ORMEAU Road Celtic clinched the inaugural Shamrock Cup over rivals Clifton Celtic in a decisive 4-0 win last weekend.
The scoreline did not tell the whole story however. Despite going 1-0 down in the third minute to a Niall McNally goal, Clifton Celtic controlled much of the game and were pushing for a goal of their own.
The two sides sit three divisions apart but as the second half commenced the gap between the sides started to show as Ormeau Road Celtic found their flow with some nice possession based play.
Eventually this wore Clifton Celtic down and the South Belfast Hoops found the net on three occasions late on with substitute Jack Hollywood finding the net with his first touch after coming on and Man of the Match Matthew McNally scoring a brace in the last ten minutes to secure the Shamrock Cup title.
Ormeau Road Celtic manager Conal Hunter credited their opposition for a tough encounter ahead of the league opener.
“Credit to Clifton Celtic they came out today and gave us a good hard game which is what you want from a pre-season friendly”.
“We knew if we stuck at it, that our extra bit of quality would see us kill the game off eventually and that’s what happened,” said Conal.
“We are happy to get our hands on the trophy and listen, I know it’s pre season, but they all count.
“If Pep Guardiola is counting his Community Shields as part of his haul I’m counting my Shamrock Cups.
“We will be hoping it can kick us on for the upcoming season.”
