Celtic sunk by Mickleover

BetVictor Premier Division Mickleover Sports 1-0 Stalybridge Celtic

Celtic's season started with a narrow defeat on Saturday. A soft looking penalty in the fourth minute was enough to separate the two sides in another wise fairly dour game. A nudge in the back was enough for the referee to give a spot kick that Jack Storer made no mistake with. From then on in the home side made life difficult for Celtic as they were intent on defending their goal advantage. 

Seven new signings were in the Celtic starting eleven. One of those, Craig Hobson gave his all in a duel with seasoned Football League defender Pablo Mills, but probably wasn't supported enough by his fellow Celts to really make a difference in attack. At the back Celtic looked pretty strong with Mark Lees and captain Stephan O'Halloran marshalling the back line well. Celtic huffed and puffed all afternoon to get back into the game without really looking a threat. Scott Bakkor and Nathan Valentine hitting long range efforts that never had the home side worrying. In added time Celtic did think they had got their equaliser. Cameron Moore burst through the home defence before teeing up Hobson. The big striker thought he had turned the ball over the line and went off celebrating, only for the officials to judge that the Mickleover defender had cleared the ball before it crossed the line. Celtic were incensed but the decision stood. 

Not the start Celtic wanted and with a run of tough games coming up they will need to improve to get off the mark. 

By Shaun Bishop