Shield final declared a draw after head clash

Shield final declared a draw after head clash

11 August 2021

CELTIC Bhoys and Killough were declared joint winners of the AJC Shield after two head injuries forced officials to end the contest in Ballyhornan on Saturday.

In what was truly an entertaining game of football, an accidental clash of heads between Celtic’s Jay Gibney and Killough’s Ruairi Sharvin halted the highly anticipated final with 70 minutes played and the scoreline at 2-2.

Gibney had opened the scoring for Celtic before Séan McMahon doubled the Hoops’ lead. Killough skipper Gareth George converted a penalty less than 15 minutes later and defender Eamon Gargan brought his team level before the interval.

Players from both sides had to battle through the ever-changing weather conditions, with periods of heavy rainfall present amongst the hot and humid conditions at Celtic’s home ground.

Killough kicked off the contest, but almost instantly fell behind after a mix-up at the back allowed Celtic striker McMahon to creep through on goal, only to fluff his lines in what was a lucky escape for the green and yellow outfit.

It was the men in the hooped shirts with all the possession in the opening minutes and Killough’s defence was taken by surprise with the urgency of Celtic’s formidable strike partnership of Gibney and McMahon.

Killough did manage to settle and striker Connor Kelly had his goal-bound effort pushed to safety by Nathan Curran just before the ten-minute mark.

Celtic managed to keep their relentless pressure on and where soon rewarded for their efforts when defender Shaun Megahey made an advancing run down the right wing before striking the ball into the danger area in search of a teammate. 

Killough defender Gargan did well to sort his feet out in such a short space of time but he could only witness his cleared effort bounce back of his team’s crossbar and into the path of the ever lurking Gibney, who slotted coolly into the net to make it 1-0.

Just two minutes later and Celtic were in with a chance again, but McMahon’s netted effort was rightly ruled out for offside thanks to some organised defending from Killough’s back line.

In the blink of an eye McMahon once again thought he had scored after he was on the receiving end of a looped ball that he calmly chipped over Killough ‘keeper Marty Murphy, only to see his effort strike the woodwork before being cleared to safety.

Megahey was causing all sorts of bother down the right flank and managed to draw a foul from Killough’s Declan Burns, whose tackle let the surrounding spectators know there was no love lost in this local derby.

Celtic’s Barry Tracey stepped up to take the resulting free-kick and his sumptuous delivery into the back post fell on to the head of McMahon to double the Downpatrick side’s lead. 

This seemed to give Killough the nudge they needed as they began stringing passes together with conviction, causing Celtic’s defence to rethink their defensive strategy.

Appeals for a handball were quickly shot down by referee Damien Laverty after he adjudged Celtic defender Gary Carberry to have won the ball fairly in his box, much to the dismay of the Killough supporters and sideline.

Killough were beginning to find their groove, with Kelly’s piercing runs behind his opposing defenders allowing space for strike partner Ross Armstrong to attack the Celtic box.

Tackles kept flying in, with Killough captain George picking up a yellow for his troubles on the half hour mark.

McMahon was released down the left hand side of the pitch by a lovely through ball from Celtic defender Ruairi Quinn, which forced Killough custodian Murphy to venture outside the box and slide the ball out for a throw-in.

Now well out of his area, Murphy began the race back to his line as Celtic looked to take a quick throw. 

Fortunately for Killough, Gargan quickly spotted the danger and blocked the throw-in illegally, in turn picking up his side’s second yellow of the match – a small price to pay in hindsight.

At the other end, Killough’s Kelly was still causing problems for Celtic’s defence and it was one of his signature runs behind the opposition’s backline which turned the tie on its head.

After latching on to a long ball, Kelly crossed low and hard across the face of goal before the incoming Armstrong was adjudged to have been pulled down unfairly by Celtic’s Carberry.

George made no mistake with the resulting penalty, sending Curran the wrong way to calmly slot the ball into the bottom right hand corner. Suddenly, the village side were back in the contest and had the wind in their sails.

