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The home side St Maelruan's FC had only 7 players to start and so it was agreed to play 7 v 7, which meant Celtic had 6 players on the bench ! Callum Daly was first to register on the scoresheet when after 2 minutes he shot home from close range. 1-0. After 9 minutes, it was Oleg Sinkevics who jinked forward and shot from out on the left and his effort found the far corner of the net. 2-0. Ethan Hoey was kept busy despite Celtic taking a 2 goal lead, and he had to be at his best when at full stretch he kept his goal intact. 20 minutes into the game, Celtic benefited when ref overlooked Calum Daly drifted offside but like any good player, he played the whistle and raced in to plant his shot home. 3-0. Celtic appeared unassailable with this score. However Maelruans bounced back and within a minute, Daniel Savage struck home. 3-1. Shortly after, Callum Coffey hit a screamer over the bar. Maelruans had chances in that first half, but there were excellent performances by Mathei Domsa, Daniel Cryan and Michael Kelly at the back, all battling to keep daylight between the teams on the scoresheet.
The 7v7 setup caused an unusual situation at half time when the whole of the Celtic outfield had to be replaced so everyone in the squad would get their 50 per cent of the game. With the arrival of an eighth player for Maelruans, it meant Oleg could resume in a striker’s role. The wholesale changes however made no difference to Celtic as all the replacements were to prove their worth. Celtic still had to withstand Maelruans pressure and 10 minutes after the break, Gavin Peters had to head clear from under the crossbar. Brierton Murphy had to make some important tackles , but 2 minutes later, Shane Doyle reduced the margin to one when he blasted home giving Ethan no chance. 3-2. Celtic no longer looked certain winners as one goal advantage can be a precarious lead, but they stuck to their task. Cillian Garvey had moved into the midfield (to the surprise of the coach who was scratching his head !) and he went close with a shot on target after 24 minutes, but the keeper made an excellent stop. Anthony Cooke was his usual tenacious self and made some telling passes as Celtic pressed forward. Jerome Powell was very effective on the left hand side, but man of the match today was Andrew McGee who was superb at left back, showing great distribution skills with his cultured left foot. He was pushed for the MOM award by Ethan and Calum Daly, and it was the striker who was to have the last word when he broke free as Maelruans tired and he slotted home from 5 metres to complete a memorable hat trick. 4-2
