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Clonmel Celtic had a very significant 3-1 victory over Peake Villa on St Patrick's Day. This win coupled with Rock Rovers defeat to Clonmel Town means that after a few uncomfortable weeks Celtic are safe from relegation. However this was by no means a comfortable victory as Celtic had to battle all the way against a Villa side that caused them plenty of problems. Celtic got off to the worst possible start as they found themselves a goal down after just two minutes. Derek Loughnane turned smartly on the edge of the Celtic box and raced away to fire a shot high into the net. Celtic at this stage were struggling as Villa took the game to them. Indeed on eight minutes Celtic had a let off when Padraig Fogarty had an effort which hit the inside off the post and was scrambled away to safety. If this had gone in you would have feared for Celtic. However out of the blue Celtic were level on 13 minutes when a Graham Doyle through ball was expertly finished by James Power. Celtic improved after the equaliser but Villa still had the upper hand and had quite a few chances to regain the lead before half time. However just before the break Paddy O'Donnell raced through and with the keeper advancing he shot low into the corner to give Celtic a vital lead. Villa didn't carry as much as a threat in the second half although they probably did still create the clearer chances. Celtic defended tenaciously and held on to their slender lead. You could almost hear the sigh of relief when Paddy O'Donnell again broke through with eleven minutes remaining and this time he coolly rounded the keeper and rolled the ball home to seal a crucial 3-1 win. O'Donnell probably won't score two more crucial Celtic goals for a while and with so much at stake the manner in which he took his goals shows what a class player he is. Congratulations to Willie Murphy who, despite some difficult times, achieved his objective of keeping Celtic in the Premier league. At a later stage surely the team must consider how they got themselves into such an awkward position after a good start to the season but for the time being they should be commended for getting the results when the real pressure was on. Celtic Starman: Paddy O'Donnell
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