Welcome to dc-fc.NET | Draperstown Celtic FC NI Intermediate League Champions 2008 2009 February : Welcome to dc-fc.NET | Draperstown Celtic FC
Browse > Home / Archive: February 2009

Draperstown Celtic 4-0 Strabane

February 24, 2009

Draperstown secured a resounding victory on Saturday thanks mainly to a three goal blitz in nine minutes which took the game totally away from a good Strabane side. The goals, which came from McLean, Bradley and Murray, left the visitors with a mountain to climb in the second half and the game was effectively over in the 46th minute when Bradley scored his second and Celtic’s fourth.
But for the first 15 minutes of the game the final score line looked far from likely. Strabane, playing against the wind, opened up the home defence on more than one occasion and should have taken the lead when after a fine passing move, John Donaghy fired over when he should have put his side into a deserved early lead. Michael McDaid and Stephen Donaghy were very busy up front while Aaron Brennan,on the left wing, had an excellent first half for the visitors but faded in the second. Generally it was Strabane in the early stages of the game who made light of the heavy pitch, which cut up badly, and the strong wind as Celtic struggled to get any shape into their game.

Eamon Murray had Celtic’s first shot on target in the 17th minute but Harley saved easily as he did again in the 22nd minute, again from Murray. Strabane’s Gallagher had a good effort saved before Celtic took the lead in the 29th minute. Higgins’ rasping drive from 25 yards hit the cross bar and Murray’s follow up was deflected for a corner from which McLean , alert to Bradley’s flick, controlled the ball and slot home from close range.

The goal certainly brought more life back into Celtic’s game and they doubled their lead in the 36th minute when Gavin Bradley fired home from a narrow angle after Murray’s pass and a minute later it was Murray who latched onto Young’s sublime pass to coolly round Harley and score. Young himself could have added a fourth just before half time but Harley was able to block this effort but Celtic were now firmly in the driving seat with a comfortable, if a little surprising, 3-0 lead given their performance in the first fifteen minutes.

Any hope Strabane had of quickly getting back into the game where dashed a minute after the re-start when Higgins found Bradley in the area and he scored past Harley to put Celtic four up. Despite having the strong wind at their backs, Strabane played like a team who knew the game was lost and despite having a good deal of possession, they failed to put the home defence under too much pressure. Indeed as the half wore on it was Celtic who should have extended their lead. Bradley, Flanagan and Young all had decent chances. Higgins was thwarted by Harley but Davison and Gallagher had two good efforts saved by the Celtic keeper but if they did harbour any thoughts of a dramatic fight back they were extinguished when Richard Graham was sent of for a second yellow card after a bad tackle on Higgins.

Celtic were able to see out the game with some ease despite Strabane putting a little pressure on the home goal in the last few minutes but by then any goal would not even have been a consolation.

Written by Michael Kelly · Filed Under First Team, News | Leave a Comment 

NFC Kesh 3-2 Draperstown Celtic

February 16, 2009

It was a long journey home for Draperstown and it gave them plenty of time to ponder over how once again in this strange season did they fail to take any points from the match. Yes, Kesh are the league leaders and play some fine football on a tight pitch with a good surface, but they were quick to admit that they got away with it on Saturday. Celtic contrived to hit the wood work five times and were denied a blatant penalty in the last minute but such has been their luck this year, one could hardly expect anything else.

Draperstown went into the game with a number of enforced changes. McNicholl, Heron, Graffin and O’Brien were all unavailable for a variety of reasons and had to play the first ten minutes with ten men as left back McGuigan was late in arriving. In this period Kesh threatened to score and only two good saves from Farniouk denied Jones and Rooney. Celtic weathered this storm and began to get a better share of the possession. Gavin Bradley should have opened the scoring for Draperstown on 20 minutes when picking up Caulfield’s cross field pass he drove wide of the far post when a goal looked likely.

Farniouk again saved well from Jones on 23 minutes before Quinn headed over a good chance from Bradley’s corner. Bradley then hit the bar with a chipped effort which had Carleton beaten all ends up before the home keeper made a good blocking save from Young as Draperstown began to take control.
Funston was lucky only to receive a warning after a heavy tackle from behind on Murray and John Higgins was unlucky to see his free kick shave the far post.

