Away league match played on 18 August 2013.
Kicked off at 1:30 PM
Kerrydale Celtic vs St Mirrenoff
St Mirrenoff were left cursing some controversial refereeing
decisions as they kicked off their league campaign with a
disappointing 3-1 defeat at Kerrydale Celtic.
Saints preparations were disrupted when 3 of the match
day squad pulled out a few hours before kick off, leaving
them with only 2 players on the bench.
The hosts started the game brighter and William Rankine
had to be lively in the Saints goal, making a couple of
decent saves early on. St Mirrenoff suffered another blow
after 18 minutes as centre half Brian Connell picked up
a groin injury and had to be replaced by Stuart Baungally.
At the other end, the St Mirrenoff front pairing of Ryan Keenan
and Jordan Duffy were struggling to beat the
disciplined Celtic offside trap.
Rankine produced more heroics with a fantastic save to keep
the scores level. A cross was met with a bullet header
and the Saints goalkeeper threw himself to his right to palm
the ball onto the upright and Saints managed to clear
the rebound.
Celtic finally managed to beat Rankine after 32 minutes with
a neat counter attack down the Saints right flank, with
a cross finding Celtic's striker, who made no mistake with a
low shot from 10 yards out.
The first moment of controversy came in the 39th minute as
Saints burst through on goal when Keenan ran onto a
chipped through ball. The Celtic keeper raced out of his box
and sliced his clearance straight up in the air. As the ball
broke loose, the grounded keeper inexplicable grabbed the
ball with both hands, preventing Saints midfielder Gary
Clark from having a shot into an empty net from 25 yards.
Somehow the referee only deemed this to be a yellow card
offence, and that decision proved crucial from the resulting
free kick as David Wilson's goalbound effort was superbly
tipped round the post.
Celtic doubled their lead after 58 minutes as Saints overplayed
at the back and lost possession. One pass inside had
Rankine facing a one on one and the Celtic forward coolly slotted
the ball into the bottom corner.
Saints injury woes continued as wing back Ross Elliott was forced
off after suffering a hamstring strain in the build up to
the goal. With only a striker, Craig Gibson, left on the bench, a
reshuffle was required and Keenan moved to wing back.
Some neat build up play between Keenan and Duffy should have
ended with a Saints goal. Duffy flicked the ball out wide
to Keenan just inside the Celtic half. The forward raced into the
penalty area and shot just wide with Duffy looking for the
ball to be squared for a tap in.
Saints deservedly pulled a goal back with 16 minutes left. A low
cross into the area left Ryan Keenan with a tap in from 3
yards out but was bundled over and a penalty was awarded. The
referee failed to produce even a yellow card for what was
as clear a goal scoring opportunity as you can get. Saints midfielder
Wilson stepped up to stroke the ball into the bottom
corner, sending the Celtic keeper the wrong way.
Saints piled forward looking for an equaliser and were screaming
for another spot kick in the 87th minute. Wilson played a
ball over the top of the Celtic back line which sent Chris Hall into
the area. The Saints winger lifted the ball over the keeper
and sub Craig Gibson was tripped as he chased the ball in the box,
but unfortunately for St Mirrenoff, the whistler waved away
their appeals.
With the clock ticking down, Saints pushed players further forward
and were caught out in the first minute of injury time. The
Celtic forward springing the Saints offside line and beating Rannkine
with a shot high into the net.
