Celtic 1-0 Spartans
(Mulvey 87)
The final home match of the season for Celtic proved to be a difficult encounter against a dogged Spartans side which continued to battle hard and almost gained a point from the game had it not been for Suzanne Mulvey’s late winner.
The game started in a scrappy fashion with both teams unable to gain a foothold with consistent, quality possession. Celtic, however, started to take control of the game and began to create some opportunities and push Spartans backwards.
In the 15th minute Alex Middleton cut the ball back for Kirsty Howat’s shot to be saved easily by the Spartans goalkeeper and she made another good stop when Mulvey cut the ball back again for McBrearty only to have her shot blocked well by the keeper.
With 20 minutes gone, the best opportunity came and went for Celtic through Anne Rudmose who, after being put clean through at the angle by Ross, managed to drive her shot over the bar.
Spartans managed a shot on goal later in the half with Celtic keeper Kiera Gibson getting down to her right to save for a corner.
The second half again began with Celtic trying to get forward but without much success and indeed could have been punished on 55 minutes when, in quick succession, Spartans had close calls for offside and were very nearly through on goal. The game continued with Celtic creating any few chances that were in the remaining minutes of the half.
Finally, the breakthrough came in the 89th minute after a ball hooked over the top by Kerry Montgomery ran into the path of Mulvey who calmly placed the ball around the outrushing keeper and put Celtic in front. The Hoops saw the remaining minutes out comfortably and gained another three points
The game itself was not pretty to watch as it struggled to have any real fluency and both teams will feel they can provide much better performances next week in the final league game of the season.
Celtic travel to Aberdeen and will be hoping to complete the season on a high at what is known as a difficult away venue.
Manager David Haley said: “The team know that we can play much better than what we showed against Spartans and although we have the three points, they are actually disappointed with the performance.
“I have confidence in the squad that they will complete the season with three points in Aberdeen on Sunday by playing much more entertaining football.”
Celtic: Gibson, Middleton (Dalgliesh), Rafferty, Whyte, McBrearty, Ross, Montgomery, Rudmose (Grant), Howat (Richards), McDonald-Nguah (Rae), Mulvey.
Reported by Celtic FC
Picture: Celtic FC
