STALYBRIDGE CELTIC BLUES ‘3’ –   FAILSWORTH VILLA WHITES ‘1’ By Alan Davies   An excellent game despite the weather by both teams. Celtic proved the stronger from a very close encounter with both teams playing good football. Failsworth nearly scored early but a sight touch from Mathew saw the ball hit the post. This seemed to bring Celtic to life and they put pressure on the Failsworth goal but some good defending kept the score at 0-0. The first goal came mid way through the half when Callum managed to lose his defender and his shot was not held by the keeper. Failsworth then had some of the play with shots from distance well saved by Matthew. Also Max and Nathan at the back again showing good defensive skills. Matthews distribution from the back was good and this allowed Callum to make good runs down the left. The score stayed 1-0 at half time. The second half saw Celtic pressing forward and Failsworth again denied by Mathew in goal. Ca... Read the rest of this article...

Stalybridge Celtic Whites 3-1. Failsworth Dynamo's By Phil Read. First game of the season for the whites got off to a slow start and they looked a little edgy. Despite a lot of possession chances were limited with Josh finding himself the busier of the 2 keepers. Later in the half Nic was unlucky to be not awarded a goal with a short to the near post and Shay was put off balance as he was pulling the trigger. 0:0 at half time. Following some good defending from Sam and Alex the whites were unlucky to go 1:0 down but that seemed to settle them down in to their familiar passing game and soon found themselves level with a bullet header from Luke. Not long after they finally took a deserved lead with a goal finished by Callum. The best move of the game followed the second goal with Callum working well down the left before playing the ball in to the middle to Shay who released Rhys down the right. Rhys crossed for Jack who was unlucky not to finish the move with a goal. Rhys wa... Read the rest of this article...

STALYBRIDGE CELTIC BLUES ‘4’ – BROADWAY CELTIC ‘0’ By Alan Davies   A good start to the new season with a comprehensive win for the Blues. With all the new players combining well to provide a good team performance. Blues scored early with a smart finish from Markus after good work down the left by Callum. The second came soon after and was the best of the game with Jordan playing a neat interchange of passes down the right with Markus and again a sharp finish to seal the second. Broadways attacks were smartly defended by Nathan who gave a solid display in defence as well as popping up to score the Blues third before half time. The second half saw the Blues press for more but Broadway proved more resilient in defence. However a neat through ball from the back saw Ryan run through with a timely finish in the bottom corner. A good display from everyone however Markus with his two goals saw him take man of the match. Man of the Match Markus.

STALYBRIDGE CELTIC ‘B’ 0 – 3 MOSTON JUNIOR BLUES By Alan Davies   A rather damp end to the season both on and off the pitch. Celtic did not get use to the wet conditions and were under pressure for most of the game. Ryan was injured and Celtic missed his goals as they struggled to put  any pressure on Moston. Ethan was busy at the back and made some good tackles to keep Moston at bay. Mathew came into goal and Tom was up front but Celtic struggled with the ball skidding off the wet surface. Man of the Match Ethan.

Failsworth West Tigers 1-2 Stalybridge Celtic A A heavy downpour before the game made conditions tricky for both sets of players with the ball moving quickly on a wet surface. Celtic made a good start, Sam linking play well in the midfield with Jack and Marcus on the wings and Rhys pressurising upfront. Stalybridge worked the Failsworth defence in the opening minutes and forced a number of good saves from the keeper with efforts from Jack and Rhys. The game remained a close affair with Alex having to be on his toes at the back making several good tackles and passes forward. However the Tigers took the lead after 10 minutes when their forward cleverly managed to avoid tackles from three Celtic defenders in the penalty area and slotted past a helpless Josh in goal. It wasn’t long before we were back on level terms after Jack combined with Rhys straight from the re-start and hit a wonderful long range shot into the top right hand corner.   After the break Celtic reshaped... Read the rest of this article...

