After two meetings, nothing has been decided in this great rivalry (actually, there's no rivalry). Last season, we tied Celtic 2-2 and today we reached the same result.For our team, it was a fine result. We were shorthanded due to many players being out for holiday travel. We played the entire second half with 10.
In the first half, no team had much of an advantage. Our defense began to weaken as we couldn't clear or distribute to the midfield effectively. We yielded a goal by a Celtic Woman who placed a nice rebound shot away from Liam.
After the half, Celtic beat us pretty good on one of their six-man, second-half runs. A solo effort through the defense resulted in a one-on-one goal in which Liam was forced to come well off his line. It's here that we settled. We pulled a goal back nearly immediately on a long throw-in (Jon, assist by Mike). Then, several minutes later, Jer headed in Mike's corner kick. These goals mark the first set piece scores that I can remember in years (about time!). After that, our defense dug in and was good, but not perfect. In fighting what seemed like about 4 male midfieders and some talented women, we could not stop Celtic from several shots and runs. Liam made a crucial sliding save to preserve the tie.
Fun game. It was really something to build on as we try to make a run to the playoffs. Congrats to Mike who gets his first points since joining us this summer. Great sportsmanship by Celtic, as we have come to expect.
What were your impressions of the game?
Notes: 2-2 tie versus Celtic at Wakefield HS, Oct. 7, 2007, goals by Jon (Mike), Jer (Mike), GK: Liam.
I think we had a strong outing yesterday, and I give credit to Celtic for earning both of their goals. The first one was an ideal shot into the bottom corner, and the second was a very dangerous through pass to about 30 yards out. The striker played it expertly and finished a great play.
ReplyDeleteTo our credit, both of our goals were great ones, too, particularly playing with 10.
Finally, I'd like to thank my athletic supporter for racking up it's third save of the season (the one at the end.) Go Cup!
Just a little housekeeping Pete. The first goal came off of a throw-in from Mike to Jon.
ReplyDeleteThe second goal was a corner kick from Mike that I headed in.
Good goals off of set pieces. Playing down a man, those are the best opportunities and to our team's credit, we took advantage of them.
Liam, great save at the end there as well.
thanks for those housekeeping notes. i really didn't see either goal. i am going to update the post accordingly.
ReplyDeletePI