<h2 class="date-header">Wednesday, December 07, 2005</h2><div class="post"><a name="113390741298071545"></a><h3 class="post-title">Motherwell Reserves 0, <b style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #a0ffff">Celtic[/b] Reserves 2 </h3><div class="post-body"> <div style="CLEAR: both"></div>GOALS from Diarmuid O'Carroll and supersub Paul McGowan sealed for a young <b style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #a0ffff">Celtic[/b] Reserves team a victory that truly smelled sweet - thanks to the sugary aromas wafting over from the McOwan's toffee factory next door to Stenhousemuir's ramshackle Ochilview Stadium. The Nou Camp this wasn't. And I'm sure I spotted some dairy pastures on the road into Larbert that were a good sight flatter and less muddy than the shoddy pitch our Bhoys were asked to play on. Given the bumpy surface, the freezing wind blowing in from the Ochil Hills and the fact the referee was called RICHARD GOUGH (honestly!), then the lads could have been forgiven for thinking this was simply a match to endure, rather than enjoy. So it is much to their credit that they battled till the end to fashion a decent result, with several youngsters doing their chances of future progress no harm at all with assured performances. Unusually under the new club regime, the young Celts employed a 3-5-2 formation, with Irish keeper Michael McGovern having precious little to do behind a very effective back line of Craig Reid on the right and Charlie Mulgrew on the left, with another Irish lad, Darren O'Dea, keeping things nice and simple in the middle as a no-nonsense sweeper. Didier Agathe returned to the right wing-back position he made his own during Martin O'Neill's reign but showed little enthusiasm for the fray before limping off two minutes into the second half. The fact that <b style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #a0ffff">Celtic's[/b] play immediately improved with the introduction of Under-19 star Jim O'Brien in his place was no coincidence. Over on the left flank was Tony <b style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff66">McParland[/b], the injury-plagued winger who recently had a short trial spell at Coventry City. Paul Lawson celebrated his newly-extended contract agreement with an imperious display in the holding role in central midfield, with Icelandic kid Teddy Bjarnason oozing class on the right and Stephen Pearson showing several impressive bursts of pace on the left. Up front was the ever-eager Nicky Riley and the combative Irishman Diarmuid O'Carroll, who had a fascinating tussle with Motherwell's 6ft 6in centre-half Steve McDonald before a head knock forced him off late on. The unused substitutes were all from the Under-19 squad: Sandy Wood, Dean Richardson and Ryan McCafferty, with a special mention for their Irish colleague Garry Walsh, who sat and shivered in the stand with the rest of the "crowd" of 80 or so. The bumpy surface and energetic pressing of the young Motherwell side made studied passing moves a rarity in the early stages, when the ball took a fearful hammering and, sadly, too many long balls found their way to the head of Well's humungous stopper McDonald, who was able to comfortably swat away the challenges of the diminutive Riley. A goalmouth scramble after five minutes gave Agathe a chance close in, but the ball was on his left foot, and it ended up about 20 yards over the bar. Then Didier linked well with Bjarnason and Reid to burst past two players and send in a low cross which was cut out by a defender. Motherwell's only chance came when McGovern raced from his area to head clear a long ball over O'Dea's head. It fell to ex-Celt Kevin McBride but fortunately his attempted lob from 40 yards floated over the bar. An indication that the Celts were coming to grips with the surface came after half an hour when Mulgrew, Lawson and <b style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff66">McParland[/b] linked well in a tight space on the left. Wee Tony then raced to the byline and sent in a low cut-back which Lawson met on the edge of the box, but his fierce shot was blocked. The breakthrough came after 37 minutes, and owed much to the growing confidence of Lawson and <b style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff66">McParland[/b]. Paul pinged a tremendous 40-yard crossfield pass which the left wing-back collected before taking on his man and sending a low cross into the box. It fell for Riley, who laid the ball back to Pearson on the penalty spot. Big Pearo seemed certain to score, but his fierce shot was magnificently parried by Colin Meldrum. Unfortunately for the Well keeper, the ball fell kindly for O'Carroll to squeeze it into the net from a tight angle. A minute later, Bjarnason set up Agathe on the right, but his low cross was sent well high and wide by Riley, no thanks to the slippery surface. The half petered out, with the only excitement being my victory in the race to the pie stall, narrowly pipping a promising young contender named McNeill. Billy, I think his first name is. ;-) He was accompanied by his old colleague Mick Jackson, who famously scored a screamer in a friendly against the brilliant Real Madrid in 1963. Aye, but who got their steak & onion pie and bovril first, eh? At the start of the second half, O'Carroll and Pearson linked up well on the left, then Riley was bundled off the ball on the edge of the box. From the free-kick, Lawson curled in a superb effort that clipped the top of the bar. O'Brien came on for Agathe after 48 minutes, and soon after his throw-in was hooked on by O'Carroll into the six-yard box, with Well right back Paul Quinn sclaffing a clearance that came within inches of being a comical own goal. After 57 minutes, a Lawson dribble set up <b style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff66">McParland[/b] for a skidding low shot that was tipped just past by the diving Meldrum. Midway through the half, Bjarnason showed great composure to spread the ball wide to O'Brien, who set up the overlapping Reid for a cross which Meldrum, under pressure, dropped. It fell kindly to Bjarnason, who showed great coolness to dummy two diving defenders before setting himself up for what looked a certain goal. But Teddy slipped at the vital moment and saw his effort come off the side of his right foot and screw wide. On 78 minutes, Lawson, who had earlier complained of being elbowed off the ball, was booked for hauling down Darren Smith to halt a rare Motherwell breakaway. Three minutes later, an O'Carroll lob saw Riley beat the offside trap and race into the box, but he couldn't get the bouncing ball to run kindly for him and his shot was blocked for a corner. With just five minutes to go, McGowan came on for O'Carroll, who had banged his head after challenging the giant McDonald for a high ball. Moments later Gowser ran through to lob the keeper, but he had already been flagged offside. But the wee man wasn't finished yet. On 89 minutes, O'Brien was hacked down near the corner flag. Mulgrew came across to whip in a wicked inswinging cross which McGowan met at the back post, leaping to send a downward header bouncing into the net. MAN-BY-MAN COMMENTS: Tony <b style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff66">McParland:[/b] My first look in ages at the injury-hit left winger. Showed a great willingness to take on his man on the handful of occasions when <b style="COLOR: black; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #a0ffff">Celtic[/b] managed to get the ball to him. Fired in some good crosses and certainly looks to have bags of skill and decent pace. Set up the first goal with a run and cross, then was inches away from scoring in the second half. Not the biggest, but a good team player. Sadly, the fact that he was allowed to go on trial to Coventry indicates his future may lie elsewhere. Interested spectators at this match included Dundee United boss Gordon Chisholm and coach Billy Dodds. <div style="CLEAR: both; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em"></div> </div><p class="post-footer">posted by Celticblog @ 4:06 PM </p></div>
He sounds like a good player but .... .... 'the injury plauged winger' description sort of rings a few alarm bells, given our track record of signing crocks!
