Match Report -
Bembo-Leta grabs the Celts first goal
By Iain Benson

A horror tackle from Josh Brizell marred what was otherwise a good performance in the first half, which finished 2-1, although after the substitution merry-go-round in the second, it finished with Hyde comfortable winners.

Hyde started the scoring just quarter of an hour into the match, with a great curling free kick from Adam Griffin after Kristian Platt had tripped Tom Collins at the edge of the Celtic box, and Collins could have made it two moments later when he shot on the turn, but hit the woodwork.

So it was Celtic who scored next, Joel Bembo-Leta rising at the back post from a Conal Platt corner thumping his header over Dave Carnell in the Hyde goal. Five minutes later, and Celtic took the lead, Obi Anoruo tripped a yard from the box by Luke Ashworth, and Kristian Platt stepped up and rocketted his shot into the top corner.

After already hitting the frame once, Collins did it again, when he was put through one-on-one with Woodhouse, only to see his lob crash down onto the bar. It was closer than Adam Pepper got moments later when he tried the same thing, his lob over Carnell coming down onto the netting. Hyde went looking for the equaliser with ten minutes left of the half, David Poole's acute angled shot punched away by Woodhouse, the ball coming out to Collins, who saw Kristian Platt charge down his effort from just inside the box.

Just before the interval a rash and dangerous tackle from Josh Brizell saw him go flying in feet first on Dominic Webb, forcing the stretcher to be brought on, and an ambulance called for a suspected broken leg. Mark Lees came onto replace Webb, and rather than book Brizell, the Hyde fullback was substituted at the referee's request.

The second half saw Celtic swap Prince Haywood for Callum Warburton, fresh from signing this season's contract. Five minutes into the half, Hyde grabbed an equaliser, with Collins bringing down a long ball well, and squaring it to Darren Appleton to lift over Woodhouse. At the other end, a good free kick from Warburton was well saved at full stretch by Carnell, before Hyde took the league with a ball into acres of space by Chris Melling for Appleton to run onto and go one-on-one with Woodhouse, and place the ball accurately past him.

As the substitutions came thick and fast, Hyde grabbed another to extend their lead, repeating what had worked for the previous goal, Alex Brown slotting the ball into wide empty spaces, and Collins to latch onto it, beating Woodhouse in his second one-on-one in less than ten minutes, and grab a well-deserved goal, after putting in a good shift.

Celtic reduced the arrears five minutes later from the spot, when Tom Buckley's free kick to the back post should have been met by Kristian Platt, but the heavy hand of Luke Ashworth in Platt's back saw the referee point to the spot instead. Conal Platt stepped up and fired in a good penalty, Carnell guessing completely wrong.

The two goal cushion was restored almost straight from the restart, when a defensive mix up allowed Danny Broadbent to scuff the ball under Woodhouse after Collins won the ball in the box. And Hyde made sure of taking the Ray Stanley Memorial Shield when the ball wasn't cleared in the Celtic box, and Connor Hughes poked it over the line from a foot out.

All in all, Celtic can be pleased with the performance, and we can but hope that Dominic Webb's injury isn't as bad as it looked.