Birthday Boy Rob Lawless scored a hat-trick on his return from suspension, wins the man-of-the-match award, and gets a yellow “birthday” card from the ref!!

A cold and blustery day at the Prairie ended with Celtic coming away with all three points after a hard fought encounter with West End Athletic.

The opening 15 minutes were fairly even, but then Celtic took control. Firstly, Iain Ross hit a tremendous left foot shot from 20 yards which produced a great save from the West End keeper who palmed the ball onto the bar. Then Rob Lawless, who has missed the last four games through suspension, produced a cross cum shot that hit the top of the bar.
But the pressure finally told after 22 minutes when Iain Ross found Rob Lawless with a pass and he cooly slid the ball under the advancing keeper.
Declan Pinder and Chris Dodd were then booked for late challenges, although Declan looked to have won the ball.
West End managed to create a couple of half chances but their finishing was wayward as the half came to a close.

West End were clearly determined to score and within two minutes of the restart they were level.
Simon Lewis in the Celtic goal produced a great save from the West End striker, but as the ball fell, he tripped one of the other forwards and the ref pointed to the spot. The taker made no mistake as he sent Simon the wrong way.
This produced a flurry of activity from Trawden and they produced some excellent chances, but poor finishing cost them at least three goals. However, they took the lead on 58 minutes when Rob Lawless ran past his marker and finished with his left foot from 15 yards. The keeper should have saved it, but Celtic weren’t complaining.
Five minutes later, West End were level again with the best goal of the game. They took a quick free-kick on the left, just inside their own half. The winger sent over a great ball to the opposite wing. A couple of one-two’s and the ball was in the back of the net with Simon Lewis rooted to the ground.
Rob Lawless was then booked for taking his frustration out on the ball when flagged offside. A nice yellow card from the ref!
The next 15 minutes saw both sides miss chances, West End playing some good football and Trawden hitting with their speed on the break. A great effort by both sides in the windy conditions.

A draw looked likely, but Celtic produced a winner with seven minutes left. A corner on the right was swung in by Iain Ross and Rob Lawless, all on his own, completed his hat-trick with a simple header. The Birthday Boy had scored with right foot, left foot and his head. The perfect combination!
Rob then had the chance to make it 4-2 when he found himself one-on-one with the keeper, but the West End stopper smothered his shot.

Overall, a deserved win for Celtic who created chances galore. Fortunately their misses didn’t cost any points.