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

Valient Celtic strike 9 goals in remarkable comeback

Celtic stay composed to keep hold of second spot

Market Road bore witness to a goal-fest when St Paul's Celtic came back from conceding five goals inside 25 minutes to win 9-5. Having all but surrendered the league to MTV two weeks before the London Hoops had to try and pick themselves up against a side 2nd bottom of the table but coming into the game on the back of some good results. A number of absences and injuries meant a few changes to the starting line-up and gave others the chance to make amends for the previous outing against MTV, St Paul's confident of a win against a side they hadn't yet come up against this season.

The game started in what is becoming a worryingly all too familiar fashion however, dreadful defending and individual mistakes allowing Drug Free World to net FIVE times in a 25 minute opening salvo that left Celtic players shell-shocked. There's a trend creeping into the defence of trying to play offside without rudimentary communication or a basic understanding of positioning. Simply sticking a hand in the air and calling for a flag rather than working harder to track runners is not an offside trap and even the poorest of strikers will take advantage.

Three of the five goals were almost identical, simple balls over the top of or in between flat-footed defenders, with the remaining two goals the result of slack marking and affording the opposition too much time and space on the ball. Only the goalkeeping of the superb Hamilton kept the scoreline at 5-0, otherwise the lead could have been insurmountable. Hughes left the field with an injury and stand-in manager Donnelly sent on MacCann to replace him going into left-back, with McGinley moving to the centre of defence to partner Beelders, and Bray took on more of a holding role to try and nullify the Drug Free midfield runners.

Change of mentality

Instantly the team looked more settled and before long St Paul's were back in the game. Coull opened the Hoops' scoring with a long range effort into the top corner, his 16th of the season, and Allen got his first for the club after Coull's shot came back off the post, cutting the deficit to three goals at halftime.

Calm words at halftime and some more specific instructions galvanised the team and they started the second half brightly. Coull got his 17th of the season, latching onto a ball across the box, before McGuckin got his 3rd of the season and the equaliser, with a 30 yard strike from left-back. Molloy took to the field to replace Tkaczyk to provide a different attacking option and St Paul's were soon ahead

Floodgates opening

Jamieson finished beautifully from a ball breaking from the edge of the area to give the Hoops a 1 goal lead, however the Hoops weren't finished yet. Molloy also got himself on the scoresheet, drilling home from the edge of the area to put some daylight between the sides, before Rogan took to the field to replace Bray in the holding midfield role. Jamieson doubled his own tally, latching onto an Allen pass before waltzing through the defence to finish. Allen himself got his second of the game finishing from a McGinley through ball.

Hatrick to finish the game

Coull completed his hat-trick with his 18th goal of the season, MacCann playing him in before the talismanic striker finished emphatically. A very poor start to the game then but a wonderful comeback, another sign of the mental toughness that runs through the side. Next up is a difficult cup game against Premier Division side Nordwest, a good test of how far St Paul's have come this season.