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For the second time in 5 days, Celtic went down by 2-3 against Pearse Rangers, this time in Ringsend Park and in the League. Celtic went undeservedly behind after 22 minutes. The visitors had themselves gone close after a couple of minutes with an effort from Calum Daly that fizzed over the crossbar. Just before half time, it was Oleg Sinkevics who shot over the bar from distance. So it was 0-1 to Pearse at the break.
The second half was end to end stuff, with some very scary moments for the visitors as Pearse piled on the pressure. Celtic relied to a significant degree on the heroics of goalkeeper Ethan Hoey who was at his most splendid, his range of saves covered finger tips, diving low and some foot stops that Ray Clemence would have been proud of. In front of him there were stalwarts, Daniel Cryan and Matei Domsa, who were resilient, while Brierton Murphy and Jerome Powell were to share the man of the match award for their immense performances. Alex Phelan was working hard in the middle while linking with Jerome on the left side. Anthony Cooke was putting in a strong effort on the right, and was a threat with his surging runs along the flank. Gavin Peters was linking well with his defence and attackers. Celtic got their reward 12 minutes into the second half when Calum Daly picked up the ball in his own half, raced down the left, riding tackles as the opponents tried to end his run by fair and foul means. He took the ball to the end line and crossed magnificently for Callum Coffey to apply the finishing touch to a marvellous goal. It looked like there was a shock on the cards as Pearse have not dropped a point this season. Celtic even pressed forward in search of a winner. However the home side hit back and regained the lead. They went further ahead with a very dubious goal when the ref allowed it to stand though the visiting line were very clear that the player was in an offside position when the ball was played to him. That goal was to prove very decisive. 1-3
Celtic broke forward and Oleg was taken down in the Pearse box and the ref had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Oleg confidently stepped forward and smashed the ball into the Pearse net. Despite further surges forward, the time ran out and Celtic had to leave Irishtown without anything to show in terms of league points, but they had given another very courageous performance which they can be proud of.