Stalybridge Celtic A 5-1 Broadway Celtic The A’s were forced into making several changes today with the absence of Josh in goal. Callum kindly put on the gloves and settled well with some good dead ball kicks and quick throws out. Stalybridge were out of sorts in the opening minutes and uncharacteristically lost their shape in the middle, this gave Broadway a couple of early breaks which Alex dealt with superbly at the back. Sam moved upfront as Marcus received attention off the pitch, and following a whipped in corner from Rhys on the right he quickly latched on to a loose ball in the box to score. It wasn’t long before Sam got his second with a strike on the edge of the box after some sustained pressure from Stalybridge. Broadway who looked a much improved team from earlier in the season scored just before half time with a powerful strike following another break straight down the middle.     Sam moved into the centre in the second and with Jack and Marcus... Read the rest of this article...

STALYBRIDGE CELTIC ‘B’ 5 – 0 FAILSWORTH WEST PANTHERS By Alan Davies   Celtic bounced back from last weeks defeat with a comfortable win. A small change to the team saw Mathew start in goal. Celtic began well and had most of the early play and put Panthers under pressure. The first goal came early with a through ball to Ryan who slotted home quite comfortably. The second  goal followed shortly with a strong shot from Ryan which was parried by the keeper. Megan was on hand at the far post to finish with ease. Celtic scored two more before the break both courtesy of some fine finishing from Ryan. The second half brought stalemate with the Panthers on the defensive. Cameron picked up the fifth with a fine shot from distance which the ref took a while to decide had gone in.  Another fine win, with Megan being voted (wo)Man of the Match.

Stalybridge A 1- 1 AFC Clayton On this warm sunny morning Celtic started brightly, passing superbly, keeping possession and showing great composure on the ball. Sam had an effort saved in the opening minutes and shortly after almost scored. Evading 2 or 3 challenges going in on goal, and just about to pull the trigger, the Clayton defender made a last ditch sliding challenge saving a certain goal. Callum fed some great balls out to Jack and Marcus on the wings and both showed good energy getting forward and creating chances. For all Celtic’s fine play Clayton defended well getting numbers back behind the ball and looking for the long one up to a lone man upfront. It was almost inevitable against the run of play Clayton would score first capitalising on a loose ball in the middle and slotting into the corner. Celtic continued to play excellent football with some well worked corners and one and two touch passing but were unable to get back on level terms before the break. Rhys ad... Read the rest of this article...

Stalybridge Celtic B 2 - Moston Valley 1   Stalybridge breezed back to winning ways despite the blustery weather conditions with a good all round team performance. Celtic started brightly with Ethan looking lively in midfield making some good tackles with Will backing him up. Celtic were unlucky not to take an early lead after some good play from Lewis and Cameron, they found Megan in acres of space, she hit a sweet left foot shot which had a goal written on it all the way when the keeper made a fingertip save and pushed the ball on to the cross bar which allowed Moston to clear their lines. The pleasing part of Celtics play was the way the team tried to pass the ball and it was from some good passing that Stalybridge took the lead, again some good inter-passing from Lewis and Ethan found Cameron who hit a well struck shot into the left side of the goal and Stalybridge took a 1-0 lead into the half time inter... Read the rest of this article...

Stalybridge Celtic A 0- 3 West End Wolves The fixture between these teams this season has been excellent, and this match lived up to expectations despite the score line. We started the game brightly, passing and retaining the ball in the opening minutes. Nathan led the line upfront and pressurised the Wolves defence, bringing others into play with Jack and Rhys on the wings. Celtic had a couple of half chances before the Wolves got going but an intercepted clearance gave them the lead against the run of play. Both teams’ shared equal possession for the remainder of the half playing some great football and going end to end. Josh had to make a couple of good saves but Sam with another composed performance in the midfield broke up West End’s play and provided some excellent passes to team mates. With efforts from Rhys and Jack, Celtic had further chances but failed to really trouble the Wolves keeper. Callum was as solid as ever at the back as was Alex when he took over the p... Read the rest of this article...