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Hodogaya, Sunday 25th March, There was a time not so long ago when Celts v Hibs was a big game on the Irish sporting calendar in Japan. Unfortunately not the case these days as the Hibs once again lined up without a single Irishman in the squad against the Celts 7. Times are changing and so is the Celts fortune as they won a deserved point in a physical game in Hodogaya on Sunday. Hibs had started quickly, perhaps not surprising as they had been warming up for about 40 minutes as word came through from Kaiser Lloyd that the pitch needed to dry out some more, and the Celts kit hadn't shown up along with 4 of our players...
The Celts grew into the game and Henry served a wake up call with a good run and shot which just went over. Hibs were maintaining their usual game of short passing followed by dashing runs from their midfield players with runners at times causing problems. However they never really threatened Aki in goal who had a solid game the whole way through.
From another set piece midway through the half Henry rose highest only to see his header crash off the bar.
Not to be denied, Celts pushed forward again and were awarded a penalty when Jeremiah was brought down at the edge of the box.
Dermot, with a shall we say "patchy" record with penalties this season stepped up confidently to plant the ball past the keeper. Celts were well worth their lead at this stage with hard work and at times last ditch defending holding the Hibs at bay.
Perhaps not used to being behind, the Hibs looked a bit rattled at halftime, and began to take out their frustration on the ref. The normally unflappable keeper booked for dissent before a ball was even kicked in the 2nd half.
The Celts had suffered from the age-old problem of guys who said they would, not showing up, weakening the squad considerably and meant not much options in terms of subs. When Rick who had been struggling with food poisoning throughout the game went off, the midfield lost a bit of its structure and the Hibs capitalized. As the legs began to tire the Hibs took control of the game and scored a deserved equalizer when the right winger beat the offside trap and crossed for an easy tap in. For the next few minutes the Hibs threatened to overrun the tiring Celts but the defence marshalled by Gav and Seamus held firm.
A bit of needle began to creep in with Jeremiah perhaps lucky to stay on the pitch after a second late challenge in the space of a few minutes. Whether it was necessary for the Hibs centre back to run 40 yards to try and convince the ref to send him off was another thing. The said center back seemed to take it all very personally and carved Jeremiah down twice in quick succession and later shoved Marc to the ground before claiming he had dived.... so perhaps he was as lucky to stay on the pitch.
The game petered out in the last 10 minutes, with neither side creating much. Final score 1-1.
Hibs may feel like 2 points dropped however they didn't create that many clearcut opportunities and based on the workrate, commitment and 1st half attacking performance the Celts deserved their point. Role on to Jetro and provided results go our way on Saturday, a chance to move out of the relegation zone with a win.
Report by Ruairi Hatchell
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