Match Report -
Celtic March On
By Iain Benson
Celtic made it seven wins out of eight but almost handed Eastwood a draw.

From the kick off Eastwood were put onto the back foot by Celtic, with a whistling effort from Jack Rea only narrowly wide. Minutes later and Phil Marsh laid off to Lloyd Ellams who fed the ball through for Connor Jennings who reacted faster than anybody else in the box to smash the ball home and give Celtic the lead on six minutes.

It could have been two seconds later as Phil Marsh burst onto Greg Wilkinson's through ball to go one on one, and forced a very good low one handed save from James Severn in the Eastwood goals. As Celtic continued to pressure the visiting goals, Jennings dropped the ball back to Wilkinson twenty-yards out who unleashed an unstoppable shot that smacked against the crossbar with Severn a mere spectator.

Just after the twenty minute mark, and Celtic handed the initiative to Eastwood when a simple one-two between Jan Budtz and Andy McWilliams saw the Celtic fullback over play the pass back setting Anthony Gregory up with the easiest chance he?ll ever have.

Celtic needed the initiative back and Lloyd Ellams receiving the ball of Jack Rea just outside the box saw him fire through the crowd, but Severn was well placed for the stop. Jennings was a whisker away from regaining the lead attempting to get onto Andy McWilliams's cross, and Wilkinson's low angled drive was well parried by Severn as Celtic just kept coming. It wasn't all one way traffic, and Eastwood looked dangerous from set pieces, with Caines firing high and wide from a free kick just outside the box after Hobson was harshly adjudged to have brought down Westcarr. Just before the break Hobson was put into a great position by McWilliams but fired over the bar.

In the second half, Eastwood had nothing to offer as an attacking force, despite their pressure as the game wore on, all the chances were coming Celtic's way.

A cracker of a shot from Rea saw a cracker of a one handed flying save from Severn. Hobson was twice put through and found Severn on top of his game. Connor Jennings placed his shot where Severn wasn't, but Paul Riley was in the way. There was nothing the Eastwood defence could do when sheer Celtic numbers overwhelmed them. Marsh knocked the ball through to Callum Warburton who fed it onto Greg Wilkinson coming in completely unmarked, and with Severn hopelessly out of position, Celtic regained the lead from a low shot from Wilkinson.

It should have been three when Marsh broke free but again Severn was there to deny Marsh's fierce drive with a superb save, and Arthur Gnahoua also found Severn a formidable barrier when the Eastwood keeper's reaction save from close range denied the Celtic substitute. With five minutes to go Wilkinson nearly got his second and Celtic's third but for yet another good stop, flying to his left to palm over Wilkinson's rising shot. With only minutes on the clock Eastwood poured forward, but they found now way through to Budtz's goal and returned home with no points.

1Severn, James  
2Hanson, Mitch  
3Riley, Paul  
4Armstrong, Craig  
5Caines, Gavin  
6Istead, Steve  
7Gregory, Anthony  
8Elliot, Danny  > 82
9Westcarr, Jerrod  
10Christie, Jevaise  > 67
11Cole, Aaron  > 76
12Burge, Josh  < 76
14Troke, Alex  < 82
15Benjamin, Sam  
16Bradley, Jason  < 67
17Want, Jake