Celtic Bhoys lift the Bobby Dalzell Cup

Celtic Bhoys lift the Bobby Dalzell Cup

23 March 2022

CELTIC Bhoys were crowned Bobby Dalzell Cup champions after defeating local rivals Ardglass in the deciding penalty shoot-out at Meadowvale last Thursday.

A goal on the stroke of half-time from Ardglass midfielder Stephen Deegan was cancelled out on 70 minutes by the close range effort of Celtic striker Jordan McCoubrey. 

The teams refused to be split in extra-time and following the shoot-out — which went well into the sudden death stages — Blaine Connolly converted the all-important spot kick to gift his Hoops’ side the victory.

A large crowd turned out in Drumaness for the St Patrick’s Day showpiece between the current first and second-placed sides in the Newcastle League’s Premier Division.

Adding to the pressure of the occasion was the alternating weather conditions, with the teams contesting the final in periods of sunshine as well as wind and rain.

Nevertheless, Celtic kicked off the affair with the blustery conditions heavily in favour of their opponents.

It didn’t take long for the tone of the match to be set as Ardglass defender Caolain O’Shea launched a very physical tackle on Hoops striker Jay Gibney.

Ardglass enjoyed early momentum with experienced defender Neil Teggart seeing his wind-assisted free kick from his own half trouble Celtic custodian Nathan Curran less than ten minutes in.

Celtic remained calm and soon strung their passes together through clever one touch football with eventual man of the match winner Conor Doherty in the thick of these sequences.

However, Ardglass remained a threat and came close when Teggart clipped a cross into the danger area, although striker Michael Magee glanced his header wide.

Stand-in Celtic captain Shaun Megahey attempted to play a through ball to team-mate Gibney, but on this occasion the Ardglass defence timed the offside trap perfectly.

Celtic did come close when Barry Treacy’s corner kick was fumbled by Ardglass ‘keeper, Mark Armstrong, although Hoops defender Paul Brady couldn’t dispatch the ball quickly enough before the danger was cleared.

O’Shea continued his earlier eagerness and picked up a yellow card for a mistimed tackle before his team-mate, Magee, was unfairly clattered at the other end of the pitch, although Teggart’s effort flew past the wrong side of the post.

Teggart continued to be a problem from set pieces as his free-kick delivery whisked past the head of striker Magee and out of bounds.

Moments later, Magee’s misfortune continued when he was shown a yellow card for expressing his disagreement with referee, Barry Mullan.

After initially allowing the match to flow freely, referee Mullan clamped down on his decisions with less than ten minutes to the end of the opening half.

Celtic defender Gary Carberry was the latest to enter the book for a late challenge on Ardglass marksman Magee.

Despite this hiccup, Celtic’s Carberry kept himself in contention for the man of the match accolade after he proved pivotal in stopping potential goalscoring chances from the Ardglass opposition on numerous occasions.

As the half-time whistle approached, Celtic arms were raised as they appealed for the red card to be shown to Ardglass’s O’Shea, who may have considered himself lucky to escape an early bath after he was second to the ball.

Ardglass launched another attack and it looked as if Magee would have a free route to goal. However, Celtic veteran Brady recovered valiantly to prove he still has plenty of miles left in his tank.

With the last attack of the half, Ardglass were awarded a corner and they took full advantage of their opportunity. Midfielder, Stephen Deegan, climbed high above the rest to head his effort beyond the outstretched hand of Celtic ‘keeper Curran to open the scoring.

As the second half kicked off it was evident that both sides would refrain from going for broke. A lot of the following ten minutes contained attacks, although both sides lacked a killer instinct and the match was heavily contested in the middle of the pitch.

This is where Conor Doherty earned his post-match award for his performance, as he often won the midfield battle.

Goal-scorer Deegan picked up a yellow as the weather took yet another turn for the worse.

Celtic joint-managers Jason Galbraith and Matthew McKenna made the first of their substitutions as the clock struck the hour mark with Sean McMahon entering the fray in place of Conaill Kerr.

Ardglass opted to put 11 men behind the ball in order to frustrate the opposition and waited patiently for their opportunity to counter-attack.

Ardglass made changes of their own in the form of Jordan Finnegan before Celtic made a second substitute with the talented Sean Ferris making his way onto the pitch.

Ferris made an immediate impact, adding another string to Celtic’s bow by spreading inviting passes into his forward line.

With just 20 minutes left of the 90, these Celtic substitutions came to fruition after the ball found its way to McMahon, who lofted an inviting ball into the Ardglass box which was steered home by the boot of striker McCoubrey.

Celtic continued to mix things up as Corey McCartan made his way onto the pitch and gave a good account of himself with his tireless work rate.

Despite this period of succession for the Hoops, the remaining minutes of the 90 played out finely balanced.

Ardglass never let their heads and should be commended for their effort as they cancelled out any further attack whilst continuously seeking the crucial next goal.

As tempers flared, the final whistle sounded and both teams prepared for extra-time.

The highlights of the first half of extra-time came in the form of Celtic’s Treacy picking up a yellow card before team-mate Ferris crashed his left-footed effort off the crossbar.

During the next interval, both of Ardglass’ Magee and Celtic’s Ferris threatened but they couldn’t do enough to get the ball over the line and it would be penalties that would decide the final outcome.

Amongst the numerous penalties which took place, both Celtic and Ardglass players were ordered to retake their spot kicks.

Firstly, Celtic striker McCoubrey saw his effort denied by Armstrong before referee Mullan blew his whistle after adjudging the Ardglass custodian to be off his line as the penalty was taken.

McCoubrey fired in the retake and it wouldn’t be long before Ardglass substitute Finnegan would go through a similar course of events after he missed his initial penalty but converted at the second time of asking.

Eventually, as the penalties progressed well into sudden death, Celtic’s Blaine Connolly remained calm and converted the deciding spot kick to send the Hoops’ support into delirium as his side were crowned champions.

Following the conclusion, man of the match Conor Doherty gave his thoughts on his side’s victory.

“I thought we were the better team in the first half but then they snuck a goal before half-time,” he said.

“But, even with the wind we started to press on, it was a long 120 minutes.

“It was a hard hitting game but I’m just glad we got on the winning side of it.”

He added: “All the penalties were top class, it was a really good shootout.”

Celtic Bhoys: N Curran, S Megahey (capt), B Connolly, P Brady, G Carberry, C Doherty, B Treacy, P Casey, J Gibney, J McCoubrey, C Kerr.

Subs: S McMahon, S Ferris, C McCartan, R Fitzpatrick, R Quinn.

Yellow cards: G Carberry, B Treacy

Ardglass: M Armstrong, M Crangle, L McEvoy, N Teggart, C O’Shea, M Rooney (capt), S Deegan, S-P Halpin, M Magee, C Kearney, C O’Connor

Subs: S Dorrian, J Finnegan, J Deegans, A O’Shea, B Crangle

Yellow cards: C O’Shea, M Magee, S Deegan

Referee: Barry Mullan