Match Report -
Celtic Bow out of the Trophy at the first hurdle
By Iain Benson

Celtic added the FA Trophy to the FA Cup in the list of cup competitions we are now out of. It wasn't for the want of trying, with Celtic having the lion's share of the chances, but a failure to put them away cost the visitors dearly.

Both Cory Gregory and Greg Wilkinson tested Jon Kennedy early on, but without success, while Mitchell Austin's flicked header from a corner going narrowly wide and Mark Lees connecting with another corner and his rising shot clearing the bar. Celtic were bossing the play, and a goal was on the cards. It came from some good build up play that won a corner. The corner came out to Corey Gregory who fired back through a crowd. Kennedy was unsighted, as Laird parted his legs the ball went in the bottom corner, with Kennedy rooted.

Celtic should have used the second half to consolidate their position. Greg Wilkinson went close with a snap shot from the edge of the box that Kennedy did well to get across to, and after a period of sustained pressure, Corey Gregory's stabbed shot beat Kennedy and hit the post, bouncing back to look like it might cross the line, but Kennedy pounced on the loose ball. Celtic rued their missed chances, as Matlock equalised from a free kick.

The ball in from Micky Harcourt was a good one, but it should have been dealt with, it wasn't and James Lukic flew in at the near post to power a header past Alex Cairnes. Callum Warburton tried a long distance lob to put Celtic back in front, but Jordan Barrow had the best chance, cutting inside and unleashing a superb curling effort that looked destined for the top corner until Kennedy athletically reached the effort with an excellent save.

However, the goal had buoyed Matlock, and they went looking for a winner. And they went looking with a will. Bradley Grayson forced Cairnes into a fantastic one handed save, and they pressed higher and higher up the pitch until Messiah McDonald wriggled free, found some space and blasted a shot past Cairnes, the sheer pace beating the Celtic keeper, and handing the initiative to the home side.

With only stoppage time left, Celtic got a late, late corner, a chance to equalise. Kristian Platt got his head to the ball, and it was deflected wide, giving Celtic no more chances.

1Kennedy, Jon  
2Harcourt, MickeyYellow Card 
3Roe, Phil  
4Foster, MartinYellow Card 
5Yates, Adam  
6Lukic, James  
7Grayson, Bradley  > 82
8Ashmore, James  
9McDonald, Messiah  
10Cotton, Glyn  > 88
11Davies, Gareth  
12Leesley, Joe  < 82
14Gaughan, Laurence  < 88
15Wilkin, Liam  
16Dennis, Will  
17Buxton, Nick