Celtic Take A Share Of The Points

A Chris Dagnall screamer gave Celtic a share of the points after former Celt, Scott Bakkor gave the hosts the lead.

In an uninspiring first half, Atherton had the upper hand, but made hard work of their few chances. Celtic had two good penalty shouts denied, a handball by Clive Smith and a trip on Godwin Abadaki by Joel Amado. The home fans momentarily thought Gareth Peet’s free kick had gone in, but he’d hit the side netting, whilst Scott Bakkor fired low, straight at Greg Hall for a straightforward save, but Hall’s next save from Marcus Cusan stood out as the save of the match.

The second half started and ended badly for Celtic.

Bakkor chased down a ball into the corner, reaching it well ahead of Hall, who’d come out to make it difficult, but Bakkor lobbed Hall from a tight angle to open the scoring.

Celtic took just ten minutes to get back into the game. Godwin Abadaki’s ball out to the edge of the box took a wicked deflection, but Chris Dagnall wrapped his foot around the looping ball, his shot arrow straight into the top corner. Celtic continued to press, looking for a winner. Nathan Caine’s header at the end of a free kick move required a scrambled save from Nico De Freitas-Hansan somehow getting the ball around the post for a corner. Osebi Abadaki fired from an acute angle into the side netting and another Dagnall volley produced a decent stop from the Collieries keeper. A rush of blood after a nasty foul on Godwin Abadaki saw him lunge in two footed, getting a red card leaving Celtic to face the last five minutes with a man down, but survive they did and take a point, keeping them just above the drop zone.

In related news, Celtic will be joining Tameside Council and a number of local clubs in supporting White Ribbon UK’s White Ribbon Day with #TheGoal of ending gender-based violence.

The club will be helping to raise awareness during our home fixture with Warrington Rylands FC later this month.

As part of the drive, council licensing officers are also distributing beer mats and posters in pubs to support the White Ribbon message as well as providing anti-drink spiking devices.