Match Report -
Celtic Win Away At Workington
By Deborah Taylor

Ironically, Workington were at their most dangerous when they were reduced to nine men, although Celtic maintained their one goal advantage.

Celtic had two penalty shouts in the opening five minutes, when Matty Wolfenden was through on goal, only to be up-ended by Dan Wordsworth, whilst Gari Rowntree got away with conceding a penalty and seeing red when his stamp on Ross Dent went unseen. With Celtic still shocked by the lack of decisions, Workington almost took the lead from their first attack; Jordan Holt's wicked free kick up and over a poorly positioned wall, with only the crossbar saving Celtic's blushes when Jake Turner tipped the shot onto the bar, kicking away the rebound while still on the floor.

Celtic's blushes were firmly re-instated when a simple corner routine resulted in Brad Carroll coming in unchallenged to plant his header into the back of the net. They almost did it again fifteen minutes later, after Celtic struggled to get into the game, this time Jake Turner pilling off a great save to deny Sam Smith.

That close call spurred Celtic to finish the half the stronger, winning a corner. Ross Dent flicked Neil Kengni's corner to the back post. It wrong footed the whole Workington defence leaving Andrew Scott alone at the back post. He was facing the wrong way the ball was an awkward height and behind him. Somehow, his improvisation meant he flicked a leg into a back heel diverting the ball into the back of the net.

Andrew Scott put Celtic ahead right at the start of the second half when Aaran Taylor was chasing down a back pass, only for a bobble on the pitch causing the ball to skip away from Taylor, Scott the faster of the two reaching the ball first and curling the ball into the back of the net.

The game got harder for Workington when Neil Kengni was pulled back at the edge of the box by Wordsworth, to struggle free only to lose the ball at the feet of Taylor. When the foul was indicated, Wordsworth provided his opinion on that decision, and was shown red. Liam Tongue could not add insult to injury when he got no curl on his free kick and it went wide. It got harder still when Rowntree pulled back Scott Bakkor back at the edge of the box, getting a second yellow.

From that point on, Workington worked harder, ran faster, pressed more than Celtic, like they had a point to prove. However, Celtic held firm; the closest they came was a wicked shot from Connor Tinnion that required a full stretch save by Jake Turner, pushing the ball around the post and Celtic could finally get control of the play in stoppage time to take the three points.

1Taylor, Aaran  
2Cowperthwaite, Niall  
3Rowntree, GariRed Card 
4Wordsworth, DanRed Card 
5Smith, Sam  
6Carroll, Brad  
7Holt, Jordan  
8Maguire, Kieran  > 70
9Walker, Jason  
10Allison, Scott  > 70
11Tinnion, Conor  
12Joel, Samuel  < 70
14Paterson, Sean  
15Hubbold, Brad  < 70
16Mellen, Jamie  
17Mossop, Sheldon