Malahide 0 vs 1 Kill Celtic FC

Malahide United 0 - Kill Celtic 1.

Kill Celtic faced a tough match to run off their Christmas cobwebs as they faced a Malahide side level on points with them.

A cold day in Malahide castle awaited Kill.

Opting under a new 4-4-2 formation , kill struggled to get to terms with Malahide in the first few minutes.

It was Malahide's third match since the Christmas break and their superior fitness showed .

Kills back five of Frankie Kilkelly, Peter Fagan, sean o connor, Ray Davis and Niall o connor stood up to the pressure.

Once the game settled kill began to dictate the tempo as Cusack and Montgomery began to play in Power and Carroll.

Carroll in particular was stretching the Malahide defence and won 2 free kicks in dangerous positions.

Kill continued to threaten as their wide men, Kinsella and Conroy ran the likes tirelessly.

The opener came just before the half time whistle as Conroy floated a delicious ball into the box and onto the foot of the onrushing Montgomery.

His volley was sliced but sent the Malahide keeper the wrong way and saw Kill taking a lead into half time.

The second half started as the first half began with Malahide on top.

However the centre back pairing of Sean O Connor and Ray Davis were commanding as they limited malahides chances.

Kill had chances of their own as they looked to seal the game.

Stephen Power was somehow not awarded a penalty and half chances came and went.

Conroy also went close with a header.

The controversial decision of the match came when a Sean O Connor passback was under hit and Frankie Kilkelly rushed out.

It appeared that he fouled the Malahide striker but the referee awarded a free out, much to the relief of Kill.

Seeing this , manager Aidan Gannon made changes as he brought on Karl Maguire for Leon Carroll, Stephen Carroll for David Kinsella and Chris Flood for Niall O connor In a ten minute period.

These fresh legs were a constant outball for Kill, with Maguire in particular bombing down the touchline.

Whilst Kilkelly's luck was in earlier in the game, approaching stoppage time it ran out.

A long ball came into the kill box and the onrushing Kilkelly collided with the Malahide winger and in the process losing a tooth.

A lengthy stoppage followed but Kilkelly soldiered on and was relieved to hear the full time whistle.

Not a signature performance from Kill but an important one nonetheless as their bid for back to back promotions continues.

Man of the match: Was a close call between the centre half pairing of Sean O connor and Ray Davis with Ray Just edging it .