Match Report -
Away Draw At Altrincham
By Debbie Taylor

When every point is vital, a draw is better than a loss, but, truth be told, this was a very poor game, with both sides so eager to avoid defeat, chances to win were slight, and mainly around Grant Shenton's goal.

In the first half, the only real events were James Lawie's powerful shot that was deflected wide and a miscued shot from Gary Gee that went the wrong side of the post. The second half saw more chances, but they were mainly from the hosts, with them twice going close to snatching the three points. Lawrie's first effort was well parried by Shenton, and the Celtic keeper got lucky when Andy Owen's header hit the bar and came out. Damian Reeves, for years a thorn in Celtic's side, also forced a good stop from Shenton almost with his first touch after coming on, whilst Simon Richman snuck in onto a cross that he diverted onto the post with Shenton beaten.

Several times, Celtic were guilty of dallying too long in the opposition box when a shot was begging to be taken. Porya Ahmadi did take his shot, but it was deflected, as was James Robert's effort from the corner.

Celtic defended well, but despite Altrincham being there for the taking, Celtic cannot win matches if they don't force the opposition goalkeeper into doing some work. As it stands, we are now eleven points behind Gainsborough and Worcester, with three games in hand on both teams, and having to play Worcester. The draw wasn't a disaster, but it could have been a major success, this is a case of what might have been.

1Tomlinson, Stuart  
2Lynch, ChrisYellow Card 
3McWilliams, Andy  
4Brownhill, Kyle  > 71
5Heathcote, Sam  
6Cyrus, John  
7Newby, Elliott  
8Jones, Gary  
9Owens, Andy  > 55
10Laurie, James  > 77
11Richman, Simon  
12Reeves, Damian  < 55
14Patterson, Sam  
15Goofball, AlanYellow Card < 77
16Moult, Jake  < 71
17Jones, Andrew