ROO BHOYS ARE GOOD.. Celtic boss praises his cup battlers

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MANUEL ROONEY admitted he was over the moon after Belfast Celtic handed him an early Christmas present with a battling Clarence Cup win over St Luke’s on Saturday.

Ciaran Caldwell and Mick Johnston grabbed the goals in the second half as the visitors squeezed past Davy Munster’s men on their own patch to set up a second round trip to St Luke’s 1B rivals Barn United.

Before that though, the Young Men have this Saturday’s Cochrane Corry showdown with Finaghy at Falls Park as the cup games come thick and fast in what has been a terrific start to the new campaign since the club’s switch from the South Antrim, where they plundered a league and cup treble last year.

“We’ll not get too carried away with it, we knew we would give them a game but it was a great result on the day,” said Rooney.

“They made the better start and missed a couple of chances themselves, but we held our own against them most of the game.

“They had the better of it early on and I think second half, we came out, played well and took control of the game and took our chances.”

Coming against St Luke’s, an established Amateur League side and this season’s Steel Cup quarter-finalists, a team hailing from four divisions above them no less, Rooney acknowledges it is probably Celtic’s best result of the season, if not performance.

“We have played better but the boys, every single one of them gave 100 per cent on Saturday,” said Rooney, first team coach at the club alongside Gary Heaney and manager Decky Catney.

“That was the big thing for us and we’ve only lost one all season and that was on penalties against St James’ in the Junior Cup.

“And that was a game we probably should have won as well but on the day, they put away their penalties and fair play to them.”

Indeed, the Hoops’ sparkling first half of the season in their new surroundings has set the stage for an exciting run-in in the New Year.

“It means we have plenty to play for over the rest of the season,” added Rooney.

“It’s six from six for us in the league and we’re still in all the cups, apart from the Junior Cup so it’s so far so good.”