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Hutchinson gives Celtic cup victory

9/10/2008

HOOLEY Bridge Celtic travelled down the East Lancs to take on Howe Bridge Mills from Leigh in the second round of the Lancashire cup.

Hooley kicked off the first half with the wind behind them and pushed Howe back for long periods.

Celtic played some excellent football against bigger, physical opponents and the deadlock was broken on 20 minutes when good work from Hutchinson, Greenhalgh and Weatherhilt ended with an excellent finish from Tanner.

Celtic had a lot of possession and at times played some scintillating stuff. The back three of Higgs, Loeb and Fenton in total control giving Latham in goal very little to do.

Celtic kept their lead until the break. The message from the bench was to stick to the gameplan and the second half was much the same pattern with Celtic reducing Howe Bridge to long range efforts.

The visitors kept breaking quickly from the back and saw chance after chance go begging. They were punished when a long ball caught out the defence and Howe levelled at one each.

The game opened up, neither side prepared to settle for a draw. With 15 minutes left Mally Smith beat two players and cut inside before unleashing a fierce dipping drive into the net giving the keeper no chance.

Celtic had a bit of bad luck with Higgs going off with a serious injury and Heap crawling off after running himself into the ground. They were replaced by Rush and Whitehead who both quickly settled in to the game.

Howe threw everything at Celtic and in the 96th minute scored from a well-taken header at the far post giving Latham no chance.

The final whistle went and half an hour’s extra time was to be played.

The first half saw neither side take too many risks and finished with the score locked at 2-2.

Five minutes into the second period of extra time and the deadlock was broken. Good work from Smith on the right ended when his cross was met by the excellent Hutchinson who rose above the Howe defence and powered his header into the net.

Howe pushed and pushed and forced Latham into to first-class saves to preserve Celtic’s hard earned lead.

The final whistle went and Celtic celebrated another fantastic victory in the prestigious Lancashire trophy.

A fantastic squad performance and every player was proud to wear the Celtic shirt.

This weekend the first team entertain Bedians at the Sports Centre.

The seconds are at Burnage Metro and the thirds Host Ashtonians at home. All players meet at Browns at 12.30pm

Celtic reserves entertained a strong Bedians side at Heywood sports centre last weekend and were unlucky not to take all three points.

The game started well for Celtic with Burke and E Risdale showing well up front and causing the Bedians defence problems from the start.

Celtic were playing their usual passing football and were soon rewarded after some great interchange of play found Burke one on one with the keeper and he made no mistake in slotting the ball home to give Celtic the advantage.

Celtic were controlling the game until Bedians were gifted a goal when a lack of communication between Mack and Parker left the opposition centre forward to knock the equaliser into an empty net and end the half on level terms.

The second half was end to end with both teams looking for the winning goal and Celtic were denied through some good goalkeeping and missed chances. At the other end of the pitch the Celtic back three of Keogh, Mack and Leary were in no mood to concede another goal and the game ended in a draw which was a fair reflection of both teams’ hard work.

Heywood St James lost out to Salford Vics 4-2.

Saints went a goal behind after four minutes but drew level through Benson.

After some end-to-end exchanges the Heywood side took the lead when a fine pass from Nicholson was converted by Lynch.

Poor defending allowed Salford to grab two quickfire goals and with Saints unable to get the ball into the net, the Salford outfit netted again late on to make it 4-2. Man of the match for Saints was Ashley Bainbridge.

Saints are at home to Bury AM on Saturday, kick off 2pm, team meet 12.45pm at clubhouse.

HEYWOOD St James Reform’s Challenge Cup tie against Elizabethan was postponed on Sunday after heavy overnight rain made the Agecroft Farm pitch unplayable.

It was a disappointment for the players who will now be relishing the trip to Blackpool on Sunday for the North West Champions Cup Competition against Blackpool and Fylde Alliance Sunday League champions Quilligans.

Reform will be underdogs for the game – the hosts boast a terrific record both in their own league competitions and regional competitions. Everyone who has booked a place on the coach should be at Lidl car park no later than 9am. No alcohol will be allowed on the coach.

The following Sunday, Reform will again find themselves facing Blackpool opposition again when Kingsfield visit Phoenix park in the third round of the LFA Sunday Trophy, kick off 11am.