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A ding-dong tussle saw Celtic emerge with the narrowest of away wins over their southside rivals, Knocklyon Utd. Playing with all the elements at their backs, the hosts went ahead after 5 mins with a strong finish that gave Celtic keeper James Whooley no chance. With 10 mins on the clock, Sean Hosford broke through the United defence but the chance went wide, but a couple of mins late, Ronan Wells weaved through the right hand side of the defence before unleashing a terrific finish that the Knocklyon keeper hardly saw. The sides were level and Celtic were looking good value for the equaliser. Calum Daly went close with his effort, but Knocklyon broke free and their striker seized on a loose ball in the visitors' box after a James Whooley save, and it was 2-1 as the half time whistle blew.
Celtic were upbeat at half time as they knew they now had the strong wind and the Sun at their backs, playing downhill. They stepped up a gear as they resumed after the break, and their defence of Ayann Tausseef, Dominic Odujebe and Andrei Ungureanu, were in command, putting in a mighty shift, for which the referee complimented them after the game. Theo Hennessy was launching some lovely left footed balls up the left hand side of the park, and he broke forward when the chance presented itself. It was the brace-man from last week, Calum Daly, who struck to bring the sides level. He surged forward picking up an assist from Aidan Thom, and as he broke into the box, he was taken down and the referee without hesitation pointed to the spot. It was Calum himself who confidently stepped up to the plate, and he buried the spot kick in the bottom corner. A Daniel Sturridge performance followed as he celebrated his third goal in 2 games in great style, waving his arms up and down like a good thing - for a moment we all thought we were at Anfield !!
It was a great contest as each side broke forward in turn in an effort to try and get the vital goal. On one of Theo's forays forward, he seized on the ball in a crowded box with 5 mins remaining and he found the back of the net with his shot. It was all hands to the pump now, as Knocklyon fought for an equaliser. But Dominic Odujebe was secure in the Celtic goal for the second half keeping a clean sheet, while Mohamed Dafallah was putting in tackles in the middle of the park.
Celtic held on for a famous victory, a fitting result to a keenly contested game and the lads were rightly very content with a job well done. Man of the match award went to James Whooley who having kept Knocklyon restricted to 2 goals in the first half against the fierce wind, he did a magnificent job in defence in the second half clearing the ball at vital times. The lads now look forward to training on Tuesday at 7pm in Laurel Lodge all weather pitch. x
