Shield hopes are in the balance

CHADDY’S Graham Baldwin (right) holds off Langley’s Paul Armstrong.

Chaddy End 2, Langley Celtic 2

AMATEUR MATCH OF THE WEEK: CHADDY END FC manager Danny Dorward believes his side has an excellent chance of reaching the final of the Manchester County FA Shield despite being held to a 2-2 draw by Langley Celtic in the first leg at Chapel Road 3G.

Looking ahead to Sunday’s second-leg game, Dorward said: “We need to play without fear and with a little more composure on the ball.

“We know it will be hard at their place but we had enough chances to win the first leg and with the score at 2-2 we looked the more likely of the two teams to score.”

That lack of composure, allied to nerves, perhaps as much as fear, probably came from this being a game of massive importance for both teams, but arguably more so for Chaddy End.

Celtic are without doubt one of the biggest and best equipped Sunday sides around and their experience in prestigious competitions has always stood them in good stead.

Although Dorward’s side is packed with talented and experienced players - Tom Hughes, Ryan Baldwin, Alan Beckett, to name just a few - Chaddy End are cup novices compared to Celtic.

Dorward, at just 23 years of age but with a very knowledgeable football head on his young shoulders, gave a nod to that fact when he said: “We probably showed them a little too much respect, especially in the first half.

“With the game at 1–1, they had the better of it for a while and our goalkeeper Chris Cogger made some great saves to keep us in the game.

“It was end-to-end stuff at times but we have to look ahead to Sunday now.”

It was, indeed, a tense and nervy first half with both teams keen to give nothing away.

But the tie exploded into life ten minutes after the restart when Steve Barrow got on the end of a sublime Hughes pass to drive the ball past the Celtic ‘keeper.

It was a lead that was to last only three minutes as Celtic pulled themselves level with a penalty following a harsh decision by the referee. Central defender Gary Pickup was adjudged to have handled the ball inside his own area and.

Dorward added: “We felt it wasn’t a penalty as a harmless ball bounced up off the surface and hit Gary on the arm. It was one of those decisions that nobody seemed to see except the referee.”

Worse was to follow for Chaddy End less than seven minutes later as Celtic stormed ahead, but this was a tie that still had more drama to come.

With 20 minutes remaining, Ryan Baldwin sprung the Celtic offside trap to make it 2-2 and a Celtic player was sent off after disputing the goal.

Barrow had a further chance to score as Chaddy End held that numerical advantage, but you somehow got the feeling that a winner would never come - not even when Alan Beckett was introduced to the action from the bench, the striker for once proving that he is fallible.

CHADDY END FC: Cogger, Knowles, Pickup, Deakin, Frost, Murphy, Philbin, Whittaker, Hughes, Baldwin, Barrow. Subs: Beckett, Alexander, Leeming, Payne, Greaves.