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Celtic had suffered 2 defeats last season at the hands of Grangewoodbine, but Celtic have come a long way since then, coming within a whisker of winning the league title in 2015/16. Today started in bright weather, but as the game progressed, the darker it got on the weather front. Celtic had come into the game confident after their 5-1 blitz of Lakelands the previous week. But the football remained bright, with both sides giving it their best endeavours in a very hard battle. Celtic went close to scoring when Ruben Aherne got possession of the ball but his shot was excellently stopped by the Grange keeper. Frankie Hennessy was making his presence felt in the middle of the park during that first half. Both sides deserved the applause they got from the spectators at half time.
The game continued in the same vein after the break. Dylan Ibetoya was winning tackles against much bigger opponents, helping to turn defence into attack. Conor Lawless, Joseph Dunne and man of the match, Ahmad Niazi, were putting in a huge shift, along with excellent goal keeping by keeper for the day, Rei Mulligan, and they all managed to keep Grange at bay for the hour of football. There were great performances too from the midfield of captain Ren Mulligan and Daniel Ibetoya. Kleo Malaj was always a threat up front to the Grange defence with his probing runs. Costel returned to the midfield with 15 minutes to go, and he was creating chances with James Bannerman up front. When Joseph returned to the defence with 5 minutes left, Costel was playing a more offensive role, despite having a sore ankle. Costel got possession in the final minute, and he unleashed a beautiful looping shot over the keeper from 20 metres out. The touchline erupted as Celtic had won the game in the dying seconds as the referee blew up for full time. Well done to both teams on giving us a memorable game.
