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Loss denies Gaels soccer championship

February 15, 2011

By Staff Reporter

In their last game of the season, Astoria Gaels, needing a win to secure the championship, were beaten 2-1 by a better Lansdowne team recently. The Gaels started the game fairly nervously and gave away a sloppy goal after just two minutes.

From that moment on, the Gaels were chasing the game. Eugene Kyne and George Doherty both came close with two stinging shots. However, the equalizer came about after 25 minutes, when Kevin Nagel, the Astoria Gaels Player of the Year and top scorer for the season, scored with a stunning volley from 25 yards out.

In the second half, the Gaels kept putting pressure on Lansdowne but were caught on the break by a second Lansdowne goal. This was the killer punch for the Astoria Gaels, because they now required two goals to clinch the championship with only 20 minutes remaining. However, the commitment and determination they showed all season continued with Lloyd Canning and Ciaran Fennessy both coming close. In the end it, was not enough and the Gaels had to settle for second spot in the championship, two points behind the winners Barnsworth Rovers.

This was also the final game for some Astoria Gaels stalwarts. The management team of David Clear and Vivian White both stepped down after this game. David Clear said after the match that “he was proud of the dedication and effort put in by the players during the season and was disappointed that they did not get the reward that they deserved.”

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