Sunday 5th March 2023

Kells Celtic 6-3 Torro

1. Johnny Lynch
2. Paul Delaney
3. Thomas Carry
4. Carl Jordan
5. Oisin Smith
6. Tony Smith
7. Edan McKay
8. Lewis O’Donnell ⚽️
9. Lar Ivers ⚽️⚽️⚽️
10. Bradley Caffery
11. Jack O’Keeffe ⚽️ ⚽️

12. Brandon Browne 🔄 Oisin Smith
13. Kuba Bidzinski 🔄 Edan McKay
14. Conor Kirwan 🔄 Jack O’Keeffe
15. Jack Canavan 🔄 Bradley Caffery
16. Ciaran Keating 🔄 Thomas Carry

Kells kicked off the season with a good run-out against a resolute Torro side on a pristine pitch in the Grange.

Kells opened the scoring through a speculative effort from midfield dynamo Lewis O’Donnell who spotted the keeper stranded and lobbed him from 40+ yards. Torro equalised when a wayward pass was seized upon from close range.

Kells regained the lead in some style with Jack “Juice” O’Keeffe mesmerised the opposition defence seeing his shot saved and then putting it on a plate for Lar Ivers to sweep home. 2 became 3 shortly after when Ivers was played clear and tucked the ball under the onrushing keeper.

Kells extended their lead at the start of the 2nd half when O’Keeffe finished expertly from close range to make it 4-1 before a crazy 10 minute spell saw Torro and Kells trade 3 goals to make the score 5-3 with O’Keeffe grabbing his 2nd. Changes saw 17 year old Jack Canavan make his competitive debut replacing Jack O’Keeffe and his 20 minute cameo was impressive to say the least with linking with 3 fellow teenagers in midfield to set up Lar Ivers for his 3rd and Kells 6th.

A good workout for the new coaching team to ponder and minutes in the tank for 16 players. Next week will bring a different challenge when Kells travel to face Navan Town Cosmos.