ADSL outfit overcomes United Legends in Hodson Bay

There was a hectic day of activity at Hodson Bay Celtic FC last Saturday as the winners of a fundraising tournament took on a Manchester United Legends selection. Over 130 players aged from six year-olds through to over fifty played soccer during the day, which started with 12 games for U-8 players and then six games for the U-10s. These games were finished off with a presentation by the United Legends who attended on the day to play the winners of the recent Hodson Bay 'Champions League' competition. The winners of that competition, the Athlone District Schoolboy League (ADSL) team, managed by Padraig Quinn, played against the United Legends. The United Legends consisted of Lee Martin, Clayton Blackmore, David May, Arthur Albiston, Fraser Digby, Russell Beardsmore and Liam O'Brien. The Legends were joined by three local players who were drawn from those who partook in the Hodson Bay tournament - Eoin Corrigan, Dave Aspell and Leo O'Connor. Before the game, the pitch was officially opened by former Wales international Clayton Blackmore in front of a large crowd. Fr John Cullen blessed the pitch and the late Canon Green was remembered on the occasion as he was a key figure in the provision of the Hodson Bay Celtic FC grounds. The Man Utd Legends started well and tested ADSL 'keeper and Hodson Bay Celtic chairman Adrian Downes a few times. ADSL were not long getting into their stride with many saves being drawn from the in-from United keeper, Fraser Digby. Colin Fortune was on form for the ADSL and caused many headaches for the United Legends. However, United drew first blood and scored following a swift counter-attack. The ADSL were applying pressure when David May cleared the ball which was collected by Lee Martin, leaving him with only Adrian Downes to beat. Athlone began to take control, despite being 1-0 down. As United found it difficult to break down a strong ADSL midfield, the Athlone side levelled the scores midway through the half. With Athlone's 'Sully' (Tony O'Sullivan) and Robbie Shine prominent figures, just on completion of the first period, Larry Kildea resisted the temptation to take a shot and squared the ball to his team-mate Brian Fogarty, who slipped the ball past a wrong-footed Digby. United scored their second goal early in the second period after a David May shot was palmed away into the path of the on-coming Clayton Blackmore, who slotted it home. Athlone continued to apply the pressure and this was rewarded when Eric Molloy - who himself was once on Manchester United's books - scored a great individual goal after dribbling past three United players before slipping the ball into the back of Digby's net. This was a great moment for Eric as he has spent a couple of years in the company of some of the Legends just over a decade ago. The ADSL's Keith Reynolds played some nice football in midfield, but an injury midway through the second period forced Colin Fortune to sit out most of the rest of the game. The absence of Fortune's accurate shooting from distance was noted. It looked for a while that ADSL's replacement keeper Johnny Kelly was going to have a clean sheet; however, after pulling off a couple of fine saves, United managed to get one past him. Leo O'Connor, Eoin Corrigan and Dave Aspell played well when they joined the Legends on the field. Dave played in midfield and distributed the ball well, while Leo was a target man up front. Eoin looked good when pushing up front. His efforts were rewarded when his excellent cross was knocked down by David May into the path of Clayton Blackmore, who knocked the ball into the Athlone net. But further Athlone pressure resulted in a couple of more goals in the second period and, from here on, it was clear that United were not going to retrieve matters. Larry Kildea was awarded "goal celebration of the day" while, in the closing stages, 'Sully' had a great effort saved by Digby. The game ended in a 6-3 win for Athlone with United full of admiration for the local team, admitting it was unusual for them to be on the losing side.