Johnstown 1 – Athboy Celtic 1

A late equaliser for Athboy Celtic left Johnstown deflated after a game in which they had controlled possession for the majority of this O’Neills Sportswear Division 1 encounter on Sunday morning.

The opening spell saw Johnstown giving a near master class in retaining possession with their crisp accurate passing, leaving the visitors chasing play all over the park. However, despite seeing most of the ball, Johnstown could not create any clear sights of goal.

In fact their first opportunity came from a direct free kick just outside the area. Lee Fahy hit a shot curling into the bottom corner until the firm hand of the visiting keeper turned it wide.

As the half went on, Athboy grew into the game but were largely restricted to hitting their hosts on the break. Indeed twice late on Stephen Mangan was called on to make sure the half remained scoreless. The first of these happened as Athboy shot directly at him but his second intervention came as he reacted quickly, coming of his line and gathering the ball at the feet of an onrushing forward sending the game into the interval at 0-0.

Shortly after the restart, Arnie Luco and Wayne Cahill played a neat 1-2 on the edge of the Athboy area. The tall Johnstown striker strode into the area. With the angle closing on him all the time, Luco fired his shot wide of the far post when a simple square ball to the better placed and unmarked Fahy would have unlocked the defence.

Less than 2 minutes later, Johnstown had a strong penalty appeal waved away. Wayne Cahill, an early replacement for the unfortunate Adam Ivers, ran directly at the defence. As he entered the box, 2 defenders converged on Cahill simultaneously taking him out on either side. Despite the load shouts the referee waved play on.

Johnstown’s reward came just on the hour mark. Athboy Celtic, on a rare sojourn upfield, earned a corner. Jay Connolly emerged from the Johnstown area with the ball at his feet. He picked out Lee Fahy who raced the length of the field. Spotting the excellent supporting run of Wayne Cahill, Fahy played his teammate in, where Cahill finished comfortably, giving his side the lead their play deserved.

With 13 minutes left on the clock, Cahill had the opportunity to clinch the game for his side as he bore down on goal. Rather than picking out either Luco or Fahy, both unmarked in the centre of goal, Cahill fired his shot across the face of goal and wide.

For the final 10 minutes, Johnstown dropped further and further back surrendering a number of chances to Athboy. Some poor finishing combined with some good goalkeeping perserved Johnstown’s lead but it was not to last.

In the final minute, following another defensive clearance, Athboy pumped the ball back upfield. An excellent first touch and instinctive shot on the turn from just outside the box thundered into the bottom corner of Mangan’s net leaving the sides to share the spoils.

Johnstown FC Team: K. Mangan, J. Colton, J. Connolly, D. McQuillan (c), J. McDermott, A. Ivers, S. Conroy, C. Murphy, S. Challenger, L. Fahy, A. Luco

Subs: W. Cahill for Ivers, D. Grumley for Murphy, .

Johnstown 1 – Quay Celtic 4

Johnstown’s introduction to football at this level was a cruel one. Despite taking the lead, their opponent’s clinical efficiency in front of goal condemned Johnstown to their first league defeat in 12 months as Quay Celtic ran out 4-1 winners in the O’Neill’s Sportswear Division 1 clash at the MDL on Sunday morning.

The visitors from Dundalk started well. A corner early on, required Gintas Baltinas to be alert, called upon on 3 occasions before the danger was finally cleared.

Scoring his 3rd of the season, Arnold Ruksenas opening the scoring on 10 minutes. With Quay Celtic looking to attack, Jamie Connolly stepped in to dispossess his opponent. Two strides later, with his head up, Connolly slid the ball through to Ruksenas who picked his spot and made it 1-0.

It was very nearly 2-0 just minutes later when Lee Fahy was foiled by the visiting keeper.

Midway through the first half, Quay Celtic were level. Their forward timed his run well and race onto the ball before finishing passed Baltinas.

5 minutes later, as Connolly tried to let the ball run out for a goal kick, a Quay Celtic player hooked the ball back into the danger zone, where despite the dive of Baltinas, saw his team mate presented with the easiest of opportunities. He made no mistake and the Dundalk men were 2-1 up.

Johnstown were almost on level terms just on the stroke of half time. Sean Challenger played a superb ball forward to Lee Fahy. With the left winger advancing into the area, he unselfishly squared to Obi Pilane whose shot was saved from point blank range.

