BPFL Crawford Cup, Group One
Belfast Celtic 3-2 Ballymoney United
THEY left it late, but Belfast Celtic scored three times in six minutes to overturn a two-goal deficit against 10-man Ballymoney United at a chilly Glen Road Heights on Saturday to claim victory in Group One of the Crawford Cup.
It seemed like this just wasn't going to be their day when an own goal from Peter Nesbitt saw them trail by two on the hour, just minutes after Kyle Crawford had been shown red, but they stuck to the task with two goals in a minute from substitutes Anthony Nelson and Sean Hawkins bringing them level before Shane McKernan popped up with the winner.
What looked to be a fairly forgettable affair had exploded in the final third with the visitors just unable to hold on once the West Belfast outfit had grabbed a lifeline and the result means they get their Crawford Cup campaign off to the best possible start.
The North Antrim outfit seemed keen to lay down an early marker and from the kick-off, Jake Francis tried to catch Celtic goalkeeper Ruadhan McKenna out with his effort just carrying narrowly over.
It was something of a frantic start with both teams operating at a high pace, but it was Ballymoney who looked that bit more threatening on the front foot and they were rewarded seven minutes in when Gerald Gillan was slipped in on the right and Reece Watton stooped to meet his low cross to nod home.
Reece Watton opens the scoring 
The hosts took a while to apply much by way of pressure with the left flank beginning to prove a decent avenue, but the chances took a while to come with a 22nds minute effort from Shane McKernan that was well stopped by Bryan Moore their first real effort of note.
Ballymoney also probed but were unable to work McKenna with any efforts off target, while the hosts gradually began to enjoy a spell late in the opening half with Niall Dixon nipping in to get a shot at the front post that was turned around for a corner.
In first-half stoppage time, a low Conor Rafferty effort from the edge of the box was deflected behind for another corner that would see McKernan meet the low delivery but was thwarted by a Ballymoney book as the visitors retained their one-goal advantage at the half.
The hosts probably hadn't wanted to hear that half-time whistle and they set about trying to pick up where they left off after the break by pressing but the chances didn't materialise.
Then came the red card for Crawford in the 57th minute as he was late with his studs into the back of Dixon who was forced off injured from the challenge.
However, the numerical disadvantage didn't initially seem to make a difference as just three minutes later from a throw-in, Gillan again got on the ball on the right and sent a cross into the box with Nesbitt stretching to cut it out, but he was unfortunate to divert it into his own goal.
This could have knocked the stuffing out of the hosts, but they immediately set about trying to find a way back in, yet for the next 20 minutes, Ballymoney seemed relatively comfortable with an in-swinging corner from Arberi Karrabecaj that needed to be tipped over by Moore the only real threat to the visitors.
It would all change on 80 minutes, however, as the spark the hosts needed finally arrived when Conor Rafferty slid in Nelson on the right of goal and he produced an excellent finish to curl beyond Moore.
Niall Dixon looks for a pass
Just a minute later and it was level as Matthew Donnelly sent in a good ball from deep on the left and this time it was Hawkins to get on the end of item producing an almost identical finish from the same area as Nelson's.
Now, the hosts' tails were up as they pressed for the winner with Jahn Hawkins letting fly from deep but his effort was well off-target, whilst at the other end, Gillan saw a shot from the edge of the box clear the bar.
From the restart, Celtic went long and this time McKernan beat the offside trap to fire low past Moore with 87 played to net what would prove to be the winner and see the hosts complete a magnificent comeback.
BELFAST CELTIC: R McKenna, J Hawkins, M Donnelly, L Mitchell, P Nesbitt, N Dixon (L Markey 59), A Karrabecaj (S Hawkins 73), D Taggart, S McKernan (C Moreland 90), R Hamill (A Nelson 59), C Rafferty
Goals: A Nelson 80, S Hawkins 81, S McKernan 87
BALLYMONEY UNITED: B Moore, K Steele, K Crawford, O Neill (C Douglas 59), R Watton (S Munnis 90), G Gillan, J Francis (J Rohdich 74), C McLaughlin (R Mackay 90), E McLaughlin, T Hutchinson, P Keane
Goals: R Watton 7, P Nesbitt (OG) 60
