Celtic washed away Atherton on a rainy Tuesday night with a comprehensive victory, winning 5-0 with four different goal scorers.
Celtic were good for their two goal lead in the first half. Liam Tongue got closer with every attempt, shooting over before forcing Ellis Litherland into a decent stop off a free kick, and a low save through a crowd. It needed a deflection to deny him a fourth time, but when Alex Doyle handled in the box, Tongue couldn't miss from the spot.
In stoppage time, Josh Quarless tried an overhead kick from a cross, but his effort instead lifted the ball to the edge of the box, where Tongue put his foot through the ball to smash in a second.
Right at the start of the second half, half the crowd thought Connor Hughes had scored, but he missed by a whisker, could have scored a minute later when one-on-one and saw Litherland take the ball of his feet.
Although Lewis Mansell went close for the home side, the next goal came from Jack Tinning, latching onto a corner to volley home. Three was good, but ten minutes later, it was four. Jack Irlam threaded the ball through to Quarless. Stranded, Litherland could only watch as a delicate lob over him from Quarless added to Celtic's scoreline.
The performance needed a touch of gloss, and it came from Joe Edwards, Kyle Brownhill's low cross finding him in the box, he rode challenges to make space, before sliding in the fifth.
1 | Litherland, Ellis | ||
2 | Abitayo, Toba | > 58 | |
3 | Baptista, Nario | > 73 | |
4 | Eckersall, Matt | ||
5 | Dean, Tom | ||
6 | Gallagher, Calen | ||
7 | Bardsley-Rowe, Max | ||
8 | Doyle, Alex | ||
9 | Mansell, Lewis | ||
10 | Bailey, Eden | > 88 | |
11 | Putnam, Oli | > 70 | |
12 | Stephens, Harry | < 88 | |
14 | Bristol, Harry | < 73 | |
15 | Rogers, Alfie | ||
16 | Adams, Joe | < 58 | |
17 | Dawson, Adam | < 70 |
1 | Monks, Charlie | ||
2 | Swaby-Neavin, Javid | ||
3 | Brownhill , Kyle | ||
4 | Butterworth, Jordan | ||
5 | Lafferty, Daniel | > 58 | |
6 | Chalmers, Aaron | ||
7 | Banister, Jack | > 64 | |
8 | Tongue, Liam | ||
9 | Hughes, Connor | > 73 | |
10 | Irlam, Jack | > 84 | |
11 | Bryan, Matty | > 35 | |
12 | Tinning, Jack | < 58 | |
14 | Quarless, Josh | < 35 | |
15 | Edwards, Joe | < 73 | |
16 | Burton, Jordan | < 64 | |
17 | Masaba, Moses | < 84 |