In football, only one stat actually matters: goals. Mickleover may have survived three times the number of chances they created themselves, but what they did with their chances was score, something Celtic seemed unable to do.
Joe Slinn put Celtic on the back foot for the entire game, allowing Mickleover to control the game plan, when he slid in on Andy Dales, despite having defensive cover and brought the winger down near the edge of the box. John McGrath started the rout from the spot.
Dickinson almost got Celtic back in it, with a cracking effort that zipped through the box and cannoned off the outside of the post. New signing Connor Hughes showed he has plenty of tricks in his locker and had a handful of good chances, the second requiring former Celtic keeper, Lewis King, to pull off a one handed save from close range, whilst the third dipped over King but hit the top of the crossbar. Matty Wolfenden twice went close from excellent whipped in balls, putting both wide of the mark.
Mickleover soaked up the pressure, and, just before half time, broke up field. The Celtic defence were turned in all directions when Evan Garnett got the ball, curling it past Slinn the ball coming off the inside of the post, landing squarely at Andy Dales's feet to simply tap in.
The second half started with Greg Wilkinson coming on, his first meaningful touch was a thirty-five yard dipping shot that produced a flying one handed tip over the bar from King. After putting the corner over the bar, Wolfenden got on target but fired right down King's throat.
Celtic's defence was undone far too easily for Mickleover's third, a low cross from Jimmy Phillips, and despite attention from Ross Killock, Greg Wilkinson slid in to try and deny Jake Scott pushing the ball into his own net.
Celtic continued to have sustained pressure, but with the three goal cushion, Mickleover were content to put a tight defensive display on and make occasional forays into the Celtic half. After defending a series of corners, Mickleover again undid the Celtic defence far too easily, Lee Neville momentarily following McGrath instead of the ball that he released cleverly Jimmy Phillips to pull across to Andy Dales. The winger nipped in and fired inside Slinn's near post.
Oliver Roberts almost got a consolation for Celtic from a free kick that King acrobatically tipped over the bar and Theo Bailey-Jones out-paced everybody, but fired narrowly wide of the post. Celtic proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot and essentially gift the fifth goal to the visitors. A defensive mix-up when Slinn looked to be coming to clear the ball and Ross Killock got there first sending the ball past his keeper allowed Garett to take the ball and walk it into the net.
In stoppage time, King again denied Celtic a consolation, this time, tipping Jake Charles's effort over the bar summing up the game. Celtic had their chances and took none, Mickleover had their chances and took them all.
1 | Slinn, Joe | ||
2 | Morton, Danny | ||
3 | Neville, Lee | > 69 | |
4 | Brown, Tom | > 45 | |
5 | Ashworth, Luke | ||
7 | Bailey-Jones, Theo | ||
8 | Roberts, Oliver | ||
9 | Dickinson, Liam | ||
10 | Wolfenden, Matthew | ||
11 | Hughes, Connor | > 63 | |
12 | Wilkinson, Greg | < 45 | |
14 | Charles, Jake | < 63 | |
15 | Honeyball, Alex | < 69 | |
16 | Julien, Sebastian | ||
17 | Crowley, Oliver |
1 | King, Lewis | ||
2 | Horne, Reece | ||
3 | Turner, Ben | ||
4 | McGrath, John | ||
5 | Mills, Pablo | ||
6 | Burgin, Tom | ||
7 | Dales, Andy | > 74 | |
8 | Scott, Jake | ||
9 | Morris, Alex | ||
10 | Garnett, Evan | > 87 | |
11 | Phillips, Jimmy | ||
12 | Williams, Morgan | ||
14 | Tyrell, Tevahn | < 87 | |
15 | Samoud, Bilal | < 74 | |
16 | Walshe, Liam |