Karl seals title triumph with insurance goal

Karl seals title triumph with insurance goal

12 February 2020

CELTIC Bhoys Academy secured back-to-back league titles with a hard-fought victory against a resilient Drumaness side in what were difficult conditions ay Meadowvale on Saturday. 

The young Academy side started slowly with the occasion probably getting to them a little bit on the day and the game was a cagey affair to begin with. 

As they settled into the game, the Hoops started to play with a bit more fluency and they almost had the opener when Dylan Kelly and Jason Dagens linked up well.

The neat move ended with Kelly’s shot from the edge of the box whistling inches past the post. Conor McKenna was influential in the centre of the park and he was dangerous every time he was on the ball trying to pick out the killer pass to unlock the Drumaness defence. 

Persistence finally paid off when Corey McCoubrey let fly with a superb strike that the Mills ‘keeper could only parry and Brendan McShane was there knock the rebound home.

Drumaness were a real threat from set-pieces and almost had an equaliser when a corner nearly caught out ‘keeper Gerard O’Gormley, but the ball ped at his feet and the Mills strikers weren’t quick enough to capitalise on the mistake.

The second half was much more testing for both teams as the weather conditions worsened and chances were few and far between with players barely able to hear each other on the pitch. 

To their credit, the Academy team kept plugging away, trying to stick to their game plan and they were rewarded when Karl Kearney came off the bench and was played in by Dagens. 

The young striker kept a cool head and calmly slotted the ball home giving the ‘keeper no chance. 

The Bhoys were able to see the game out with a clean sheet and comfortably seal the league title with three games to spare.