SUPER LEAGUE -CLIFFONEY CELTIC 3 STRAND CELTIC 4

Strand Celtic made the journey to Mullaghmore a profitable one winning by the odd goal in seven in a cracker of a game. There was some great open football from both teams on a beautiful sunny morning.

James Warnock scored after two minutes to give Cliffoney Celtic the lead from a cross. Ben Spellman levelling seven minutes later for Strand with a tidy finish.
Cliffoney had the opportunity to ahead from the penalty spot ten minutes from half time but the well taken spot kick by Cathal Kelly was superbly saved by Cian Basquille. Two minutes into the second half and young Max Stafford fired Strand into the lead finishing well from a Monaghan corner.
sixteen minutes later Ben Spellman struck his second and Strands third goal to see them coasting. The hoops were playing some super football at this stage with caoilte Brannigan controlling their middle playing some delightful passes.

Cliffoney however were far from out done and on seventy-eight minutes Michael Gilmartin had them back in the fray with a goal after we failed to clear our lines. five minutes later the sides were level when Alan Nicholson rattled the back of the Strand net from close in after some slack marking.

A draw now looked on the cards but two minutes from time eighteen-year old Luke Mc Guinn stepped up to rifle home a glorious winner after a sublime flick from Ben spellman.
Short of a lot of last years squad with four players gone to league of Ireland clubs during the break, two of our senior players in Australia and others with GAA commitments our strength in depth showed. Caoilte Brannigan was outstanding in the middle and looks like a player who could be a star this season. Young Jimmy Monaghan continued his fine form from last year with some scintillating crosses. It was also great to see young centre half Cian Conway back in action after a year out with a broken ankle.

Man if the match was Ben spellman with two goals and a dominant performance up top.

TEAM: Basquille, Ojun, Monaghan, Max Stafford, Cian Conway, Tom Gavin, Ohara, Caoilte Brannigan, Fiachra Cogan, spellman, Niall Mc Dermott, mcguinn, kenny.