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Misato Sunday 30th March,
Celts cruised to comfortable 3-0 win over BFC Vagabonds on miserable Sunday afternoon in Misato. Having had a recent run of defeats in cup and league it was with a renewed optimism that Celts took to the task at hand. Despite 3 players deciding a night out in the "Pong" was conducive to pre-match preparations & also missing some key players, Celts were still fielding a strong line-up.
With a solid back line of Aki, Chris, Rick, Gavin & Will and a less familiar midfield & strike force of Wayne & Morgan on the wings, Toru & debutant Yuki in the middle, Damo and Take pairing up for the first time as strike partners , Celts kicked off the match. The first 15 minutes was pretty much all Celts, lots of good play working the ball around the park and some early sorties into the Vagabonds box saw Damo’s goal bound shot cleared off the line, then another shot rattled the woodwork, followed by a fine save from the Vagabonds keeper to deny the Celts first blood.
In fact it was Vagabonds who drew first blood, literally, with a clash of heads in the box saw Celts centre-forward Take go down with a large cut above his right eye. The game was delayed for a few minutes as first aid was administered and it was clear Take's game was over. Jonesy came on to replace Take and Celts continued to push forward. After some good work at the back from Gavin to come out with the ball and find Wayne out on the right, who ran down the wing cut back in and delivered a perfect cross to Damo, who rose above the defence and directed the ball into the bottom right hand corner leaving the keeper with no chance, 1-0 Celts. A quick change on the wings to give Wayne & Morgan a break from the tireless running saw the return of JJ and club captain Derm "fresh" from the previous evenings shake & bake mission. There were a number of other opportunities that Celts had in the first half, however were unable to convert and the first half ended at 1-0.
Vagabonds started the 2nd half strongly, for the first 10 minutes Celts looked asleep with numerous lapses in concentration all over the field allowing Vagabonds to push on into the Celts half, however a well marshalled back line dealt with most of what the Vagabonds had to throw at the Celts and eventually Celts started to find their feet and carry on from where they left off in the first half. With Peter making his debut in midfield for the 2nd half and the tricky Yuki moving out the wing the 2nd Celts goal eventually came from a combination of good work that culminated in Yuki cutting into the box and rifling a shot into the bottom hand right corner. With 15 minutes to play and a few more substitutions Celts sealed the game with a third goal of pure class from Morgan. Peter winning the ball strongly in midfield and some interchange of passes between Toru, Derm, Jonesy & Morgan ended with Morgan strolling into the Vagabonds box and with a deft little chip lifting the ball up and over the Vagabonds keeper to seal a well deserved 3-0 victory for the Celts.
On the whole a fair reflection of the game, a good performance for the Celts, a well played clean performance from both teams without the sight of a booking or a card from the referee who let the game flow seamlessly.
Celts division 1 future is secure for another season and with 5 games to play including return matches with Geckoes, Hibs & BFC on the cards Celts are looking to improve on last seasons 7th in the league with a finish in the top half to the table.
Report by Sam Yusef
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