Stalemate as Celtic come from behind
Sweet strike earns Celtic share of spoils against Pat’s
ST PATRICK’S 1 SHAMROCK CELTIC 1
A SWEET strike from Shamrock Celtic’s Glen McCarthy earned his side a share of the spoils from this entertaining and tight Division 2 clash with St Patrick’s at Kilcashel last Sunday morning.
The home side had been fired into a fully deserved lead in the opening half by a well struck free kick from the busy Martin Kenny and had enjoyed very productive spells against an out of sorts Celtic side who didn’t seem to be totally clued in for spells but who looked very threatening at times as well.
It was morning of bright sunshine and a flustering breeze deep on the valley floor when referee Michael Kennedy sounded the whistle for the start of this encounter and it was Celtic who started brightly with a ball through to Michael Hodgkinson from Sean O’Brien finding its target only for Hodgkinson to be adjudged to have fouled Anthony Doran.
Early searching balls were dealt with by Jason Porter and Stephen Doyle in the goals while there were commanding starts from Gary Doyle, Noel McVeigh for Shamrock Celtic with Niall McCawley and Martin Kenny up for the game at the other end.
An early penalty call was waved away by Kennedy when Chris Arthur hit the deck in the Celtic square after he had raced in from taking a corner to attack a deflected ball from a Niall McCawley header. There seemed to be minimal contact with the Celtic defender to be fair.
St Patrick’s were most certainly in the ascendency in the early stages and Aaron Tuke will wonder what might have been when he was presented with a chance to fire home to an open goal after Andrew Doyle had blocked Stephen Doyle’s clearance. Tuke’s attempt was purely instinctive and rolled agonisingly wide of the post with 12 minutes on the clock.
There was some drama shortly after this scare when Stephen Doyle’s mighty kickout fell to Hodgkinson who was in behind the St Pat’s defence. The attackers attempt blazed wide but Michael Kennedy, possibly thinking that the kickout had came from Doyle’s hands given the length of the kick, blew for offside causing much chagrin on the sideline.
The power of technology was then put to good use when a Shamrock Celtic mentor googled the rule and within seconds was able to confirm to the Celtic manager that Hodgkinson couldn’t be offside from the kickout.
Chris Arthur gave the visitors a major fright after 17 minutes when he lashed on to a loose ball on the edge of the ‘D’ and fired in a rocket that blazed wide of Doyle’s post and you could feel it in the air that St Pat’s were going to open the scoring at some stage.
Michael Hodgkinson ran into a little difficulty when he picked up a yellow card for dissent off Michael Kennedy. His manager was none too pleased and he commanded in fairly raw terms that his striker refrain from speaking completely. Hodgkinson pleaded that, “I only asked him a question”, to which his gaffer replied, “Well stop asking questions then”.
Celtic, in fairness to them, were creating chances as they played into the low January sun, and Michael Doyle O’Reilly had one of those chances when he struck a deflected ball with his left but his low shot drifted wide of Jason Porter’s post.
Shamrock Celtic were putting St Pat’s under decent pressure at this stage but a Pat’s break brought a foul from Gary Doyle on Colin Doran and up stepped Martin Kenny to take the freekick from just outside the area.
Kenny’s strike was perfect and sailed along the top of the grass to the bottom corner of Doyle’s net and there was simply no stopping it and the lead was fully deserved by the home side after 35 minutes.
Sensing the need for the change, the Shamrock Celtic management sent in Liam Thebald in place of Sean O’Brien after 38 minutes.
But, the last real chance fell to Martin Kenny again after a foul on Aaron Tuke by Michael Doyle O’Reilly but Kenny’s shot from almost the same spot as his first drifted just wide of the post.
Perhaps the most telling statement from that first half came close to the end when Noel McVeigh informed his collesgues that, “The Red Lad (Niall McCawley) is absolutely running the show up there. Put a clamp on him”.
Two penalty calls brightened up the early stages of the second half but referee Michael Kennedy wasn’t having anything of either one. Colin Doran hit the deck for St Pat’s and Michael Doyle O’Reilly went horizontal at the other end after a decent burst up the middle but there were no spot kicks resulting.
Shamrock Celtic sent in Brandon Doyle after 11 minutes of second half action and he immediately brought some energy and enthusiasm to the visitors by winning a throw and then a corner through pure hunger for possession.
There were half chances from free kicks and long-range efforts for both sides and the tension was mounting out on the field as the minutes ticked by.
Feeling that tension very strongly was Celtic goalkeeper Stephen Doyle who took exception to a decision by Michael Kennedy and let rip with a vicious insult at the match official for which he received a yellow card.
But the Shamrock Celtic equaliser was coming. There was no doubt about it. Glen McCarthy had come more into the game, Stephen Morris was starting to stamp his authority up front and Brandon Doyle’s electric energy was giving them a real dynamism that St Pat’s were having trouble quashing.
And it started from the boot of goalkeeper Stephen Doyle whose long ball from deep was headed back out to Stephen Morris who controlled it and sent the ball back into the heart of the St Pat’s square where Glen McCarthy was waiting and he pounced and lashed home a wicked shot past Jason Porter to level matters after 23 minutes of the second half.
St Pat’s went looking for immediate revenge when Martin Kenny drove a free low and hard at the Celtic goal but Stephen Doyle got down superbly to save low to his right. The resulting corner offered Anthony Doran the chance of a shot but his effort was poor and drifted harmlessly wide.
Glen McCarthy produced some magic at the other end when he connected with a well floated free kick from deep but his left footed volley flew over Jason Porter’s crossbar.
The remainder of the game saw both defences handling the majority of attacks with Anthony Doran picking up a yellow card for a reckless challenge on Michael Hodgkinson and Martin Kenny firing wide from two frees to see the game end at 1-1 after an entertaining 90 minutes in beautiful surroundings.
St Patrick’s: 1. Jason Porter, 2. Anthony Doran, 3. Niall McCawley, 4. Bradley Moran, 5. Martin Kenny, 6. Aaron Tuke, 7. Chris Arthur, 8. Colin Doran, 9. Andrew Doyle, 10. Dale Moran, 11. Hayden O’Neill. Subs: 12. Dean Power, 13. John Kavanagh.
Shamrock Celtic: 1. Stephen Doyle, 2. Michael Doyle O’Reilly, 3. Noel McVeigh, 4. Gary Doyle, 5. Sean O’Brien, 6. Aidan O’Neill, 7. Glen McCarthy, 8. Anthony Byrne, 9. Stephen Morris, 10. Michael Hodgkinson, 11. Simon Bouchier. Subs: 12. Brandon Doyle, 13. Peter Carter, 15. Liam Thebald.
Referee: Michael Kennedy.