St Paul's FC | Football, London | stpaulsceltic.co.uk

Celtic stutter in the cup

All good things come to an end

Last night St Paul's Celtic's unbeaten run came to a stuttering stop against a side they had beaten more than comfortably only 14 days earlier. The starting line-up was unrecognisable from that which romped to a 6-2 victory in the league a fortnight ago, but the players that took to the field should have been more than capable of dealing with the challenge of a team who have conceded 19 goals this season in only 6 games.

Injury struck

A rack of injuries in the run up to last night's match saw no less than 9 players declared unfit or unavailable, the latest of those being 'keeper Hamilton who broke a finger in a work accident only 3 hours before kick-off. Russell McLean, himself only returning from injury a week ago, was a late addition to the squad in Hamilton's place, and a very late arrival at the ground. Kicking off 10 minutes later than scheduled due to McLean's tardiness, St Paul's started a little uneasy. Playing a 4-5-1 formation the central midfield pairing of Lacey and Wiechoreki took hold of the game, with MacCann linking well in a free role. Despite the good interplay from back to middle, the ball just didn't stick up front and too often good passing moves broke down in the final third of the pitch.

At the other end, First Capital's danger men the were their red-booted midfielder and quick right-winger, and small lapses of concentration at the back allowed First Capital a sniff of goal on a couple of occasions. The first effort on goal came from First Capital, a long range effort from their right winger who cut inside bounced just in front of McLean but the late arrival dealt with it well. The Celtic midfield were in superb form and Capital were simply unable to handle the intricate passing and movement of Lacey and Wiechoreki, aided by McBride and McGuckin in the full back positions, and MacCann in the hole. Their creativity carved out a good chance for O'Neill whose pace took him racing onto an excellent through ball from MacCann, however the Capital 'keeper was quick off his line to smother before the pacey winger could get a toe to it.

So close

Riveros, making his first appearance in a Celtic shirt since August, next went close, latching onto another excellent through ball, however after a heavy touch he was unable to get a clear shot away, the big number 5 shutting him down. The big Colombian striker was getting himself into some excellent positions, but despite his size was all too easily shrugged off the ball and he struggled physically against the Capital defenders. The next chance for Celtic again fell to Riveros, another wonderfully weighted pass sending him racing on goal, but his shot to the near post curled agonisingly wide. A fantastic driven cross across the goalmouth from O'Neill, on a rare occasion getting to the byline, almost yielded a goal, but the ball evaded the out-stretched boots of Riveros, MacCann and Gallagher. A tenuous penalty claim was turned down as Riveros went tumbling in the box, but that was the last of the action in the first 45. St Paul's were clearly on top in the first half and should have gone into the break a couple of goals to the good, however the whistle was blown with the match still tied at 0-0.

It was clear that changes had to be made if Celtic were going to win this game and Molloy was introduced at half time to replace the tiring Riveros. St Paul's started the 2nd half strongly, Molloy's guile and close control adding a different dimension to the attacking play. First Capital were camped out in their own half by this point however, and the Hoops found it difficult to break through the wall of blue. Andy Tkaczyk replaced Gallagher on 55 minutes as Celtic continued to try and create an opening, however the next incident of the match involved the assistant referee and O'Neill, who was incredulous at the official's demand that he leave the field as he was bleeding. After a quick inspection it seemed that the blood the assistant was referring to was a grazed right knee, the only thing he spotted the entire 90 minutes.

With the game flowing one way Kennedy took the pitch in place of O'Neill, releasing Wiechoreki to push further forward in search of that elusive goal, yet despite some superb football from back to front, clear-cut chances were rare. MacCann almost got onto the end of a cross from Wiechoreki, Kennedy should have done better with another lovely cross from the Brazilian, and McGuckin almost ended a wonderful solo run with a goal, however still the Capital defence stood solid. The Celtic defence were equally granite-like, coping with everything that was thrown at them and often bringing the ball out of defence to aid the attack. McLean was also solid in goal, having managed to change out of his denims and trainers into some more suitable attire at half time. Goals were proving difficult to come by though, despite the efforts of the entire St Paul's team.

Tkaczyk, Wiechoreki, Molloy and MacCann moved the ball well in the Capital half, backed up by Lacey and Kennedy, and around the box they had plenty of possession but with all but two or three players behind the ball there was no way of breaking through, and so the match ended goalless, the tie to be settled there and then by a penalty shoot-out.

Heart-breaking

Penalties are a complete lottery, fantastic to watch if a neutral, toe-curlingly painful if a supporter or player of a team involved. 5 candidates reluctantly offered their services and while McLean was the almost-hero with one excellent save and another near stop, beaten by the velocity of the well-struck ball, 2 of Celtic's takers missed their kicks and Capital progressed to the next round of the Gazette Cup.

It was a painful end to the match but if you don't take your chances you are unlikely to win matches, and so it proved last night. The Islington Midweek League is a strong competition, a step up for a lot of players, and this is something that will be mulled over in the coming weeks before Celtic take the field again, once more lining up against First Capital Connect in the cup, a must-win game if ever there was one.

Man of the match was a close run affair, with excellent performances from Wiechoreki and MacCann as well as the excellent back four, however Stuart Lacey was a calm head at all times and his silky passing and wonderful vision kept St Paul's ticking for the entire 90 minutes.