Celtic did the work in the first half, giving them a stroll in the park in the second and gave a first team debut to Craig MacGillivry as a keeper.
Craig Hobson, Arthur Gnahoua, Callum Warburton and Connor Jennings all linked up before Gnahoua pulled the ball out of the box for Hobson to rifle in the opener inside five minutes. Celtic continued to play around Chester making the visitors look very ordinary. Brogan went close with a free kick before Celtic got a second, Jennings evading the challenges and drawing the keeper before lifting the ball to Brogan to finish well. A screamer from thirty yards from Greg Wilkinson was well parried away by Adam Judge in the visiting net.
The second half saw Celtic start off in a similar vein with Jennings going close and Brogan forcing Judge into a decent stop. But it was Celtic's young debutant keeper who stole the show in the second half. It started with a superb point blank stop off George Horan's header at the back post following a free kick just before the hour mark. Brogan tried a cheeky free kick from distance, but Judge was awake, as he was when Callum Warburton fired in a half cleared corner. Celtic made a number of subs, and Dennis Sheriff came close with his header hitting the crossbar. Horan again was denied by an outstanding save from MacGillivry from a corner.
Extra pressure was placed on Celtic when Arthur Gnahoua pulled up and had to leave the field, with Celtic already having made all three subs Celtic were reduced to ten men. Craig MacGillivry stepped up to the plate and pulled off some exceptional saves.
Luke Holden was through and took a shot that MacGillivry parried well, the ball coming back to Holden only for MacGillivry to save a second time as well. MacGillivry was there again when substitute Robbie Booth got a chance as Chester's pressure increased and increased. There was nothing MacGillivry could do when Luke Holden was unmarked coming diagonally into the box onto Iain Howard's ball. Holden's shot was inch perfect to halve the deficit.
The final five minutes saw Cheshire looking for the equaliser that would have taken the game to extra time. However in stoppage time, MacGillivry was still on top form blocking Horan for a third time from a last minute corner to put Celtic through into the next round.
1 | MacGillivray, Craig | ||
2 | Rea, Jack | ||
3 | McWilliams, Andy | ||
4 | Bembo-Leta, Joel | ||
5 | Lynch, Chris | ||
6 | Warburton, Callum | > 71 | |
7 | Brogan, Stephen | ||
8 | Wilkinson, Greg | ||
9 | Hobson, Craig | > 68 | |
10 | Gnahoua, Arthur | ||
11 | Jennings, Connor | > 61 | |
12 | Sheriff, Dennis | < 61 | |
14 | Austin, Mitchell | < 68 | |
15 | Kay, Adam | < 71 | |
16 | Ellams, Lloyd | ||
17 | Marsh, Phil |
1 | Judge, Adam | ||
2 | Brownhill, Liam | ||
3 | McGinn, Matty | ||
4 | Horan, George | ||
5 | Taylor, Michael | ||
6 | Smith, Christian | > 63 | |
7 | Baynes, Wes | ||
8 | Powell, Mike | > 5 | |
9 | Simm, Chris | > 71 | |
10 | Holden, Luke | ||
11 | Howard, Iain | ||
12 | Brown, Alex | < 5 | |
14 | McNeil, Matty | ||
15 | Booth, Robbie | < 63 | |
16 | Wright, Jerome | < 71 | |
17 | Ormrod, Joe |