Ivers hat-trick boosts Kells Celtic Youths to impressive victory
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Kells Celtic Youths’ Lar Ivers curls in his third goal during his side’s Kilmessan Shield win over Torro at the Grange. PHOTO JUSTIN BURKE.Image 2 of 6
It’s behind you...Kells Celtic’s Paul Delaney and Torro’s Paddy Moore battle for possession during their Kilmessan Shield clash on Sunday.Image 3 of 6
Torro’s Rian Wogan wins this challenge with Kells Celtic’s Lewis O’Donnell at The Grange on Sunday.Image 4 of 6
The Kells Celtic Youths players who were on duty for Sunday’s Kilmessan Shield clash with Torro.Image 5 of 6
The Torro United players who were on duty for Sunday’s Kilmessan Shield clash with Kells Celtic Youths.Image 6 of 6
Kells Celtic Youths captain Paul Delaney with referee Conor Byrne and Torro Utd’s Peter Carroll before kick-off in Sunday’s Kilmessan Shield clash.KILMESSAN SHIELD
Lar Ivers struck a stunning hat-trick to inspire Kells Celtic Youths to an impressive 6-3 Kilmessan Shield victory over Torro at The Grange on Sunday.
The game itself was a scrappy affair in the early exchanges until Kells player Lewis McDonnell decided to strike the ball towards the Torro goal from nearly 35 yards from goal that trickled down the net, catching Ben Clarke off his line and giving the home side a 1-0 lead.
That lead didn’t last too long as Torro’s young team hit back when Charlie Cullen played a lovely pass to Paddy Moore who controlled the ball before turning his defender and firing a low shot past Johnny Lynch to make it 1-1.
Both sides continued to play open football, and it was 2-1 to the home side 10 minutes later as the prolific Ivers made no mistake when he found himself one on one with Clarke, and the striker slotted the ball calmly under the ‘keeper for his first of the day.
Torro thought they had grabbed an equaliser two minutes later when Moore and Cullen combined again for Cullen to curl home a left foot shot into Kells net but the match official Conor Byrne had blown his whistle for offside.
Kells grabbed a third goal just on half time when Jack O’Keeffe won the ball in midfield, he played a quick link up with Kuba Bidzinski before evading a tackle and firing a shot towards goal but Clarke made a fantastic save, the rebound fell kindly to O’Keeffe and he unselfishly sent the ball across goal to the unmarked Ivers who guided the ball into the empty net.
The interval team talk must have worked for O’Keeffe as he collected a ball 30 yards from goal within minutes of the restart and controlled possession before unleashing a rocket of a shot into the bottom left corner of Torro’s net leaving Clarke with no chance to get across to save it.
The never say die attitude from Torro’s young team was quite evident as they hit back in style. Evan Crosby won the ball on the left side of midfield and sent a beautiful pass to the outside of the box which fell in between the Kells ‘keeper and Moore, but it was the Torro man who made it to the ball first before confidently lobbing the keeper from 20 yards out.
The goals kept coming and Carl Jordan teed a beautiful pass on the right to Kuba Bidzinski who took one touch before sending a low cross in where O’Keeffe was unmarked and he tapped home his second of the game.
Again, Torro hit back and this time it was another well worked goal. Substitute Aaron Tolan broke into the Kells box dodging a tackle from a defender before sending the ball in where Will Gore was lurking and he touched the ball home when under pressure from a Kells player.
The match was on a knife edge and with 10 minutes left, Kells grabbed their sixth goal with Ivers on the scoresheet.
Despite the away side going in search of more goals, Kells defence held firm to grab the three points in this Kilmessan Shield match.
Kells Celtic Youths - Johnny Lynch; Paul Delaney, Thomas Carry, Carl Jordan, Oisin Smith, Tony Smith, Eden McKay, Lewis O Donnell, Lar Ivers, Bradley Caffrey, Jack O Keeffe. Subs - DJ Carry, Jack Canavan, Kuba Bidzinski, Conor Kirwan, Brandon Browne, Danny Murphy, Ciaran Keating.
Torro United - Ben Clarke; Joe Tierney, Sean Penny, Peter Carroll, James Carroll, Dylan Tighe, Paddy Moore, Rian Wogan, Evan Crosby, Charlie Cullen, Will Gore. Subs - Evan Bird, Ryan Tighe, Dan Smyth, Aaron Tolan.
Match Official – Conor Byrne (Meath Branch)