Ten-man Stalybridge Celtic came from behind to win 2-1 at home to Belper Town on Saturday (4 March), with late goals from Ethan Paddon and Chris Dagnall completing the turnaround.

The home side got off to the worst possible start, with on-loan forward DJ Pedro receiving a red card after just 31 minutes, for two yellows in quick succession. The first yellow card, for a late challenge near the by-line, where the winger seemed to stamp down on the Belper defender, and sections of the Belper bench were not happy with the decision, seeming to think the card should have been another colour. Moments later came Pedro’s second yellow card, this time for a similar challenge to the first, a mistimed tackle on Belper captain Tom Middleton, and the hosts were reduced to ten men.

There were not too many first-half chances created after the dismissal but the best one came to Belper, with forward Molyneaux Rio finding a bit of space down the left wing, from here he cut inside his man and unleashed a curling right-footed effort towards goal, which flew just wide of the right-hand post.

Stalybridge Celtic started the second half very strongly, putting Belper under pressure from the first whistle, and the opposition full-backs were finding it difficult to deal with Celtic’s right-hand side, of winger Theo Bailey-Jones and full-back Luke Barlow, who were making constant runs down the right wing. This eventually resulted in a booking for Belper’s number six, Todd Jordon, as he was forced to bring down Barlow, who made an overlapping run and would have been in on goal if it wasn’t for his intervention.

The away side came through the onslaught unscathed and soon began creating chances of their own. On 55 minutes Belper winger Brodie Litchfield cut inside from the left on his favoured right foot, and his side-footed shot was deflected wide. Minutes later, a long ball up towards Molyneaux Rio was held up well by the Belper man, who laid the ball off to Jerome Greaves, who slipped in Charlie Reaney for what seemed like a certain goal, but a heroic block from Celtic defender Kyle Harrison denied the visitors the lead.

A flurry of half-chances for the home side were followed by the sucker punch, and on 75 minutes the deadlock was finally broken, with Belper number nine Jerome Greaves latching onto a long ball from Tom Wilson before rifling the ball home with his left boot. A huge blow for the hosts who had kept it level for so long.

Celtic did not lie down though, and continued to create, almost equalising moments later when the ball looked to have crossed the line after a goal-mouth scramble. It is unclear whether the referee thought the ball was over the line as he had blown for a foul in the build-up regardless, for a foul on goalkeeper Tom Jackson.

The home side kept pushing, and eventually found a way through, with substitute Ethan Paddon heading home a wonderful cross from the right from the eventual man of the match, Theo Bailey-Jones.

It looked as though the hosts were happy with a point under the circumstances, as they attempted to see out the game, and it was a rather uneventful last ten minutes until Celtic were awarded a free kick towards the right of the area in the 94th minute. A clipped cross from Bailey-Jones fell to Kyle Harrison, who laid the ball off to Chris Dagnall, who thrashed the ball across his body and into the right of the Belper net, ensuing the pandemonium at Bower Fold. A crucial goal which gave Celtic all three points, and their first win in the league since January.

Manager Chris Willcock was delighted with both the result and his team’s terrific performance, “We would’ve taken a point having had ten men for 70 minutes, but we found a way to win it, and credit goes to the players regarding the mental strength they showed today”, said Willcock. He was especially impressed by the performance of Theo Bailey-Jones, who picked up the man of the match award at the end of the game, “He provided the quality we needed today, especially having ten men, he had an outstanding game”. Despite this praise, Willcock insisted that the win was down to the team’s effort as a whole, “It’s difficult to single anyone out because everyone has contributed massively to the result”.

Next up for the Celts is a tough home tie against league leaders South Shields next Saturday (11 March).

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