Celtic’s McMahon saw his effort glide wide past the post a minute later, before Killough managed to charge up the pitch and win the corner which would level the score line.

Burns lofted the ball into the danger area where Gargan jumped high above the rest to head back across Curran and into the corner of the net.

The Hoops kicked off the second half and it was clear that both sides were going to throw caution to the wind after grillings from their respective management teams.

McMahon forced a save from Murphy shortly after the restart before Burns struck a shot into the hands of Curran at the opposite end.

In the 55th minute Celtic were gifted a golden opportunity when Gibney was left unmarked inside their opponents box. Unfortunately for the hoops, the usually clinical striker had a rush of blood and poked his effort wide.

Killough’s Kelly saw his effort comfortably saved on the hour mark, before Celtic’s Carberry found himself on the end of a long throw before narrowly heading wide.

Killough came close to snatching the lead when Kevin Groves found himself in a one on one situation but Curran stood tall to deny the former Celtic player what would have been a deciding goal.

The back and forth affair continued and Murphy was once again called into action when Jordan McCoubrey fired his shot low and hard towards the bottom right corner of the net, forcing the Killough number one to pull off a fantastic reflex save.

The ball was then cleared back up the pitch into the path of Kelly, who dragged his left-footed effort wide of the goal.

Tracey also saw his effort pull wide of the posts moments later for his Celtic side. The hoops sought to mix things up and introduced experience into their 

attacking line in the form of Peter Casey.

However, they never saw their plans come to fruition as minutes later, play was rightfully stopped after Gibney and Sharvin clashed heads whilst competing for a loose ball.

Unfortunately, the nasty incident required a trip to the hospital for both players after they remained dormant on the pitch for a lengthy duration.

Referee Laverty brought the whistle to his lips to signify the end of the contest, with both sides agreeing it was the correct decision.

After the match, representatives from the two local management teams reflected on the pulsating final.

“We started off the better team, we were on the front foot for the first half an hour but I think once Killough got their penalty it changed the game,” said Celtic Bhoys joint manager Jason Galbraith.

“We stuck with our original game plan for the first ten minutes of the second half and then we had to change things round.

“ I felt we were getting overrun in midfield, they were playing three in the middle whereas we only had two so we were starting to get tired in there,” he continued.

“I still feel setting up in a four-four-two formation worked for us and that’s why we took the lead when we were dominating the first period.”

Killough joint manager Conor Doyle also agreed with his counterpart’s assessment of the game after the full-time whistle.

“It took us 35 to 40 minutes to start, but once we got the two goals it lifted us. Halftime came at the wrong time for us, I thought Celtic came out of the traps firing, we didn’t expect it at all,” he said.

“They caught us off guard and we took time to settle, but Celtic definitely deserved their two-goal lead. The penalty gave us a boost and Gargan’s header helped us push on,” he continued.

“We only have an 18 man panel at the minute, and only two of those aren’t from Killough. A lot of our squad is young, and we have always been known as a cup team that could never really sustain a league run but we now want to showcase the ability we have in the village.”

Both sets of management teams wished Gibney and Sharvin all the best in their recovery, and hope that the players are fully fit for the highly anticipated season ahead.

Match ball sponsored by Tel’s Fitness Studios, Downpatrick.

Celtic Bhoys: N Curran, S Megahey, G Carberry, B Connolly, R Quinn, M Rice (capt), C Kerr, B Tracey, T Louden, J Gibney, S McMahon.

Subs: P Casey,  J McCoubrey, M Burns.

Killough FC: M Murphy, S Og Burns, E Gargan, G George (capt), R Sharvin, K Groves, D Burns, K Tierney, R Burns, R Armstrong, C Kelly.

Subs: T McIlhone, D Taggart, D Looney, B McLaughlin, L Murphy, J McLaughlin.

Referee: Damien Laverty.

Linesmen: Anthony Russell, Barry Mullan.