Hawks have no answer as Glynn grabs four goals

A spirited AC Celtic side were no match for a significantly stronger St. Joseph"s outfit in sub-zero temperatures at Athlone Institute of Technology last Saturday morning. Four goals from Lorcan Glynn as well as goals from Ronan McAlary, Eoin O"Neill, Ian Naughton and the impressive Luke Dolan saw St. Joseph"s on their way to a comfortable win. St Joseph"s began as they intended to go on, with some swift attacking play as they laid siege to the Celtic goal. Brian Hannon"s volley on 4 minutes was the first opportunity for the visiting side, but his effort flew over the crossbar. Eoin O"Neill also saw his shot fly too high a minute later and Ian Naughton also failed to find his range after a clever flick and shot on 6 minutes. In the seventh minute of play, St. Joseph"s looked to have taken the lead when Ian Naughton fizzed the ball across the face of the goal. Lorcan Glynn looked odds-on to score but couldn"t quite reach the ball with his outstretched foot. It wasn"t long before Glynn would have his say, however. Right at the end of the first period of play, a powerful Cathal Shiels effort was parried by Celtic goalkeeper Malcolm Finnan. Glynn, showing a striker"s instinct, was on hand to finish but it took two attempts with the unlucky Finnan blocking his initial effort. As the second period of play began AC Celtic had their first opportunity of the game when a header from Shay Gibbons was cleared off the line by a St Joseph"s defender. But two minutes later Glynn had the ball in the Celtic net for the second time when, once again, he followed in a long-range effort by Cathal Shiels and finished the rebound to the net. That left it 2-0 to Joseph"s. Glynn"s hat-trick wasn"t long in coming. And his third was the best of the lot. Picking the ball up on the right hand side of the penalty area, he drilled a low shot to the far corner of the net. Ian Naughton almost got his name on the score sheet when he received the ball on the left wing, left his man for dead and sent a low shot toward the far corner. But Finnan in the Celtic goal was equal the task and pulled off a tremendous save down low to his left. AC finished the half as they had begun it, with a good chance that could have brought them back into the game. Shay Gibbons drilled the ball across the face of the goal where David Flynn got a toe to it. But Ronan McAlary pulled off a first-rate save to deny Flynn. The third period of play saw a flurry of St. Joseph"s goals as Luke Dolan began to stamp his authority on the game. In the space of three minutes Dolan had set up three goals for his team-mates before adding his own name to the score-sheet. The first goal saw Dolan play Ronan McAlary, the Joseph"s "keeper having been brought out for the remainder of the game, through on goal and he made no mistake from close range. From the kick-off Dolan regained possession and played Eoin O"Neill through on goal where he too made no mistake. And the third recipient of a Dolan assist was Ian Naughton, the striker finishing low to the net to make it 6-0. But Joseph"s weren"t finished there. A fine solo effort from Luke Dolan rewarded his earlier work before Lorcan Glynn grabbed his 4th of the day after a cross from Eoin O"Neill. But there was some good news for AC Celtic. In the final minute of play they were rewarded with a goal of their own when a shot from Conor Clery came back off the post where Mark Ryan was on hand to tap the ball home. A.C. CELTIC HAWKS: Malcolm Finnan, Patrick Joyce, Ciaran Deveny, Daniel Stacey, Mark Ryan, Adrian O"Brien, Conor Clery, Aiden Murray, Jamie Moran, James Martin, Joe Devory, Shane Gibbon, Oisin Langan, Shay Gibbons, David Flynn. ST. JOSEPH"S: Ronan McAlary, Niall Fowler, Luke Dolan, Eoin O"Neill, Brian Hannon, Cathal Shiels, Lorcan Glynn, Conor McGlane, Ian Naughton.