Pearse Celtic 3 OLV 2 ( J. DUTTON, M.MATTHEWS)

OLV almost made the perfect comeback on the all-weather astro pitch in Irishtown on Sunday morning,having started the game well with some good play throughout the whole side and a couple of good efforts, things looked bleak for OLV when after 25mins they found themselves two down,but they were denied a stonewall penalty when Stewy Houlahan was taken down in the box by the home keeper,however the referee missed the incident and OLV failed to score in the aftermath,the half soon finished with both teams sharing the possession and a couple of decent chances but both sets of keepers and defences stood firm to keep the match at 2-0. Halftime 2-0 The second half began a renewed determination for the away team after a serious halftime team talk and just one change from the manager,OLV really took the game to Pearse and were soon rewarded when some calm play out of defence saw the ball played to Stewie Houlahan who played a superb pass to Jonny Dutton who finished well from the edge of the box,finally OLV got some reward for their relentless pressure,this goal really gave OLV the lift they needed and they tore into the home side searching for an equalizer their play deserved,and with only minutes left they got that goal from Mark Matthews who topped off a good game by smashing an unstoppable penalty that was awarded after Phil Lowndes was upended in the box following some good play down the left involving Derek Dunne,Paddy McEvoy and Noel Stapleton, but as luck would have it Pearse somehow conjured a late goal in stoppage time, when a long throw was not defended properly and it was game over for the Ballyfermot side..

A great display from all,especially the lads who played the full 90 minutes on this energy sapping artificial pitch(D.Kelly,A.Kelly,G.Donovan,M.Dunican,P.Lowndes,J.Coates,S.Houlahan,M.Matthews),in the second half OLV played as a complete unit ,they played some great football that made the league leaders look a little bit less than ordinary.

Squad;  Dave Kelly ,Anto Kelly ,Garreth Donovan ,Martin Dunican ,Mick Collins ,Stewy Houlahan ,James Coates (C),Phil Lowndes ,Dave Delgano ,Noel Stapleton ,Mark Matthews ,Derek Dunne ,Jonny Dutton ,Paddy McEvoy Manager ;John Lowndes