Castle’s 14-men grind out draw

FOURTEEN-man Castleknock battled to a 1-17 to 3-11 draw in Poppintree Park, showing great character in a huge AHL Division 2 tussle with Setanta last Sunday morning.
Setanta, having recently been promoted, always provide tough and skilful opposition and so it proved again on Sunday.
The Ballymun side got the better of the opening exchanges but it was Castleknock who took the lead through an opportunistic goal from Kieran Duggan after great work from Colin Lynch. Setanta, however, played the better hurling to lead at half time by a single point, etching out a 0-8 to 1-4 advantage.
The game really came to life in 2nd half. Setanta continued to rack up the scores but two quick goals from Niall O’Callaghan and Lynch put Castleknock back ahead.
Then, unfortunately for Castleknock, they were reduced to 14 men when Conal Purcell received a red card for a late tackle.
It spurred the hosts on and Setanta came storming back, making the extra man count to take the lead again and were then awarded a penalty.
The Castleknock goalkeeper initially saved the effort but the referee insisted it be taken again as players had encroached in the area before the shot was taken.
Setanta made no mistake with the re-take and lead by three at this stage. But the 14-men of Castleknock were not beaten yet and showed great spirit and determination, led by captain Conor Prunty.
They immediately added two points and then pushed ahead as the game approached injury time. It wasn’t to be, though, as Setanta scored their equaliser in injury time to secure a share of the points.
Nonetheless, the Somerton side can draw on the character they showed to snatch a draw in adversity which they hope will springboard them onto better performances throughout the season.