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They fell behind to a controversial penalty in the first half which left Celtic trailing at half time. In fairness, they were playing below their best during that first period as they tried to adjust to the bigger pitch used for 9 a side football. After the break, Celtic continued to be out of sorts, but gradually their game started coming together. Their passing and finding their men in the wide spaces and inside the full backs started to make the difference.
A cracking ball from the right hand side found the head of the lethal finisher Cathal Boyle with 12 minutes remaining and the sides were level. Celtic were now in the ascendancy and they were the ones with momentum. However the sides ended level at full time. So they went into extra time.
Celtic continued to play all the football and were dominating the exchanges. In the first period of extra time, Cathal Boyle broke forward on the left following good work by the industrious and intelligent Conor Shanley in the middle of the park. Cathal strode toward goal but was upended on the edge of the box. Up stepped Cathal and he unleashed a vicious free kick that hit the top corner of the net like an exocet. It was no more than Celtic deserved. In the second period, it was Cathal again who broke forward and he let fly from 12 yards into the far corner and the game was effectively over.
While it was Cathal's hat trick that was difference on the scoresheet, it was however a team effort that delivered the result. Starting at the back where Conor McCarthy was the instigator. He continually launched attacks with his distribution to his full backs and defenders who then found the wide men to break forward, interlinking with the midfield. Full backs Charlie Byrne and Isaac Lavery were magnificent as they wanted to get on the ball to use it effectively. Andrew Blackburn was imperious at the centre of the defence and had a near faultless display at the back. Central midfielders Craig Anderson and Charlie Lyons worked well together in the middle acting as the double pivot through which attacks began, while limiting the St Paul's counters with their biting tackles. Olly Doyle and Cathal Boyle provided the width in the first half. Olly later took over defensive duties in those final minutes to protect their advantage in extra time.
Mikey resumed his role as a striker and similar to the first half, used his quick feet to hold the ball up while under pressure from the St.Paul's defence. Eoin Bredin took over a role in midfield, raiding regularly on the right wing to great effect, which signalled a return to form for him. more match action and more again
