Bltiz abandoned due to bad weather

The weather was dreadful as we gathered for the blitz. It was freezing cold, raining heavily and very windy. Nevertheless the determined players still turned up for the blitz.

Our first match was against Swords Manor. The match was just getting underway when Ellie opened the  scoring. We were playing against a strong wind in the first half and so Swords scored two goals and we were 2-1 down at half time. In the second half Aoibheann and Áine scored goals to give us a narrow 3-2 victory.

Our second match was against out old rivals WFTA. Niamh scored a goal in the first half. However, WFTA took advantage of the wind to score 2 goals and we were 2-1 down at half time. Ellie equalised in the second half, but WFTA got another goal in the dying minutes to make it 3-2.

The third round of matches was likely to be decisive because there were three teams in three points each. However, during the break the weather got even worse (although we didn't think tat was possible). All of the goals were knocked over in the wind and the shelters for the subs began to be blown around the pitches. As a result the blitz was abandoned and will be played again sometime early next year.

Thanks to all the players for a great performance at the blitz and all year in 2009. I hope you have a happy new year's celebration and I look forward to 2010.

NDSL Blitz on Wednesday 30th

I hope all of you had a pleasant Christmas. Now that you have all eaten lots of goodies it probably is a good idea to take some exercise to work it off. Luckily we have the NDSL Blitz coming up on Wednesday 30th. This competition will be held on the All-Weather pitches at the NDSL headquarters in Coolock which means it should be able to go ahead in almost any weather.

This is a competition between 5-a-side teams. We hope to field two teams in the under 13 division and one in the under 15 division. Please let Brian or Peter know as soon as possible whether or not you are available to play so that we can sort out teams.

Teams must be at the venue by 12:15pm. We will meet up bedside the all-weather pitches in Laurel Lodge at 11:30am so that we can travel out in convoy. If any player wants to go directly to Coolock themselves, this is fine but please make sure you let us know in advance so that we won't waste time waiting for you.

Players should wear full match gear (if they have it) except that runners should be worn instead of boots. There will be periods of waiting around between matches, so players should bring a tracksuit or something warm to wear over their match gear.

No bag packing in Tesco this weekend

Contrary to what you might have heard, there is no bag pack this weekend in Tesco.

There has been so much activity in the past 3 months or so - official clubhouse opening, penalty shootout, Christmas raffle and quiz - that we've decided to give teams a break with our sincere thanks to you all for all the hard work you have already done for the cause up to now.

Of course the work never stops and we will now be looking to maximise sales of the 2010 club calender, and we WILL arrange for a bag pack before the season ends, so we can meet the yearly fund-raising target we've set ourselves. More about that in the new year.

In the meantime let me, on behalf of the fund-raising and executive committees, thank you once again and wish you all and your families a very Happy Christmas and New Year.

Time for Christmas Party Changed Again

The date for the under 12 girsl Christmas party has been changed again to next Saturday 19th of December. The party will involve a blitz competition and will take place on the all weather pitch from 11:30am to 1:30pm. Unfortunately, only under 12s are involved since under 15s are assumed to be too old for Christmas parties.

We plan to enter 2 teams into each age group for the NDSL 5-a-side Blitz which is scheduled for Wednesday the 30th of December. The blitz will start at 12:45 and should be over by 5pm. Can all players let us know whether of not they are available so we can confirm numbers. Under 12s should contact Brian and under 15s should contact Peter.

Christmas Party/Blitz Postponed

The Club Christmas Party/Blitz which was planned for next Saturday has now been postponed until 2nd of January. It will probably be a good idea for players to get out an exercise after all the junk that will be beaten over the Christmas period.

We are also hoping to send one or more teams to the NDSL 5-a-side Blitz which is being held on Wednesday 30th of January. We will give you details at training this evening and try to get a count of how many players will be available.

We are trying to arrange a friendly match for the weekend, bu we have not been able to confirm anything yet.

U12 girls start their DWSL campaign with a decisive 13-1 victory over Ratoath

After a long series of pitches being declared unplayable, we were delighted to find that we would finally get to play our first official DWSL match against Ratoath. Some people were not pleased by the fact that we had to get up so early on a Sunday morning, but there was a great turnout of players and parents nevertheless.

The day was quite cold, but the Castleknock girls did not waste much time warming things up. Dearbhla scored from Emma's corner after only 2 minutes of play. A few minutes later, Catherine dribbled half the length of the pitch and then scored a peach of a goal, After 11 minutes Áine's shot was narrowly wide, but Catherine got possession from the kick out and scored her second goal to make the score 3-0.

Our girls took total command of the match from this point onwards. After 14 minutes
Emma stretched our lead to 4-0 and with 22 minutes on the clock Ellie connected with a rebounded shot to make it 5-0. Just before half time, Catherine got another goal to secure her hat trick and this made her a deserving winner of the player-of-the-match title.

As the second half got under way, it was clear that Castleknock were not going to rest on their 6 goal lead. Leah opened the scoring with an excellent shot as the 2nd half was just beginning. After 5 minutes Aoibheann dribbled length of the pitch and scored. Shortly afterwards she scored 3 more goals to put the score at 11-0 and her personal tally of 4 is probably a club record.

As the match progressed, Sarah scored a goal to stretch the lead to 12-0. I was delighted to see that the Ratoath team did not give up and they scored an excellent goal in the 22nd minute. However, the Castleknock team did not relax and Dearbhla scored another goal in the dying minutes to leave the score at 13-1.

I am very proud of this performance and I hope that their parents can pull off a similar result in the table quiz on Thursday night!!

Change in kick-off time for Ratoath Match

Due to a clash of fixtures, Ratoath have asked to bring forward the kick-off for our match tomorrow (Sunday) to 10am. I agreed. This means we will have to meet up at 9:15am beside the all weather pitches. I hope this suits everyone.

Match against Ratoath on Sunday going ahead

I spoke to the Ratoath coach this afternoon (Friday) and much to my surprise they have decided that their pitch is playable so our match on Sunday will go ahead. They requested to move the kick-off forward to 12noon. I think this probably suits most people so I agreed.

There is bad weather forecast for the weekend so the pitch will be inspected again tomorrow (Saturday), but unless the rain is very heavy will finally be able to play a match.

Away match against ratoath

Our under 12 girls are scheduled to play an away match against Ratoath this Sunday (6^th of December). We have agreed a 12:30 kick-off so we will meet at 11:30 beside the all-weather pitch. I have been speaking to the Ratoath coach and he tells me that their pitch is not in great shape, so there is a significant chance the match will be cancelled. I will let you know once I find out for certain if the match is going ahead or not.

The club Christmas party is planned for Saturday week (12^th of December). The under 12 girls have been tentatively scheduled for 1-3pm, but the venue is not yet certain because it could be either Porterstown or the All-Weather pitch. It is assumed that the under 15 girls are not interested - this is one of the problems with growing old :-(

Club Table Quiz on Thursday 10th of December

Castleknock Celtic are holding a Table Quiz in the Castleknock Hotel on Thursday 10th of December. Based upon previous experience this is guaranteed to be a great night out and should help raise much needed funds for our recently opened club house in Porterstown. The winners of the raffle will be drawn out on the night.

All parents and friends of the team are encouraged to enter a team for the Quiz.