Killough cause huge cup upset

20 March 2019

IT was a case of fortunes favouring the brave at a wintry Bignian Park on Friday night.

Killough took a massive gamble by playing their two post potent attackers as out and out full backs, but the switch worked a treat as a subdued Celtic failed to rise to the gambit.

Jack McLaughlin scored the only goal of the game in the 53rd minute when he cut inside two defenders and unleashed an unstoppable drive that gave ‘keeper Nathan Curran no chance.

Killough looked as if they had been injected with high-octane fuel from the outset as they laid into Celtic at every opportunity.

Their high intensity pressing game certainly caught Celtic unaware as Tony McIlhone and Michael Burns led a disciplined Killough charge.

Celtic repelled a series of attacks, but they were caught flat-footed in the 10th minute and almost conceded a goal.

Gareth George, playing at left back, bombed forward in a typically swashbuckling run. His searing pace took him past Shaun Megahey before he crossed perfectly for Ross Armstrong, but the big lad was off balance and was unable to get a good connection on his effort.

Celtic retaliated immediately and Stevie Galbraith beat the offside trap to get in behind Colm Stranney, but after rounding ‘keeper Peter Kelly his effort drifted wide.

Killough continued to put in the hard yards in the middle of the park in a bid to cut out the supply line to Galbraith, Chris Mullan and Sean McMahon and to a large extent, they were quite successful.

However, with 20 minutes gone Celtic almost took the lead when Ricky Kerr got on the end of a Jordan McCoubrey corner, but headed wide.

With 28 minutes gone a long clearance from Kelly was headed on by Tony McIlhone, but the lurking Declan Looney was unable to take advantage.

Celtic’s rhythm suffered further when they lost central defender Matthew Carson to injury. They were forced into moving Jordan Curran, the team’s midfield heartbeat, back into the sweeper’s position with Eoin Boyle taking over from him in the engine room.

Boyle settled immediately and with 35 minutes gone had a shot saved by Kelly after a rare run from the tricky McCoubrey.

Two minutes later at the other end Nathan Curran raced off his line in a bid to cut out a long ball through the middle, but he got lost in traffic and almost paid a heavy penalty when Armstrong, a genuine man of the match candidate, chanced his arm from out wide. Alas, his audacious effort could only find the side netting.

The first half finished in a flurry of activity at both ends, but the sides went in level at the break.

The second half was as equally competitive, but Killough were by far the hungrier side and prepared to die for the cause.

Armstrong brought out the best in Curran after 50 minutes before Celtic survived a hectic goalmouth scramble when Killough seemed certain to score on several occasions with bodies all over the place.

Something had to give and with 53 minutes gone it did.

McLaughlin, who had been on the periphery of the game out on the flank, cut inside Megahey and beat Curran all ends up from the edge of the box with a crisp, perfectly-placed finish.

This was no more than Killough deserved and they had no intention of easing up.

They defended a little deeper after going in front and relied on Looney and McLaughlin’s pace to hit back on the counterattack and almost took a 2-0 lead.

Looney pressed the burners to get on the end of a through ball from McIlhone, but he tangled with Jordan Curran as he went to take possession of the ball.

Looney went down in a heap under the challenge and as Killough waited for a free kick and red card for the Celtic captain, the referee adjudged that Looney had committed the foul and not Curran.

Killough continued to soak up the pressure with outstanding displays from Kevin Groves and Stranney and with 75 minutes gone should have made it 2-0 when Conor Kelly was left with only Nathan Curran to beat after another lightning counterattack, but fired over the top.

Galbraith and Mullan had efforts late on for Celtic, but they never really troubled a composed Peter Kelly as Killough finally managed to win a semi-final for the first time in several years.

Killough: Peter Kelly, Freddie O’Connor, Gareth George, Kevin Groves, Colm Stranney, Tony McIlhone, Jack McLaughlin, Michael Burns, Ross Armstrong, Ryan McIlhone, Declan Looney. Subs: Conor Kelly, Ben McLaughlin, Jason Clarke, Kian Tierney, Steven Laverty.

Celtic Bhoys: Nathan Curran, Shaun Megahey, Conor Doherty, Matthew Carson, Mikey Rice, Jordan Curran, Jordan McCoubrey, Ricky Kerr, Stephen Galbraith, Sean McMahon, Chris Mullan. Subs: Eoin Boyle, Caolan Boyd, Sean Cahill, Terence Bell.

Killough 1

Celtic Bhoys 0

HARRY CLARKE CUP SEMI-FINAL

Tweets by @TheDownRecorder