Match Report - FA Trophy - Wednesday November 26th, 2008 Wed Nov 26th 2008

Celtic cruised into the next round of the FA Trophy to face Stourbridge after seeing off Whitby Town in Whitby. The original fixture had been forced into postponement due to a waterlogged pitch at the request of the referee, but with no problems for the rescheduled match, Celtic asserted their dominance.

Celtic almost took the lead through Chris Williams, when he latched onto Nathan Joynes's nod down, but shot high over the bar, whilst Jimmy Beadle went closest for the hosts, when he cut inside and curled wide of the far post. Celtic took the lead just inside the half hour from a free kick when the Whitby defence didn't deal with the ball at all, Nick Liversedge not coming to claim the ball and Danny Wood was on hand to tap in for the opener.

Williams very nearly doubled that lead as he ran onto Nicky Platt's through ball, but saw Liversedge pull off a fine stop. Liversedge did it again moments later to deny Williams a second time when Joynes put him one-on-one, but the Whitby keeper blocked at Williams's feet to keep the score down to just 1-0 at half time.

Whitby started the second half brightly, searching for the equaliser, and Danny Brunskill's rocket was parried by Paul Phillips, with Barrie Keeling slicing his clearance over his own bar. Having survived the early scare, Celtic put the game beyond Whitby's reach within minutes of the restart, with Ashley Woolliscroft putting in his own contender for the goal of the season as he rocketed a thirty yard screamer into the top corner of the net, with Liversedge able to only stand and applaud.

Whitby could have equalised as Tom Sharpe headed away Jimmy Beadle's header off the line, after Steve Huggins had crossed dangerously into the box, before Huggins nearly scored an own goal as he turned Williams's cross against his own crossbar, with Lee Ellington waiting for the loose ball. With a few minutes to go, Celtic made sure of the victory, with Andy Smart unleashing a trademark thunderbolt that Liversedge reached and palmed away, the ball falling kindly for Joynes to tap in from a yard out.

Celtic are away in Dudley, near Birmingham when they travel to face Midland's Premier League side Stourbridge in the next round that will take place on Saturday 13th December.