Draperstown’s goal came in 37th minute when Murray latched onto McGuigan’s long ball and finished well from the edge of the box. The lead lasted only 7 minutes when Cashel was given too much time to lay off a pass to Declan McKeever who scored from 20 yards. There was still time for Bradley to almost regain Celtic the lead but his free hit the post before being cleared to safety.

The second half saw Celtic take the game to their opponents and Higgins saw his shot well saved by Carleton on 49 minutes but two minutes later Kesh took the lead when McKeever latched onto a poor clearance and lashed the ball home for his second of the game. Immediately after the re-start Celtic had forced a corner and this time it was Murray whose header crashed against the bar before being cleared. Murray’s defence splitting pass then set up Bradley but Carleton was up to the task and parried the ball away. Kesh took firm control of the game on 58 minutes when Jones took advantage of some poor defending and scored from 12 yards to put the home side firmly in the driving seat. But only two minutes later Higgins’ free as met by Murray and his firm header again crashed off the cross bar.

Gavin Bradley did pull a goal back when he scored direct from a 25 yard free kick and with 12 minutes left the game became more open than it had previously been. Jones and O’Brien shot wide as Kesh attempted to take advantage of Celtic pushing forward. But there was still time for Draperstown to almost snatch a point. The 90th minute saw Bradley hit the post for the third time with a powerful header and Murray’s follow up attempt was blocked on the line by a Kesh hand but claims for the penalty were turned down.

Kesh were able to see out the final two minutes with no further problems but as one home supporter stated after the game “With a bit of fine tuning, Draperstown would have beaten us well.”

Written by Michael Kelly · Filed Under First Team, News | Leave a Comment 

Draperstown Celtic 3-0 Ardstraw

February 10, 2009

What a strange season this has been for defending champions, Draperstown. Not only was this just their second league victory of the current campaign but it was also their first home game, a remarkable fact in itself.

The game itself saw Draperstown dominant for long periods of the match and they could have won by a much greater margin. Having said that, Ardstraw were given a lifeline when two down and seemingly out of the game, when they were awarded a penalty but Eoin McNicholl showed his true class with a wonderful full length save to deny Gareth Watson and that was that for the visitors.

How Celtic failed to score before the 44th minute was perhaps indicative of their season so far. Dominating the game and playing well on a poor pitch they created and spurned a number of chances which would have seen them rap up the match much earlier than they did.

Early chances were spurned by Gavin Bradley and Ally McLean as Ardstraw were finding it difficult to gain any decent possession. Heroic defending from Darren Boyd stopped Sean McBride on 30 minutes while Nigel Boyd did even better to block McLean’s effort after being set up by the wonderfully skilful Benny Heron.
Just as it seemed that the half would somehow end goalless, McKillion’s cross was met by McBride who headed past Alan Dunlop to give Draperstown a most deserved lead on 44 minutes.

The second half again saw Draperstown mainly on top. A bad tackle from behind from Gourley saw McLean having to leave the game replaced by Burns, with the Ardstraw player not even spoken to by the referee while a yellow card, if not more was deserved. The visitors did try to get their game going but did not threaten McNicholl’s goal and it was Draperstown who should have doubled their lead on 56 minutes when Murray somehow missed Bradley’s cross with the goal at his mercy. The second however duly came when Bradley was fouled in the box and Murray sent Dunlop the wrong way.

A minute later came Ardstraw’s penalty when Quinn fouled Watson but McNicholl’s save was outstanding and five minutes later Celtic were out of sight when Caulfield’s great cross was met by Gavin Bradley who sent a thunderous drive to the roof of the net.

In the last ten minutes, further chances fell to Burns and Murray and a wonderful overhead kick from Bradley scraped the bar but the home side had to be content with three goals and the three points. This was certainly more like the Draperstown side of last season, defending well and creating chances from all areas of the field. And even though McNicholl had a quiet game overall, the big keeper’s penalty save came at a vital time and he is certainly one player, like others, who is growing in confidence with every game. It was also a great boost to see John Higgins make his first appearance of the season for Draperstown when coming on as a late substitute.

Written by Michael Kelly · Filed Under First Team, News | Leave a Comment