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Rochdalians 1 - 2 Hooley Bridge Celtic

5/ 3/2008

HOOLEY Bridge Celtic reached the quarter final of the Rhodes Cup with a best of season display against a very good Rochdalians side.

After a bright opening 10 minutes a mix-up in the Celtic defence left Ogunyode free to score from a tight angle.

This seemed to make Celtic more determined and, after a few near misses, Ant Whitehouse raced on to a fine through ball and crossed for Steve Sweeney to level the scores.

Matt Hogarth was winning his midfield battle with fellow Lancashire and Cheshire League player Feeney, and he was well supported by Ash Leech, John Harding and Lee Bates as Celtic finished the half on top.

Rochdalians fought back in the second half and were unlucky when a shot came back off the post.

Celtic’s back four of Nat Loeb, Alex Fenton, Ben Tanner and Mark Finn were giving Rochdalians no joy and with 20 minutes remaining Celtic were awarded a free kick on the edge of Rochdalian’s penalty box.

Up stepped Finn to score his first goal for Celtic, a fine shot into the top corner.

Celtic had the final say as Leech’s 25-yard effort cannoned off the bar, before the final whistle sounded to herald a great win in which every player played his part.

On Saturday, Celtic travel to Old Trafford.

The second team fixture is to be confirmed, while the third team are also on the road at Aldermere.

All players meet the Starkey at 12.45pm.