Gothenburg Celtic FC - BK Bifrost;Omgång 13, 2012-09-08

Gothenburg Celtic 1-2 BK Bifrost

If the Celtic had been superb in their last outing, a 4 -0 win over second placed Prolaterean, they were certainly very ordinary in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat against a gritty BK Bifrost side. Perhaps Bifrost decided to employ some questionable gamesmanship tactics throughout the match after seeing Celtic tear Proletäran apart, but they shouldn’t have bothered, as the Celts were lacking in quality throughout.There were few signs of the frustration the sell-out home crowd would have to endure early on though, as Adrian Millerick gave the hosts a 10th minute lead. A ball over the top sent Johannes Haglund away, and after toying with the visitor’s defence, Haglund eventually cut the ball back for a grateful Millerick to poke home.
The visitors had come with a plan to dominate possession and play some flowing football. Although they were knocking the ball around well, GC were finding it easy to get in behind their defence, and perhaps should’ve gone on to assert their advantage further.The passing, pressing, positive attitude and endeavor of last week’s match wasn’t there though, and to make matters worse a few of the boys were losing their cool despite being 1-0 up. To be fair to Adrian Kelly and Millerick, who both received lengthy tellings off from the referee, some of the visitor’s side were pushing their luck with their off the ball misdemeanors. Video replays later showed Kelly having his ears pulled while waiting for a free kick, and Millerick being tripped off the ball, but the ref chose to ignore the complaints of the Celtic players.It was only a handful of the visitor’s side that resorted to such low tactics, while the rest set about getting back into the game properly. And they did just that midway through the first half as a corner was headed home at the back post. It was a very sloppy goal for Celtic to concede, especially when you consider the hoops are normally very adept at defending set plays. But not this time – so 1-1 at half time with it all to play for.

Despite causing more than a few problems for the visitors in the first half, Celtic looked tired and short of ideas in the second. Often outnumbered in the centre of the park, Bifrost began to assert their control. Haglund still had moments of potential and Moroccan international Khalid El Ouardi looked lively, but in truth the football wasn’t easy on the eye. Goalkeeper Julien San-Jose was doing his part though to keep things interesting.The opportunity to go for the winning goal wasn’t taken, and a frustrated Sean Garrett looked fairly pissed off on the sidelines as the visitors grabbed a 2-1 lead after the hour mark. The in-form Celtic now had a real fight on their hands. Battling and never giving up is definitely a GC trademark though, and the hosts came close to equalizing late on, but both Kelly and Haglund were denied by Bifrost’s keeper.The game finished 2-1 to Bifrost, but not before the visitors again let themselves down in the sportsmanship stakes when one of their number tried to throw a plucky Barry White into the railings at the side of the pitch. Baz didn’t take kindly to this gesture, and squared up to their man. It didn’t take long for their clown like travelling fans to come on the pitch and get involved, but in the end it was just handbags from the visitors and their ‘ultras’.Handbags could also be a way to describe the Celtic performance, and although the referee didn’t give the boys anything, the performance simply didn’t merit any reward.
So, a disappointing day when you consider a repeat of last week’s performance and application would’ve seen us surely come home with the three points. Not the end of the world though, lets recover, make ourselves available, and finish the season on a high with a few more wins.

Match Report: Adrian Mellerick