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"Esse’s on Fire as Celtic snatch late late win”
On a beautiful sunny Autumn morning Celtic welcomed Rathcoole Boys for what proved to be an enthralling encounter. Celtic had enjoyed a comfortable win in the reverse fixture but today Rathcoole had no intention of making it easy for the home team.
Rathcoole started the brighter with Max Ostapchuk forced into making an early save. This woke Celtic up and minutes later James Browne rattled the bar with a thunderous shot. Celtic were enjoying more possession with Tara O’ Hanlon and Luke Hughes probing the wings but unable to breakdown the well organised Rathcoole defence. Rathcoole for their part looked dangerous on the break and Celtic were thankful from two well timed tackles by Ryan Sherlock. HT: 0-0
At half time the Coaches demanded the players to up their work rate and to be more decisive on their passing. Well they must have heard as within two minutes they were one up. A Rathcoole defensive error saw Esse “The Hit Man” Okirikpo break the deadlock with a power finish. Minutes later it was two and again it was Esse doing the damage. 2-0. Rathcoole were rocked – Conor Simmonds came close to adding a third, Abdullah Boujerdha hit a cracker following a great run and again Celtic hit the cross bar. We expected Rathcoole to fold but they were having none of it. Having weathered the storm Rathcoole fought back. They needed a bit of luck and got it. Following a Rathcoole attack the ball was secured by Max but the Rathcoole attacker kicked the ball out of his hands into the net. The Referee was blindsided and awarded the goal. Rathcoole were lifted and soon made it 2-2 as they exposed Celtic with a swift break and tidy finish. With less than 10 minutes to go the Celtic supporters would have taken a draw but the players were having none of it. Both teams went for it – Max made another save and then with 3 minutes left that man Esse did it again . A through ball and the lethal marksman did the rest as he deservedly completed his hat-trick. 3-2. There was no more time for Rathcoole as Celtic ran out with the narrowest of wins. FT: 3-2
Let us congratulate Rathcoole for an excellent effort. They have improved so much from the start of the season. In addition they showed great character in coming back from two down and only lost out, when maybe a draw would have been fair, to an inspired Man of the Match performance from Esse. As for Celtic this was far from being a perfect display. Still there were patches when they showed what they can be and we also saw the character of this group as their heads never dropped despite forfeiting a two goal lead.
No one deserved to lose today but if there was to be a winner it was fitting that it was scored by Esse. A wonderful hat trick tells only part of the story. The timing of his runs, his work rate and vision were what made todays display so special. We all know Esse has great potential but far too often he allows himself to be distracted by other issues .However today we saw the full package, the real deal. Keep it up and stay focused young man. Well done. With performances like that all we‘ll soon be singing “Esse’s on Fire, Your defence is terrified.”
