Match Report -
Celtic Record Their First Win Of The Season
By Taran Dhamrait

Celtic recorded their first win of the season as they beat Morpeth Town 3-1 at Bower Fold.

Goals from Lewis Salmon, Scott Sephton and Matty Makinson saw Celtic comfortable winners in a much needed win.

Celtic made a quick start and looked threatening from the off with Jon Ustabasi, Nic Evangelinos and Salmon causing Morpeth’s defence all sorts of issues.

Charley Doyle had Celtic’s first chance of the game on four minutes. Evangelinos sent a cross in from the right hand side, Doyle sent a neat flick towards goal but Dan Lowson was able to save.

Salmon continued to be involved with Celtic’s play, he was able to intercept a loose back pass, after looking up he looked to square the ball to Ustabasi but the ball was put behind at the last second.

Celtic continued to press Morpeth’s defenders and Evangelinos was able to intercept another loose pass, he took aim from 30 yards with the keeper off his line but Lowson recovered well to save.

It took until the 23rd minute for Celtic to take the lead in what was a frantic three minutes.

Tom Stewart sent a ball across the length of the field and caught the Morpeth defenders by surprise, Salmon was able to latch onto the ball and after racing towards goal, he finished the ball coolly past Lowson to put Celtic ahead.

Less than 90 seconds later and Morpeth equalised. A cross from the right went all the way through and Jack Foalle was able to find the top corner with a volley from a tight angle.

The teams were level for less than a minute. Celtic who had eight first half corners had another, the ball was returned to Evangelinos, he delivered again and Sephton was in the right place to send a powerful header home to restore Celtic’s lead. Celtic didn’t stop there and on 32 minutes scored a third goal. An Evangelinos corner struck the hand of a defender but it didn’t matter as the ball fell to Makinson who rifled the ball past Lowson from just yards out to give Celtic a healthy lead.

Ustabasi saw a low shot saved in added time as Celtic went into the break 3-1 up.

Celtic showed no signs of slowing down after the restart.

Callum Harris took a free-kick from 25 yards, it was so nearly a fantastic goal but his effort cannoned off the cross bar.

Immediately after, Ustabasi went on a really good run from midfield, he was about to enter the penalty area but picked out Evangelinos, Celtic’s number 11 took just a tad too long and before he could shoot, Morpeth were able to intercept and clear.

Ustabasi saw a shot of his own well saved but as the half went on, Celtic focused more on their defensive ability to try and limit Morpeth who began to throw men forward.

Tom Stewart had to be alert as Morpeth saw more of the ball, Celtic’s keeper made a smart stop with eight minutes to go to deny Foalle who had gotten in behind.

Evangelinos saw a late free-kick parried by Lowson as Celtic managed to record their first win of the season, and in some style!

1Lowson, Dan  
2Foster, Stephen  
3Reid, Chris  > 52
4Sayer, Ban  
5Hutchinson, RyanYellow Card 
6Turner, Michael  
7Oliver, Connor  > 60
8Hodgson, SamYellow Card 
9Henderson, Liam  
10Finnigan, Carl  > 52
11Foalle, Jack  
12Noble, Liam  < 52
14Williams, Callum  < 60
15Johnson, Andrew  < 52
16Mohammed, Shahban  
17Leonard, Jack