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Celtic still cannot fathom how they lost a 2 goal advantage with 10 mins remaining to lose away to Mount Merrion in Marlay Park.
The visitors got into their stride and looked to be a team playing with confidence which was not surprising as they had made steady progress since October, picking up 7 from a possible 9 points. Ryan Brady went close with his effort which went just outside the right post. Matthew Coughlan saw his shot whistle by the top left corner. Gentian Ramadani was not so profligate, and he clinically finished, as is his wont. At the other end, Darius Horincar was his usual dependable self and was dealing with any shot from Merrion, including one at full stretch which he pushed around the post. Daniel Hanrahan and Devang Mehta, having missed recent training and games, were in fine form in the centre of the defence. Karl and Rashid were rock solid in the full back berths.
Celtic went 2-0 up in the second half when Karl Sampil, after he had moved to mid-field. He stretched to get on the end of a pass from Ryan Brady, and he pushed the ball past the excellent Merrion keeper, Felix Welz. Ryan Shiels had moved to left full and was combining well with the midfield, including Ahmed Shah, with some intricate moves. Celtic were cruising now, which probably was unhelpful, as they lost concentration which let Merrion in for their first goal by Sean Neill. Halfway through the half, Angelo Horincar stretched to head on for Kamil Suchomski who rifled home from 6 yards. Looked like game over as the Celtic management celebrated the expected manager of the month award, Bells bottle of Uisce Beatha and all that. But Dame Fortune stopped smiling on them.
10 mins from time Andrew Maguire gave Merrion a lifeline to make it 2-3. But they weren't finished yet. Brace man Jamie Doyle unleashed an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net from 20 yards which gave Darius no chance in the Celtic goal. The momentum was with the home side, but no one really believed it could get better, or worse depending on which sideline you were on. Jamie repeated the feat with 5 minutes remaining. Celtic were stunned. All their hard work had come to nought. They frantically tried to rescue a point, but Mount Merrion had done enough. Celtic will resume training with Mr Reilly and will be addressing some foibles that remain. They had all put in a serious shift today, but got no reward, largely because Merrion were not going to accept defeat and 2 wonder strikes by Jamie Doyle.
