Match Preview :- Marine - Saturday October 14th, 2006 (15:00:00)
Celtic are back in FA Cup action this weekend, going to Crosby in Liverpool to face Marine with a 3pm kick off. Marine are currently ninth in the Unibond Premier, level on points with seventh place Witton Albion.

Marine won their last game, away at Radcliffe Borough, with ex-Celt Lee Mulvaney grabbing their third in the 3-1 score line. Their last home game was against Witton Albion, a game that ended 2-2. They have lost only once in the league this season, early on against Frickley Athletic. However, they have only won twice, with three draws making up the remainder of their home results.

Marine have played two rounds of the FA Cup; winning both at the first attempt. Their first game was a 2-0 win away at Clitheroe, and the second was another away game, this time a win over Prescot Cables.

The Mariners have scored in every home game this season, and only failed to score in one away game. The source of their goals is Terry Fearns? old strike partner from Vauxhall, Peter Cuminskey, who has bagged seven goals this season, two of them in the cup. Ex-Celtic front man Lee Mulvaney is currently on four. They have kept two clean sheets at home, and two on their travels. Overall, they have scored eight goals at home (twenty-four overall), giving them a ratio of 1.33 goals per game at home (1.6 away). They have conceded a total of seven goals at home (sixteen overall), giving them a ratio of 1.2 conceded per game at home (1.1 overall).

Another ex-Celt at Marine is Andy Ralph the goal-keeper who came on loan a couple of seasons back; Andy has a good record in the FA Cup making national headlines when he stopped a penalty against QPR whilst playing for Vauxhall.

The only doubts for the match for Marine are Adam Farley, who is struggling with an ankle injury, and James Denver, both of whom had to be replaced in their Tuesday night match against Radcliffe.

In their last match, the 3-1 win over Radcliffe, they lined up as:
1. Andy Ralph
2. Phil Brazier
3. Wayne McDermott
4. James Denver
5. Adam Farley
6. Colin Flood
7. Darren Brookfield
8. Lee Parle
9. Peter Cuminskey
10. Nicky Young
11. Paul Byrne

Celtic won our last away match, the 1-0 win at Frickley in the FA Cup, but prior to that, it was four straight defeats. In addition, Celtic failed to score and lost 2-0 at home in our last match to Gainsborough Trinity.

In that match we lined up as:
1. Paul Pettinger
2. Ben Smith
3. Scott Maxfield
4. Barrie Keeling
5. Mark Hume
6. Steve Brodie
7. James Turley
8. Lee Morris
9. Lee Ellington
10. Paul Sykes
11. Neil Prince

With injuries to Grant Black, Mark Haran and Barrie Keeling, Celtic?s line up will probably include Adam Jones, who replaced Barrie Keeling after just two minutes when he was involved in a bad collision.

We have a good record at the Arriva Stadium (as it is now called), winning four of our last five appearances there, one friendly, two Unibond Premier matches and one FA trophy match (after they?d held us to a draw at Bower Fold). Hopefully, we can continue this vein, but Marine have built a good strong side this season, and should not be underestimated.

Given our hit and miss start to the season, and inconsistent away form, the automated prediction algorithm has gone for a 2-2 draw. This would of course mean that the Nuneaton game on Tuesday would be postponed as Celtic play the replay.
Directions
Distance: 54
Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes

Join the M60 clockwise towards Stockport.
Come off at Junction 11, and join the M62 heading towards Liverpool.
Stay on the M62 for 20 miles, coming off at junction 6 (M57 / Southport).
Stay on the M57 to the very end (10 miles) - Junction 7 (Ormskirk) A5036.
At the roundabout at the end of the motorway, turn left onto the A5036 (Dunnings Bridge Road).
After 2 1/2 miles there is a roundabout.
Go straight across, to stay on the A5063 (now called Princess Way).
After 1/2 a mile there is a big roundabout with the A565.
This is a peculiar junction, you have to go straight across, bear to the right and then to the left.
Follow signs for Crosby (A565).
Stay on the A565 (Crosby Road) for a mile to a set of lights.
Turn left onto College Road.
The ground is half a mile along College Road, on the left.