Mid December and this was only Draperstown’s second league game of the season such has been their commitment to various cup competitions. Following last weeks good display against Ards Rangers, Celtic were confident of another good performance this week, but this was not to be the case.
In a scrappy, dour affair Celtic looked to have taken the three points after a well taken goal from Ryan Bradley on 78 minutes, but Churchill grabbed an equaliser on 88 minutes when Smallwoods glanced in a header off the far post.
It might have been so different if Chris McGarrigle had scored from Graffin’s excellent cross after only 20 seconds and a minute later Graffin scuffed his shot when well placed. It seemed that even at this early stage Celtic would dominate proceedings, but they allowed Churchill to get back into the game. Kevin Leonard became the busier of the two keepers and showed his ability with an excellent save from McConways’s good header. Churchill’s centre forward, Lynch fired over from close range and then was thwarted by another good save from Leonard on 22 minutes. Celtic re-organised their formation to combat Churchill’s superiority in midfield where McGill and McLaughlin were having the better of things. The move allowed Draperstown to become somewhat more dominant and while Eamon Murray was unlucky to see his goal bound shot deflected for a corner by Scanlon, Celtic had not posed a real threat after that opening few minutes of the half.
Churchill began the second half brightly, and Leonard was called into making two good saves from Lynch and McGill in quick succession, but after this Celtic began to dominate possession. Celtic brought on Ryan Bradley and Cathal Donnelly and both almost had an impact on the game. Firstly Bradley fired a good shot just past the post and Donnelly’s free kick hit the post with McGarrigle stranded. With Draperstown dominant at this stage they took the lead when Eamon Murray’s through ball found Bradley who scored from the edge of the box. Sharpe almost equalised for Churchill when he failed to make contact from close range, while Bradley could have made the game secure for Celtic on 85 minutes but McGarrigle saved well in a one on one situation.
With time running out and the three points looking safe, Churchill threw men forward in one last attack and Smallwoods was able to get his head to a left wing cross and secure a point for the home side. While both sides could have won the game, neither dominated possession or showed any great skill on the day to claim the win and a draw was probably the fairest result.
Team:
Kevin Leonard, Ryan Browne, John Higgins, Declan Graffan, Stephen McKee, Cathal Donnelly, Raymond Caulfield, Conor McDevitt, Sean McBride, Eamon Murray, Kevin Ward.
Subs: Seamus Bradley, Ryan Bradley, Chris McGarrigle
