Celtic certainly weren't going to help Stafford and this showed from the off, with Kristian Platt's ball through a crowd from a corner deflected out for a second corner and Rhys Meynell's effort from the second corner hitting the woodwork. Celtic took a deserved lead when Connor Jennings finished off great build up play to stroke Craig Hobson's lay off beyond Lee Evans's fingertips and give Celtic the lead.
Lloyd Ellams tried to catch Evans napping, but the Stafford keeper made the stop, but was stranded when Ellams's next effort came in, which was deflected out for a corner. Hobson put a corner wide as Celtic cantered to the end of the first half in first gear.
Celtic continued to press the visitors in the second period, Platt firing a thirty yard free kick in towards goal that Evans couldn't hold, forcing him into a great second save off Hobson who had followed the ball in, the rebound fell to Jennings, who couldn't direct his instinctive shot and put it wide.
After Luke Keen's effort hit the corner of post and bar, with Danny Edwards skying the rebound, it woke Celtic up, and Arthur Gnahoua latched onto Connor Jennings's unselfish pull back to notch his first for the first team. Jennings forced Evans into a good stop at the back post before Stafford pulled one back Andre Francis with time and space to cut inside and beat Budtz. Joel Bembo-Lita restored the two goal cushion from Callum Warburton's corner, diving in to nod home and celebrating with a back-flip or three.
Stafford were immediately only a goal behind again when Marco Adaggio barrelled through Budtz onto a floated in ball and took bal and keeper into the net.
Stafford pressed hard, but could hardly create chances, and Jennings and Dennis Sheriff both forced Evans into stops, before right at the death a choice of three strikers against Evans fell to Jennings and he fired wide. But it didn't matter, and Celtic recorded a third successive victory.
1 | Budtz, Jan | ||
2 | Rule, Glenn | ||
3 | McWilliams, Andy | ||
4 | Meynell, Rhys | > 39 | |
5 | Platt, Kristian | ||
6 | Rea, Jack | ||
7 | Warburton, Callum | ||
8 | Wilkinson, Greg | ||
9 | Jennings, Connor | ||
10 | Hobson, Craig | > 72 | |
11 | Ellams, Lloyd | > 53 | |
12 | Gnahoua, Arthur | < 53 | |
14 | Bembo-Leta, Joel | < 39 | |
15 | Buckley, Tom | ||
16 | Kay, Adam | ||
17 | Sheriff, Dennis | < 72 |
1 | Evans, Lee | ||
2 | Johnson, Jermaine | ||
3 | Kassiama, Fabrice | ||
4 | Dudley, Mark | ||
5 | McAughtrie, Craig | ||
6 | Maguire, Niall | ||
7 | Francis, Andre | > 79 | |
8 | Kinsella, Sean | > 69 | |
9 | Mills, Ben | ||
10 | Keen, Luke | > 88 | |
11 | Edwards, Danny | ||
12 | Adaggio, Marco | < 69 | |
14 | Naylor, Martyn | < 79 | |
15 | Wright, Callum | ||
16 | Clarke, Tyree | < 88 | |
17 | Turner, Tom |