Published: Thursday, 17th December, 2009 6:30pm

Late da Costa strike earns Willow a draw in thriller

AC Celtic 4 Willow Paerk 4

Eight goals and a cracking match at Athlone IT last Saturday afternoon as AC Celtic and Willow Park served up as entertaining fare as one is likely to see.

In a match that swung back and forth and was played at a frantic pace, it looked as though AC Celtic had done just enough to claim the win. They had been behind twice and ahead twice but, in the seventh minute of injury-time, Willow substitute Freddie da Costa struck with the last kick of the game to equalise and break AC hearts.

For Willow, the stand-out players were Claudio da Silva and Sam Omokuro. Da Silva's skill and trickery in central midfield was a joy to watch, while once the ball was at the feet of Omokuro, he was pretty much impossible to stop, such is his size and power for an under-13 player. And whenever the two combined together, it usually spelled trouble for the home side.

However, AC Celtic, though physically smaller than their opponents, coped quite well and when they look back on this will rightly consider themselves extremely unlucky not to have claimed victory.

As the game began, on a cold afternoon, the home side quickly established themselves on proceedings with Mark Duffy going close early on. On five minutes, a lovely through ball from Cathal Stacey gave Duffy another chance to find the net. He looked certain to do so but a fantastic saving challenge from Emile Sonne denied the Celtic left-winger.

Thus far, the majority of possession had belonged to the home side but Willow were looking dangerous on the break. And they showed just why on eleven minutes when tricky central-midfielder Claudio da Silva picked the ball up in the centre-circle before threading the ball through to Sam Omokuro. The towering centre-forward easily shrugged off the challenge of his man before beating the on-rushing Jamie Brill with a side-footed effort to the top corner.

Willow now had their tails up and were unlucky not to score a second on 13 minutes. Emmanuel Aboyomi, having a fine game, cut in from the left, beat his man in along the end-line before shooting from a tight angle. His shot beat the 'keeper but was cleared off the line by the alert Ryan Murray. The rebound fell to da Silva but his shot was saved by the recovering 'keeper Jamie Brill. But the ball again fell to da Silva and although beating the 'keeper with his second effort, Murray was there once again to clear off the line. But with Willow now on top, it was AC's turn to score against the run of play.

On 17 minutes, a delightful ball over the top from Keith Byrne found Mark Duffy with only Shane McEnery to beat. And having gone close on two previous occasions, it was to be third time lucky for Duffy as he cleverly lifted the ball over the out-rushing 'keeper to level matters at 1-1.

Willow soon re-asserted themselves as the game's dominant team, with Da Silva going close on 22 minutes after playing a one-two with Omokuro. In similar circumstances to Willow's first goal, da Silva once again picked the ball up in centre-midfield before finding Omokuro with a ball over the top of the AC defence. And having once again shrugged off the attentions of his marker, he finished almost identically to his first goal, with a side-foot to the top corner. Two-one to Willow. And it could have been three-one a minute later when da Silva cracked a shot off the crossbar from outside the penalty-area.

Upon the resumption of play, it took just 85 seconds for the AC Celtic equaliser to arrive. A free kick was awarded on the right hand side of the Willow penalty-area. Substitute Chris Roche stepped up to take it and, with his first touch since coming on at half-time, curled the ball over the wall and toward the near top-corner. 'Keeper McEnery got a strong hand to the ball and at first glance appeared to keep it out, but referee Aidan Sherlock was positioned perfectly on the end-line to call that the whole ball had crossed the line.

Willow responded well to that setback, but back came AC as the game grew more frantic. On 38 minutes, Cathal Stacey beat his man in along the end-line and looked certain to score. But his powerful, low shot was saved by the feet of Jamie Brill.

On 40 minutes, however, AC took the lead for the first time. Ryan Murray swung in a dangerous ball from the right-wing and among the mass of heads that rose to meet it, the unlucky Ladi Olatje made contact and diverted the ball across the goal and past his own 'keeper. Three-two to AC Celtic.

The game was now flowing from end to end. On forty-six minutes, Willow substitute Rodrigo Sevilla played fellow sub Habib Sanusi through on goal. Sanusi finished to the net but was called back for offside. Almost immediately down the other end, Cian Quinn saw his volley saved by McEnery.

Three minutes later, Eric Grimberg played the ball to Omokuro who side stepped a challenge before striking a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty-area. But with the 'keeper beaten, Omokuro saw the ball thunder off the crossbar and away from danger.

With ten minutes to go, Willow's Habib Sanusi ran at the AC defence with purpose before being dragged down at least a yard inside the penalty-area. The referee blew the whistle but, with everyone expecting a penalty to be awarded, rather puzzlingly a free-kick was given just outside the box. The Willow management team was not pleased about this to say the least but they needn't have worried as Ryan Gaffey stepped up and floated the ball perfectly to the top-corner of the net to bring Willow back on level terms.

With all the momentum with Willow, it looked like they would kick on and win the game. But amazingly, within 120 seconds, AC were back in front. This time a corner was swung in from the left and almost identical to their third goal, a Willow player rose and diverted the ball with his head past his own 'keeper. Rodrigo Sevilla was the unlucky one this time.

With eight minutes of normal time to go, AC now faced a desperate rearguard action to try and hold on for the win. On fifty-six minutes, Jamie Brill had to be alert to tip over an Eric Grimberg effort from distance. Omokuro then saw his shot saved by the in-form 'keeper who was doing everything in his power to keep Willow out. And in the first minute of injury-time, he was called upon once again. Omokuro was played clean through on goal but Brill raced from his line and threw himself bravely at the feet of the big striker to divert the ball out for a corner. It was a heroic effort from the 'keeper who, having injured himself in the process, had to be carried from the field of play. James Greene came on for him while central-midfielder Keith Byrne donned the gloves for the remaining minutes.

But having withstood everything that Willow could throw at them, AC finally succumbed in the seventh minute of injury-time. A corner from the right wasn't cleared properly and when Omokuro flicked the ball back into the danger-zone, diminutive substitute Freddie da Costa flicked the ball over his head and to the top-corner to spark wild celebrations among the Willow players, while the AC players simply slumped to the ground.

AC CELTIC: Jamie Brill, Sarah O'Sullivan, Patrick Joyce, Ryan Murray, Darragh Coyle, Alex Molloy, Liam Flowers, Mark Duffy, Keith Byrne, Cathal Stacey, Darragh McCormack. SUBS: Cian Quinn for D. McCormack (HT), Chris Roche for P. Joyce (HT), Richard Green for L. Flowers (42 mins), James Green for J. Brill (60).

WILLOW PARK: Shane McEnery, Nemanja Bozic, Ronan Mulvihill, Ryan Gaffey, Ladi Olatje, Emile Sonne, Claudio da Silva, Ciaran McGuinness, Emmanuel Aboyomi, Daniel Flynn, Sam Omokuro. SUBS: Freddie da Costa for D. Flynn (HT), Rodrigo Sevilla for E. Sonne (HT), Habib Sanusi for C. McGuinness (42 mins), Eric Grimberg for N. Bozic (42), Kevin Martin for C. da Silva (42).