Greg Wilkinson saw his early effort saved as he tried a cheeky chip over the very tall Danny Hamilton after some good build up. Even better build up followed as Celtic sliced the Motormen apart resulting in a very good save from Hamilton to deny Joe O'Neill. Dave Hankin's corner was not dealt with very well and fell nicely for Connor Jennings to smash home his first goal of the season with a fine volley. Celtic continued to confound the visitors all over the pitch, with Wilkinson twice going close before Dave Hankin's inch perfect cross found Wilkinson unmarked coming in at the back post and he made no mistake and had the time to take a touch before sliding home.
Amy sign that Celtic would settle for two was dispelled when Keith Briggs overlapped with Hankin and sent in a low shot to the near post where O'Neill was sliding in, but Brian Moogan beat the Celtic striker to the ball and put it into his own net. Hankin could have capped his man of the match performance with a goal when he out paced the fullback, and smashed a shot, but Hamilton made a decent stop.
The second half saw Celtic looking to avoid injuries and bookings,and this meant Vauxhall were always going to get a toe hold in the game, with Noon firing from distance straight at Paul Phillips to register the visitors first shot of the match forty-seven minutes in. Celtic still looked like they could get more, though, and O'Neill forced Hamilton into yet another stop before a flying save from the Vauxhall keeper denied Hankin. Andy Smart was brought on for the tiring Wilkinson, and almost his first touch was to blaze a corner over the bar from four yards out, whilst at the other end, Vauxhall substitute Keith Smith found that Paul Phillips was still awake and able to pull of a top draw save of his own, tipping the powerful strike over the bar.
Loan signing Philip Ojapah was blooded in the last ten minutes, and was involved in everything, from losing the ball at the edge of his own area to allow Lee Furlong to smash home a fine effort, to narrowly missing a goal of his own at the other end of the pitch when he got onto Warren Peyton's through ball and half volleyed it narrowly wide.
Despite scoring the goal late into the second half, Vauxhall always looked like they would struggle in this match.
1 | Phillips, Paul | ||
2 | Battersby, Richard | ||
3 | Law, Graeme | ||
4 | Woods, Steve | ||
5 | Peyton, Warren | ||
6 | Hardiker, John | ||
7 | Hankin, Dave | ||
8 | Briggs, Keith | > 78 | |
9 | O’Neill, Joe | ||
10 | Jennings, Connor | > 76 | |
11 | Wilkinson, Greg | > 70 | |
12 | Carr, Michael | < 76 | |
14 | Smart, Andrew | < 70 | |
15 | Ojapah, Philip | < 78 | |
17 | Moss, Ryan |
1 | Hamilton, Danny | ||
2 | Moogan, Brian | ||
3 | Holmes, Jordan | ||
4 | Lane, Chris | ||
5 | Wilson, Josh | ||
6 | Holden, James | > 68 | |
7 | Eggerton, Jon | ||
8 | Booth, Robbie | ||
9 | Noon, Karl | ||
10 | Hine, Josh | > 56 | |
11 | Noone, Chris | > 45 | |
12 | Furlong, Lee | < 56 | |
14 | Smith, Keith | < 68 | |
15 | Davies, Craig | < 45 | |
16 | Smith, Francis | ||
17 | Wright, Anthony |