Hoops XI beaten in Belfast clash

14 October 2009 09:31
Scannell almost completed his hat-trick in the second half, however his header hit the woodwork and fell to Ciaran Caldwell to fire home and complete a comfortable night for the hosts. Celtic had flown to Northern Ireland to help the Reds celebrate their 130th anniversary and had former Northern Ireland international Neil Lennon in charge for the occasion. The former Hoops midfielder had few first-team names at his disposal, however, with Barry Robson, Koki Mizuno and Zheng Zhi the most recognisable. And the visitors produced a below-par performance as they fell two goals behind in the opening half hour. Scannell got his first after 21 minutes when he glanced in a cross from his brother Ronan. Reds goalkeeper John Connolly did well to keep out Paul McGowan's looping effort soon after before Scannell got his second on the half hour when he again profited from a cross from his sibling. Celtic never looked like pulling back the deficit and were 3-0 behind on the hour when the impressive Caldwell fired in from close range after Scannell's effort hit the crossbar.

Source: Team_Talk