Malahide 0 Kill 1

<p>Malahide United 0 - Kill Celtic 1.<p>Kill Celtic faced a tough match to run off their Christmas cobwebs as they faced a Malahide side level on points with them.<p>A cold day in Malahide castle awaited Kill.<p>Opting under a new 4-4-2 formation , kill struggled to get to terms with Malahide in the first few minutes.<p>It was Malahide's third match since the Christmas break and their superior fitness showed .<p>Kills back five of Frankie Kilkelly, Peter Fagan, sean o connor, Ray Davis and Niall o connor stood up to the pressure.<p>Once the game settled kill began to dictate the tempo as Cusack and Montgomery began to play in Power and Carroll.<p>Carroll in particular was stretching the Malahide defence and won 2 free kicks in dangerous positions.<p>Kill continued to threaten as their wide men, Kinsella and Conroy ran the likes tirelessly.<p>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.<p>His volley was sliced but sent the Malahide keeper the wrong way and saw Kill taking a lead into half time.<p>The second half started as the first half began with Malahide on top.<p>However the centre back pairing of Sean O Connor and Ray Davis were commanding as they limited malahides chances.<p>Kill had chances of their own as they looked to seal the game.<p>Stephen Power was somehow not awarded a penalty and half chances came and went.<p>Conroy also went close with a header.<p>The controversial decision of the match came when a Sean O Connor passback was under hit and Frankie Kilkelly rushed out.<p>It appeared that he fouled the Malahide striker but the referee awarded a free out, much to the relief of Kill.<p>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.<p>These fresh legs were a constant outball for Kill, with Maguire in particular bombing down the touchline.<p>Whilst Kilkelly's luck was in earlier in the game, approaching stoppage time it ran out.<p>A long ball came into the kill box and the onrushing Kilkelly collided with the Malahide winger and in the process losing a tooth.<p>A lengthy stoppage followed but Kilkelly soldiered on and was relieved to hear the full time whistle.<p>Not a signature performance from Kill but an important one nonetheless as their bid for back to back promotions continues.<p>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 .