Birtley Town vs West Allotment Celtic

Recap

Birtley Town were left to rue a host of wasted chances at they fell to a 1-0 defeat at home to West Allotment Celtic. 

The Hoops were quick out of the traps in what was an important game for both sides. In just the 4th minute Birtley struck the woodwork. The Hoops linked up well before releasing Josh Strassheim whose cross was met brilliantly by the head of Nick Marley. Celtic keeper Callum Elliott managing to tip the effort onto the bar. Moments later Kyle Wharton broke free down the right and found Scott Heslop although his neat lay-off was unable to be fully controlled by Marley. The Hoops should have been ahead on 11 minutes.  Neat link up play from Exley and Proctor released Marley but his effort was well saved by Elliott. 

Birtley continued to create chances and The Hoops smashed the crossbar for a 2nd time when Owen Lancaster pulled it back to Nick Marley, the Birtley striker hitting the crossbar from around 12 yards out before Matty Boyd smashed the rebound wide. In inevitable fashion, Birtley fell behind on 24 minutes. A long ball over the top allowed Bradley Morns to run in-behind the Birtley backline. Morns beat a disjointed offside trap before controlling with the outside of his foot and smashing the opening goal into the bottom corner. The Hoops pressed for an equaliser, Owen Lancaster saw his effort well blocked before Scott Heslop fired over from close range. Elliott made another fine save to deny a long-range Boyd effort as the opening period drew to a close. 

HALF TIME |  Birtley Town 0-1 West Allotment Celtic 

The second half proved difficult for the hosts as West were happy to sit back and welcome pressure. Birtley struggled to create anything meaningful in the opening stages. A long range effort from James Proctor was the only real opening in the early stages of the second period. The Hoops made a number of changes with Callum Smith and Jack Elliot sent on to help with creativity. Flynn Martindale made his Birtley debut after recently joining from Bedlington. The Hoops pressed for an equaliser but James Proctor squandered another opportunity with a header at the far post.

Callum Smith saw his effort from the edge of the area well saved. The Hoops thought they had eventually levelled on 77 minutes. Neat link-up play from Heslop and Elliott released James Proctor. There was hesitation between Proctor and Exley as neither player decided to shoot, the ball eventually fell to Martindale but his brilliant curling effort was tipped onto the bar by Elliott. 

In the dying stages, Alfie Gordon denied Celtic a second goal. Birtley’s miserable afternoon was confirmed in the last minute when Kyle Wharton was given a second yellow card for dissent. 

FULL TIME |  Birtley Town 0-1 West Allotment Celtic 

Man of the Match – Josh Strassheim

Attendance – 167

Manager’s Corner

Reece Chapman: “We’re really disappointed with the result. Well done to West Allotment, they have come and worked tirelessly for the 90 minutes. They had some good movement from their wide players. However, we have created so many opportunities on the day, enough to win a few games in truth and we’ve just not taken them. You can look at fortune or a lack of, hitting the bar three times and their goalkeeper making some tremendous saves but ultimately, we’ve got to take our time and finish those chances. There’s no excuses. We’ve limited their chances throughout the game, but we’re disappointed with the ease of their goal, although the lad has finished it really well. We’ve got to bounce back now, put this one to bed and look forward to the next one where we hope to put it right”.

H2H v West Allotment Celtic (at Birtley)
P6 W1 D1 L4 GF7 GA14

Next up…

Birtley travel to Whitley Bay on Saturday in 3pm kick-off

Highlights