged to have been a hand ball in the penalty area that referee Tom Munroe decided against.

In a brief respite for the hosts Mullen won a free kick 25 yards out from the Raheny goal and decided on an effort at the nets. Reid Bourke had to get down smartly to keep the effort from nestling in the corner and Raheny were again on the attack.
 

Katie Flood came in for Katie McCabe in the Raheny attack and almost bore immediate results when she got on to the end of Rebecca ray cross only to see her header sail wide and we were now entering the final few minutes.

As the visitors pushed and pushed for an equaliser they seemed to abandon the cohesive play that had bore chances earlier in the game, in favour of the route one tactic that in truth played into the hands of Harrington and Avril Kilkelly who were accomplished under the high ball. Killeen however did get one more chance to equalise in stoppage time but her first time volley was well saved by Concannon who was in no rush to release the ball allowing the game to peter out.

Castlebar Celtic: Aisling Concannon; Caroll Hegarty, Avril Kilkelly, Marie Harrington, Jenny Byrne; Lauren Bowles, Aileen Gilroy, Grainne Barrett, Shauna Jackson; Emma Mullen, Emma Hansbury. Subs: Ciara Caroll for Carol Hegarty, Suzie Cunningham for Ciara Caroll

Raheny United: Niamh Reid Bourke; Ciara Grant, Rebecca Walsh, Shauna Newman; Shauna Cook, Rebecca Cray, Rachel Graham, Katie McCabe; Sandra Mulhall, Siobhan Killeen, Mary Waldron.
Subs: Megan Campbell for Shauna Newman, Catherine Cronin for Sandra Mulhall, Katie Flood for Katie Mulhall