Ten man Carryduff Colts lose out to late goal

Unbeaten Celtic came into this game full of confidence and despite an aggressive approach failed to unsettle the home side who stood up and were counted throughout the 90 minutes.

However, with a strong wind at their back they managed to take the lead after 18 minutes when they used the conditions to put Colts goalkeeper Conor McCann under pressure and he was unfortunate as he turned the ball into this own net.

McCann made a couple of saves but the defence wasn’t unduly troubled and the rest of the half was evenly contested with Sherry, McNicholl and McBride all threatening the Celtic goal.

With the strong wind now in their favour, the Colts dominated the second half and deservedly equalised on the hour, and what a superb worked goal it was.

Euan McNicholl did brilliantly cutting in from the left, beating a couple of defenders, before finding Odhran Sherry wide on the right.

The winger knocked the ball into the penalty area where brother Ciaran was on hand to steer the ball into the net.

Carryduff now had their tails up and seemed the most likely to grab a winner but the turning point came when Ronan Lavery picked up a second yellow card with a quarter of the game remaining.

But the home side continued to be the better team and against the run of play another defensive slip up cost them with just 10 minutes remaining with the Celtic striker capitalising for an easy tap in.

How Colts didn’t manage to get an equaliser in the closing stages is a mystery with skipper Rory McDonnell just failing to guide a back post header into the net from a corner and Sherry going close on a few occasions.

Colts: McCann, Sweeney, Murphy, McDonnell, O’Rourke, McBride, O Sherry, Haley (Rafferty), C Sherry, McNicholl, Lavery, Subs: Timoney, White