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YCAC Saturday 8th March,
Hibs thought it would be a physical game against the big Celts team on the lunar surface at YCAC. Eight yellow cards and two reds later, it was.
In the first half we tried to work the ball around but had trouble with our passing game, with the bumpy pitch and unrelenting pressure from the Celts giving us problems, especially at the back. They picked off several passes and had forays deep into Hibs territory. Our defense scrambled and recovered on most occasions, but a Celts forward did get off one shot, a long chip that dinked off the crossbar, close call.
Eventually we changed strategy (started booting it upfield out of the back) and our quicker midfielders and forwards went to work. The Celts went to an offside trap on nearly every play, and there was much discussion about their linesman, etc. But eventually Andre played a perfect ball through to overlapping Kuni on the left, who ran in free and struck it perfectly far right, 1-0 into the half.
Things got a bit ugly in the second, with some brutal tackles on both sides. The Celts have some big bodies - smaller Hibs held our ground, but eventually Josh was caught up in an unfortunate tackle for his second yellow and sent off, putting us at 10 men. A few minutes later a Celt lost it on a throw in and pelted the ball at Ed's head, he was rightly tossed and we were even at 10 aside.
Around the violence both teams managed to play a bit of football, and after several good Hibs chances Yama finally scored on a good shot from inside the box, 2-0. Celts had a nice build-up for their second shot of the game, but Hitoshi calmly made the save. Then Andre got through and dribbled around the keeper for the clincher, 3-0 for the final.
An ugly game, but our finishing made the difference. Still another match vs Celts remaining, hopefully calmer minds prevail.
Report by Jay Alabaster
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