Browse Sections

• Local football
• Local cricket

Stalybridge Celtic 1 - 2 AFC Telford Utd

23/ 4/2008

THE Blues missed a great opportunity to cement a play-off berth and instead handed the initiative over to their nearest challengers.

As with so many big games, this was riddled with tension and, as is so often the case, Stalybridge failed to perform to their full potential and allowed themselves to be dictated to by their seemingly stronger opponents.

They were not helped by some eccentric refereeing which allowed the robust visitors carte blanche to knock the Celts out of their stride from the off.

The tone was set when Alex Meechan received a forearm smash early on with little being seen of the Celtic wide man thereafter.

The first half was scruffy and error-strewn as the teams cancelled each other out, James Dean squandering a good chance with Turner and Rodgers both off target at the other end.

Celtic felt they should have had a penalty when the ball was clearly handled before falling to the startled Chris Hall who scuffed a great chance.

Their anger increased further moments later when Hall was upended by Vaughan Thomas, only for the referee to wave play on.

The tension was lifted two minutes before the interval when Steve Torpey lashed home a left-footed rocket from the edge of the area to put Celtic ahead.

The second half was a much better spectacle, but that was largely due to Telford’s brilliant but unexpected 56th minute equaliser, as Matty Lewis lashed home a 20-yard volley. Celtic then had their best spell – in fact their only spell – of sustained pressure for the next 15 minutes with Hall and Dean going close on several occasions but the game fizzled out with both sides seemingly happy with a point.

With five minutes left though, Ashley Winn handled on the edge of – or just inside – the Celtic area, and after Telford’s protests had died down, Asa Charlton’s free-kick was deflected in for the winner, leaving Celtic requiring a point from their final home game against Redditch United to make the Blue Square North play-offs.

Attendance: 943