In a match that lived down to the lack of excitement predicted, the early morning kick off saw the Celts and Red Lions clash. The Lions, licking their wounds from their 3-4 defeat at the hands of City in the BML, were expecting a walk in the park against an under-performing Celts team. And so, come the whistle, that’s exactly what they did. Alas no one told the Celts that they were expected to just lay down and take the punishment.

The first half saw the Lions struggle to get out of their own half, with the Celts keeper not really brought in to action. Rob “Chicken Wing” Iwanicki did put the ball in the net, but was clearly 10 metres offside, and so very little protest ensued. The early pressure was on the Lions goal, the Celts figuring keeper Rob to be the weakest link. Some good defending though mainly by George’s solid tackling ensured that not too many shots found their way in to the danger zone – ie anywhere near the keeper. The Lions’ best chance of the half fell to SAFA Chancy, who hit the post with a long-distance shot, which rebounded to safety.

Fielding several newbies, the Lions did not find any rhythm, and despite lots of running in the early morning heat, passes went astray, tempers flared, and the frustration showed. The Celts, on the other hand, showed a lot more composure, passion, skill and flair, and looked the more likely to score, so when the half time whistle blew with the score 0-0, it was the Lions who were more full of relief.

Captain Rooney’s half time inspirational team talk of “that was crap” was all that was needed to be said. The second half saw the Lions camp inside the Celts territory, and despite several comedy dives from the Polack, no penalty was given, no free kick was given. The ref had seen enough crap from Da An’s Mora to know a blatant dive when he saw it, and the Celts keeper seemed more than able to handle anything that did finally make its way goal bound.

The Lions kept pushing – perhaps a little too hard, perhaps a little too far, and with all players except goalkeeper Rob deep in the Celts half, one long clearance to Shawn who was waiting patiently on the half way line gave them an opportunity to break, and as George broke the land speed record to chase back, in a defiant show of selflessness from the aforementioned attacker, Shawn passed the ball to an unmarked colleague who slipped the ball in to the net. 1-0 Celts, half way through the half. It must be said the lead was deserved, even though it was against the run of play…

“That was fugging offside” George objected vociferously. Just for the record, it wasn’t.

Still the Lions pushed, an air of urgency coming in to the Lions’ game finally, and it was newbie Ian who scored the equaliser after a sweet run and low cross in from the right hand side from captain Rooney.

With time running out, the Celts had one more attack, with John Long scuffing a shot after intricate play. The calls of what might have been, because as the game hit the final minute, Alex Houghton beat the keeper and, with the ball bouncing, he had about 20 seconds to get the ball under control to shoot in to an unguarded net. The Celts keeper though made a heroic block after 21 seconds, and the Lions had a corner.

As the corner was cleared, the game seemingly heading for a draw, the Chihuahua Clovis struck a sweet shot that the keeper would have had covered, had it not been for a wicked deflection off a defender, the ball rippling the back of the net. Seconds afterwards, the final whistle blew and the Celts can feel a tad aggrieved at the scoreline as the Lions not so much roared as growled to victory.