The first action of the second half saw Quay Celtic double their advantage. With the ball high upfield on their right, the men from Louth presented their onrushing midfielder with a perfect chance which he dispatched into net from inside the area.

In a 5 minute spell just before the hour mark, Ruksenas had a number of chances to pull one back for his side. The first of these came as he raced on to a Lee Fahy through ball. His left foot shot was tame and comfortably saved.

His next chance came courtesy of a great pass by Jay Colton. This time on his right, Ruksenas could not keep his shot down. Sean Challenger was the provider of Ruksenas’ 3rd opportunity in this spell. Again, however, it fell to his left side. Despite 2 bites at the cherry, Ruksenas just could not convert and the deficit remained 3-1.

As the game entered its final 10 minutes, Johnstown were forced into withdrawing keeper Gintas Baltinas, who’d picked up knock earlier in the game, replacing him with Jimmy Caffery. The stand-in keeper was called upon immediately to deny Quay Celtic as they looked to capitalise on a mix up between Darren McQuillan and Jay Colton.

On 88 minutes, Quay Celtic struck their fourth of the morning. With Johnstown looking for the goal to reignite this game as a contest, Celtic broke forward at pace leaving them one on one against Caffery who had no chance as they made 4 goals to 1.

In the last minute, 2 second half substitutes combined for Johnstown’s final chance of the game. Justin Flynn, using all his strength and skill made it to the by line before pulling the ball back to Dave Grumley. The ball arrived at knee height and Grumley could only fire over under pressure from the defence. And with that squandered opportunity, went Johnstown’s proud undefeated league record stretching back 12 months.

Johnstown FC Team: G. Baltinas, J. Colton, J. Connolly, D. McQuillan (c), J. McDermott, O. Pilane, S. Conroy, C. Murphy, S. Challenger, L. Fahy, A. Ruksenas

Subs:J. Flynn for McDermott, D. Grumley for Murphy, J. Caffery for Baltinas.

Johnstown 2 – Woodview Celtic 1

Johnstown kicked off their 2015-2016 campaign with a well deserved 2-1 win over Premier Division side Woodview Celtic in the Kilmessan Shield at the NEFL complex on Sunday morning.

The visitors from Dundalk started the brighter and took full advantage of their early superiority when they opened the scoring inside 3 minutes. A cross played in from their right was met by the head of their forward who flicked the ball across goal and into the back of net.

Despite this early set back, Johnstown did not let their heads drop. For the remainder of the half, they controlled possession and play but just failed to find that spark in the final third to create any danger for the visiting keeper.

The chances Johnstown’s play deserved started to come in the second half. First, Arnold Ruksenas took possession in midfield and ran directly at the visiting defence.  As covering defenders were sucked across towards the man on the ball, it left space on the far side. Ruksenas spotted Mark Grumley in this space and squared the ball to him. Alas, Grumley could not take advantage of the chance as he pulled his shot wide of goal.

On the hour, after another strong run Ruksenas crossed from the right to Lee Fahy. He shot first time across the goal and wide.

As the half went on, the hosts began to turn the screw, increasing pressure on the Woodview goal.

Immediately after his introduction, Obi Pilane twice found himself on the end of some vigorous defending. On each occasion the referee awarded a free kick. the second of these produced another excellent chance for an equaliser. Jonny Forde whipped the free kick into the far post where Mark Grumley was waiting once again. Unluckily, his stooping header went over the bar.

With 9 minutes left, the equaliser Johnstown so desperately sought finally came. Craig Murphy, played a measured through ball to Fahy on the right. He squared to the unmarked Ruksenas who tapped it in at the back post.

2 minutes later, Woodview could have retaken the lead. For the first time since their goal, they managed to break through the Johnstown rearguard. Having had little to do all game, Gintas Baltinas in the Johnstown net stayed alert and quickly came out off his line to save with his feet.

The Johnstown keeper then began the move that won the game for the home side. His clearance found Craig Murphy in space in midfield. He moved the ball quickly on to Ruksenas racing clear of the defence. As the keeper came out, Ruksenas picked his spot and buried his 2nd of the day earning victory for his side.

Johnstown FC Team: G. Baltinas, J. Colton, J. Connolly, D. McQuillan (c), J. McDermott, M. Grumley, J. Forde, C. Murphy, S. Challenger, L. Fahy, A. Ruksenas

Subs: S. Conroy for Challenger, O. Pilane for Colton, D. Grumley for Forde.