Match Report -
Celtic Cannot Keep Up The Tempo Against Trinity
By Debbie Taylor

Celtic's two distinct half performances reared his head again against Gainsborough, but whereas against Tamworth, the defensive line kept the opponents at bay, this time, the Celtic back line were undone twice, undoing all the good work of the first half.

Celtic were a goal up inside five minutes, when a corner left the Trinity team all at sea, allowing Liam Dickinson to rifle home.

Celtic were on top in the first half, but couldn't get a telling second goal, with Charlie Ennis and Ben McKenna both getting decent chance, but lacking the power to beat ex-Celtic keeper Jan Budtz. Set pieces looked to be where Gainsborough could get back into the game, with Darryn Stamp twice guilty of wayward headers from corners, and Simon Russell's shot didn't trouble Lewis King.

The second half started with Gainsborough looking a little more composed, but it was still Celtic creating the chances, Wade Joyce firing in from the edge of the box, and Ben McKenna getting on a Liam Dickinson cross, but Budtz was up to both, and this allowed Trinity to get a foothold I the match. They pressed and pressed, and Celtic were struggling to get the ball out of their own box, never mind out of the own half, but it looked like Celtic might survive until Paul Beeseley latched ono the loose ball and finally forced it into the back of the net.

Nathan Heath fired in a lay off from Aidan Chippendale, but couldn't stretch Budtz, and the closest Celtic came was Chris Salt's chest back to Budtz that was only narrowly wide of the post, with Budtz too far to catch, conceding a corner Matty Hughes headed over. But Celtic couldn't find a way through, and if anything, it was Gainsborough that looked the more comfortable, with Celtic probably guilty of trying too hard, to overplay, one too many passes.

Trinity took the three points again from a failure to clear. Celtic had two or three chances to just smack the ball down the field, but couldn't quite take it, and so when Darryn Stamp got yet another chance, he finally took it.

With ten minutes left on the clock, Celtic finally stepped it up a gear and looked like the first half team. James Cadman fired low, and Aidan Chippendale's driven shot was deflected by Chris Salt over the bar at speed. Dickinson shot from a free kick, Budtz tipping over for a corner and Dickinson heading wide when Trinity couldn't clear. With seconds left on the clock Ennis carved one last chance, but Budtz preserved the points for the home team, so Gainsborough move into the top ten, instead of Celtic.

1Budtz, Jan  
2Roma, Dominic  
3Lacey, Josh  
4Binns, Charlie  
5Salt, Chris  
6Picton, Jake  
7Russell, Simon  
8Roberts, Grant  > 63
9Stamp, Darryn  
10Bateson, Curtis  
11Beesley, Paul  
12Davis, Liam  
14Higginson, Conor  
15Lobjolt, Billy  < 63
16Davie, Tom  
17Martin, Adam