Heavy pitch
By Deborah Taylor
A heavy crumpled pitch made for a congested game, Celtic lacking the fluidity they’ve shown this season, but ground out a result against a team fighting to escape the bottom four.
Out of the two teams, Darlaston adapted to their pitch the quickest, but lacked a killer finish, James Rowland rolling the ball back to Charlie Monks in his easiest save of the season. That all changed in the last few minutes of the half. Tyler Bruck’s swooping cross was met at the back post by Kieran Cook with a good finish to put the home side ahead. A pivotal moment just seconds later, when Jack Tinning slid in to take the ball from Jack Collins, who turned to fall over Tinning. Never a free kick, and certainly not a penalty, but one was given anyway. Up stepped Charlie Monks. As usual he guessed the correct direction, and got across to push the ball away, Charlie Doyle hacking it clear. The impetus now fell to Celtic and Kyle Brownhill got to the back post to pull the ball across to Rube Jerome, who controlled with one touch and smashed home the equaliser with his second.
The second half saw Celtic on the up, getting better the further the game went on. It took nearly fifteen minutes for Kyle Brownhill to try turning in a free kick, only to be thwarted by Stanley Amos in the Darlaston nets, and then another fifteen minutes for Max Leonard to put Celtic ahead with a precision well-placed shot, though Rube Jerome has to take the credit for winning the ball on the wing, taking on two defenders, running down the by-line and picking Leonard out. Tinning and Leonard tried to add a bit of clear air between the sides, Tinning’s header and Leonard’s attempted flick in both from corners, but Amos got to both, before Darlington went route one. Amos with a sixty yard punt down field from his own box, Cook beating the offside trap to be one-on-one with Monks, and lobbing the Celtic keeper to equalise.
Celtic were back in front less than five minutes later, and it was a goal worthy of winning any match. Ellis Horan outpaced two defenders, whipped in a ball, Jack Byrne nodding it down into Leonard’s path, and he pulled out a contender for goal of th season, thirty-five yards out, dipping, curling and beyond Amos’s outstretched fingertips. Going into stoppage time, Celtic could have held it in the corners, but instead tried to add a fourth, with Byrne agonisingly close twice, and Horan screaming a free kick over the bar.
