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Churchill Utd 0-1 Draperstown Celtic

Draperstown Celtic’s progression up the Intermediate league took another massive step on Saturday when they defeated league leaders Churchill Utd at Wilton Park. Following on the heels of the excellent victory achieved at Newbuildings in their previous outing, Celtic were not in the mood to let the impetus created there slip away.

They could have won by more had they taken some of the four or five good opportunities they created and yet right at the death, Smallwoods could have grabbed an equaliser but blazed his effort over the bar.

Celtic began brightly and, playing with the wind, had Churchill on the back foot for large parts of the first half. This early pressure was rewarded by the only goal of the game in the tenth minute when Colin Murray scored from 8 yards after Burns had flicked on Declan Graffin’s throw. Celtic looked to add to their advantage and almost did so five minutes later when John Higgins’dribble inside the box fed Seamus Bradley whose first time shot was well saved by Deeny in the home nets. Little was seen of Churchill as an attacking force in this opening period and they owed a great deal to keeper Deeny who, in the 30th minute pulled off a great save, again from Bradley, who was wonderfully set up by Eamon Burns’ mazy run. As it was, the one goal advantage remained and slowly the home side began to make progress into the Celtic half. They almost pinched an equaliser on half time when they threatened the Celtic goal with a series of corners. Eoin McNicholl saved well from Devine and later Smallwoods’ header just cleared the bar.

The second half saw an almost reversal of the first as Churchill upped the pressure in search of an equaliser. However despite having a great deal of possession, McNicholl in the Celtic goals was rarely troubled such was the dominance of the visitors’ back four again well led by Quinn and McKillion, while Graffin put in a solid display in mid-field. David Scanlon fired over from a free kick on 54 minutes while a great recovery tackle from Colin Murray prevented Smallwoods from scoring. However, Celtic had their chances to increase their lead. Gary Conway was taken down outside the box and Eamon Murray thumped the resultant free against the cross bar with Deeny a spectator. Ten minutes later with Celtic again playing on the break, Murray latched onto a poor back pass but was forced wide by Deeny and the Churchill defence recovered to clear what should have been a further goal.

With time running out for Churchill they did put the Celtic team under a great deal of pressure. They were awarded numerous free kicks but a mixture of poor delivery and poor finishing meant that McNicholl was not called into any serious action though the blanket defence was almost at breaking point on occasions. Smallwoods should have scored for the home side when on 89 minutes when for the only time of the game he got beyond Celtic’s defence but blasted over from close range and with it went Churchill’s last real chance. The referee saw fit to play five minutes injury time which again saw some last ditch and at times nervous clearances from Celtic but when the final whistle did come it brought much celebration from the team and their bench.

Newbuildings Utd 1-5 Draperstown Celtic

A superb team performance from Draperstown saw them tear second placed Newbuildings apart in a game where the visitors enjoyed large periods of total dominance. Four goals from Eamon Murray and a fifth from Colin Murray gave Celtic a very comfortable victory in a game where Newbuildings were hoping to do the double over Draperstown having won at Cahore Park in November.

All the goals came in a pulsating second half, but Celtic created and should have taken at least two further opportunities in the opening 45 minutes and were denied the most blatant of penalties in the 43rd minute when the referee saw fit to award a free kick on the edge of the box when Seamus Bradley had been fouled some four yards inside the box. Thankfully that decision was not to have a bearing on the game as Celtic were able to turn chances into goals in the second half.

The first half was a fast, open affair with Seamus Bradley, making his first league appearance of the season, seeing plenty of the ball on the left as Draperstown pushed forward at every opportunity. The first real chance of the game however fell to Kyle McCallion on 20 minutes but the Newbuildings’s player headed badly wide while two minutes later Gareth McKeegan tipped over a good effort from Eamon Burns.

Celtic upped the pressure in the final 20 minutes of the half and should have been rewarded for their attacking play on more then one occasion. John Higgins pulled a shot wide before Brendan Heron burst through the static home defence but hurried his shot and fired over from 20 yards with only the keeper to beat. Eamon Murray should also have score when he failed to make full connection with the ball and McKeegan gathered safely. With two minutes of the half left came that penalty decision which only the referee will know as to why it wasn’t given.

The second half began in the same fashion as the first one ended, with Draperstown putting the home defence under a great deal of pressure. With Higgins and McBride putting in a great deal of work in midfield it meant that Newbuildings were never able to get any hold of good possession. Eamon Murray fired over from the edge of the box on 49 minutes while in a rare attacking Newbuilding’s foray, Jason Hay shot wide. Celtic were finally rewarded on 58 minutes when Heron found Bradley on the left and his excellent cross was headed home by Murray. Four minutes later, the home cause was not helped when their influential midfielder Wesley Ferguson was sent for a second yellow card following a bad challenge on Higgins.

Celtic doubled their lead on 70 minutes when Bradley again found Murray who again headed past McKeegan. Against the run of play, Newbuildings pulled a goal back when King’s free kick was deflected past his own keeper by Declan Graffin, but any hopes of a dramatic comeback were extinguished two minutes later when again it was the combination of Bradley and Murray which did the damage and put the game beyond the home side. Neither Bradley nor Murray were finished yet as the winger’s cross was dropped by McKeegan and Murray was on hand to sweep the ball home for his and Celtic’s fourth of the day. The final goal, in the 86th minute, also involved Bradley and Murray who this time set up Colin Murray to score Celtic’s fifth of the day and round off an excellent team performance.

While Seamus Bradley and Eamon Murray will rightly grab all the headlines, this was a victory built on a very positive team performance, where the defence was solid and the midfield trio of Higgins, McBride and Heron looked a very good combination. This type of performance augers well for Draperstown’s future.

Newington YC 4-1 Draperstown Celtic

For the second time this season, Draperstown exited a cup competition at the hands of Newington YC. Earlier the Belfast side had trounced Celtic 7-2 in the Irish Cup and while there was no repeat of that scoreline, Newington were always in control though Draperstown did contribute to their own downfall by some poor defending at times.

The very poor surface, indeed after 20 minutes it may have been deemed unplayable, resulted in a poor game overall. Passing the ball became difficult for both sides but Newington’s overall superiority was quite apparent for most of the game.

They took the lead on 12 minutes when Gary Conway’s attempted clearance only fell to Eamon Lyndsey who scored from close range. Newington doubled their tally when poor defending from a corner allowed Healy to rise unchallenged and head past Martin Farniok in Celtic’s goals.

Draperstown pulled a goal back on 32 minutes when Newington’s keeper, Paul Snodden, hurried his clearance while under pressure from Andy Burns which fell to Eamon Burns who scored from 30 yards.

While Draperstown may have hoped to pull the tie around in the second half they were outdone by poor defending both from simple throw in situations. On both occasions, Cormac Brannigan was able to score from close range headers to seal a comfortable victory for the home side. Eamon Burns almost snatched a consolation goal right at the end but his effort was cleared off the line.

Newington now look forward to playing Portadown in next week’s Irish cup and a quarter final appearance in the Intermediate Cup while for Draperstown it will be back to their league campaign.

Best Wishes John Paul

The committee of Draperstown Celtic F.C, on behalf of everyone at the club would like to take this opportunity to send our best wishes to 1st team goalkeeper John Paul for a speedy recovery from his very serious injury. All the very best and get well soon JP.

Next First Team Fixture

McGrogan Memorial Cup | Monday 27 July 2010
V
Draperstown Celtic v Broadway Celtic