Castleknock Tournament- 2008
Castleknock Invitational Tournament – Under 8’s
Match Reports – St. Ita’s AFC view
St. Ita’s AFC were invited to Castleknock for the Under 8 Football Tournament which included Castleknock Celtic, Kilmessan, Johnstown. The format was 9 a-side, which gave us two extra players for each game. We were very interested to see how this would work out as we usually only have 7 on the pitch at any one time. Players from all the teams met with the referee for the day before the first game where he emphasised that there would be no losers today, all the youngsters would be winners. A fun day was planned and all had a fun day.
Match 1:
St. Ita’s AFC –V- Kilmessan
Captain for St. Ita’s AFC’s first match of the day was Jordan. Both teams were very even in a close game where it looked like one goal could win it for either team. Kilmessan’s goalkeeper and defenders did a great job in keeping out close shots from Joseph, Niall and Sean while great defending from David and Cian kept this game at 0-0. Both teams deserved a draw.
Match 2:
St. Ita’s AFC – V- Castleknock Celtic
Captain for the second match was Niall. After a 0-0 draw between Castleknock Celtic and ourselves in a League Match earlier in the year, we knew that these two teams were eventually balanced and it was no different today. We started very well with Niall, Luke and Katie all going close. Castleknock Celtic put on a bit of pressure coming to the end of the first half but Riley managed to make the saves to keep the score at 0-0. Just before half-time, Dion received the ball on the halfway line before beating two players and racing through to hit an unsaveable shot to put us 1-0. In the second half, it was very even again, and this game could have ended 1-1 or 2-0 but both defences played extremely well. The pace of this game was very fast and technique very high. The game finished 1-0. Two games played and only one goal scored yet the level of play suggested that the goals would come.
Match 3:
St. Ita’s AFC – V - Johnstown
Captain for our third match was Dion. What a game!!! This game had everything… Misses….Saves…..Last ditch tackles…..goal line clearances….two penalties and 5 goals. Johnstown started much quicker than St. Ita’s AFC and deservedly took the lead with a long-range effort that flew past Riley in goal. Again, technique was very high in this game and was evident in Katie’s goal. Niall passed on a good kick out from Riley for Katie to race past the defender and finish coolly into the bottom right hand corner. Next was the first penalty of the game, when Christopher unfortunately handled the ball in the box. Johnstown scored once again from this penalty. Right on the stroke of half time, Niall struck home to make it level. In the second half, there was great pressure from a number of corners for St. Ita’s AFC that finally resulted in a penalty for us. Once again, Niall made sure the keeper had no chance. St. Ita’s AFC almost got a fourth goal when good work by Chris and Sean put Luke through only for great keeper skills from Johnstown goalkeeper. The game finished 3-2 and the group stages were now complete.
After the group stages, a well deserved half hour break was had by all. This included goodie bags, which were supplied by Castleknock Celtic to all the youngsters who played. We needed these for our energy for the next two games that were due to come.
Semi-Final:
St. Ita’s AFC – V - Kilmessan
Captain for the semi-final was Luke. A young Kilmessan team were to be our opponents for this semi. After the 0-0 in the first game, we expected another very tight game. Luckily for St. Ita’s, two quick goals from Niall and Luke set us up for an easier game. This seemed to give our players plenty of confidence and all the skills came out for all to see. It was 2-0 at half time. The second half saw more of the same with three goals from Luke, Niall and Jordan. Kilmessan to their credit battled extremely hard and never let their heads drop and were a credit to their managers and parents. We were delighted to have played this wonderful team twice and made new friends and look forward to seeing them again at a future tournament. The game finished 5-0 and fuelled great celebrations.
Final
St. Ita’s AFC –V- Castleknock Celtic The great thing about a tournament like this was that we knew when we started that we had five games to play. So win, loose or draw, all teams had their own final to play. We were delighted to hear that our good friends of Castleknock had won their semi-final and that we would be playing them again in our final match. Captain for the final was our very talented only girl on the team today, Katie. Katie showed marvellous skills on the day and led the team in the final game to a 3-0 win with goals from Niall, Jordan and an ecstatic Christopher who had given away a penalty in an earlier game. Only great defending from Luke, David and Cian kept St. Ita’s with a clean sheet not to the want of trying from Castleknock Celtic who again gave as good as they got. At the final whistle, as in all games, all the players shook hands and congratulated each other.
Conclusion:
We were very interested to see what would happen with the 9 a-side football and shorter halves. 9 a-side made it much easier for us to make substitutions as we only had 3 subs per game compared to our usual 5. In all games today, each player played in every game for at least one full half. The shortened halves meant we seem to start the games slowly and as the games went on, we felt that the team got into their stride quicker. Maybe we should play two practice games before we play our league matches in future. We were delighted with the technical ability of all players in all games, control, passing, shooting and fair play was at a very high level.
Thanks
St. Ita’s AFC management team would like to thank John Delaney and his team for first of all inviting us to this very well organised tournament. We would like to thank any sponsors who were involved not only for the fabulous medals and beautiful cup but also the goodie packs which the youngsters thoroughly enjoyed (some of the parents too). A special mention to both Referees who emphasised the fun element of football rather than the winning mentality, which is often seen at junior football. They continually encouraged children during the game and were a credit to all referees. We would like to thank the three teams that we played, some twice, their managers and their parents for supporting not only their own children but our children as well. A great day was had by all and we hope we will be invited again.
