Telford, with the wind at their backs in the first half, were making the most of the ball being held up, and pressing Celtic, but when they got into attacking positions, it seemed that they had left their shooting boots at home, with Jon Adams twice getting into glorious positions, but blazing wide. Debutant goalkeeper finally got to show his ability when Adams got a shot on target, forcing Dave Carnell to tip the shot around the post. As the half wore on Celtic came more into it, and a great sweeping move saw them chase up the pitch on the counter, only for Matty Barlow's shot to somehow be blocked on route in a crowded Telford box. Warren Peyton blazed over from the corner of the box after Joe O'Neill dropped the ball off to him, before Dave Hankin won a corner out of Sean Newton. There was a goal mouth scramble, with a John Hardiker header blocked, the ball coming out to Keith Briggs who powered a header into the back of the net, making sure it crossed the line this time.
Just before the interval, Andy Brown was denied by another good stop from Celtic's new number one. After the interval, he was required again, this time his quick hands denying Jon Adams.
A trio of corners for Celtic saw John Hardiker smash a header just past the upright, as it was Telford's turn to struggle to get the ball away from their box, and Warren Peyton curled a free kick just over the bar after a nasty challenge from Carl Rodgers on Michael Carr. A superb ball in by Dave Hankin got stuck in Joe O'Neill's legs, and against a lesser keeper, his cheeky back heel would have caught them by surprise, but Ryan Young was up to it. Just after Young tipped a thunderous shot from Carr over the bar, Telford countered with the aid of a free kick. Danny Edwards ran onto the long ball, and whipped a cross into the back post where Gavin Cowan got down on his knees to cushion a free header into the back of the net, with the Celtic defence looking at each other asking who should have picked him up.
With just ten minutes to go, it looked like a replay was inevitable from this point on, though O'Neill had other ideas, curling a beautiful shot just past the angle of upright and crossbar, and Warren Peyton did the same seconds later after robbing Shane Killock.
So, a replay required, and Celtic must travel to Shropshire on Tuesday night.
1 | Young, Ryan | ||
2 | Vaughan, Lee | ||
3 | Newton, Sean | > 68 | |
4 | Cowan, Gavin | ||
5 | Whitehead, Stuart | ||
6 | Killock, Shane | ||
7 | Adams, Jon | > 72 | |
8 | Blakeman, Liam | ||
9 | Rodgers, Carl | ||
10 | Brown, Andy | > 45 | |
11 | Trainer, Phil | ||
12 | Thompson, Steve | < 45 | |
14 | Carey-Bertram, Danny | < 72 | |
15 | Edwards, Danny | < 68 | |
16 | Nurse, Chris | ||
17 | Embruary, Scott |