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Clonmel Celtic's hopes of finishing their most successful season ever, with their first trophy at junior level, ended in disappointment as they lost a penalty shootout to St Michaels B in Cahir last Sunday. Celtic started this game as favourites and after a nervous few minutes soon showed why, as they settled into their game and took the game to Michaels. On 7 minutes a fine move involving Paul Kennedy and Andy Cosgrave nearly lead to an opening for Paddy O'Donnell but the Saints defence cleared for a corner. Despite having most of the possession Celtic had to wait until the 22nd minutes before they threatened again when Paul Kennedy came close with a shot. Celtic upped the tempo and had their best spell of the game for the remainder of the half. Their failure to find the net during this period was ultimately to prove costly. In the space of 10 minutes Brian Waters twice forced the Saints keeper to make fine saves. When the keeper was beaten by a Wayne Murray header on 25 minutes a Saints defender cleared the ball off the line. On the 34 minutes the influential the Andy Cosgrave forced a fine diving stop from the keeper. Saints almost took the lead against the run of play on 37 minutes when Seanie Cummins found himself at the end of a centre but he couldn't get his effort on target. The second half was more even and as the game wore Celtic became less of a threat going forward. Despite having more possession than they did in the first half Saints never really made John Ryan work in the Celtic goal and they had to wait until the 79th minute to have their first shot on target. Either side of this effort Paddy O'Donnell again forced a save from the Saints keeper and following a Stephen Ryan header there was an almighty scramble in the Saints box with the ball eventually being cleared to safety. The game petered out in extra time as two tired teams were left to the lottery of a penalty shootout. Unfortunately for Celtic Saints held their nerve better to win the penalty shootout 4-2. It was a cruel finish to what otherwise has been an excellent season for Celtic. These words will be of little comfort for the manager and players but in time they will be able to look back and take pride and satisfaction in how far they have come in such a short period. A famous sports coach once said 'The darkest moments in our lives are not to be buried and forgotten, rather they are a memory to be called upon for inspiration...'. Hopefully this defeat will spur us to better things next season.
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