Young Celts narrowly beaten in the Glasgow Cup final

Glasgow Cup final
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
The City Stadium, Glasgow

CELTIC…2
(Cummings 20, Isiguzo 75)

RANGERS…3
(Nsio 14, McKinnon 54, Lovelace 86)

It was a disappointing night for Celtic FC's B-team at the City Stadium in Glasgow’s southside tonight as they lost the Glasgow Cup final against a Rangers B-team which featured a number of first team names.

The young Celts started the brighter of the two teams, and with just under five minutes gone, Kyle Ure sent a nice ball out to the left wing, where Jude Bonnar was lurking.

Bonnar drove forward with the ball, eventually finding space to fire a cross in on top of the keeper, Mason Munn.

Munn had to scramble towards the back post, with Bonnar’s ball looking like it might loop in to the back of the net, but the keeper managed to get a hand to it and touch it away from danger.

Rangers took the lead against the run of play in the 14^th minute, with Findlay Curtis robbing the ball from the toes of Celtic keeper, Aidan Rice. Curtis then picked out Nsio, who was only a few yards out from goal as he tapped it in to the net to give his side the lead.

The Hoops recovered well after the opposition’s opener, and just a few moments later, Francis Turley’s eyes lit up as he fired a good shot towards goal from outside the box. Unfortunately, his effort was deflected just wide of the post, but it was a positive sign that the Celts were on the front foot in the match.

In the 20^th minute, Celtic were rewarded for their strong start to the match as in-form striker Daniel Cummings smashed an effort in to the bottom corner of the net from just inside the box after a bit of confusion amongst the Rangers defence.

Celtic started the second half in the same manner as they had finished the first 45 minutes, on the attack and looking like the more creative side. However it wasn’t long before they found themselves on the back foot again.

In the 54^th minute, Aidan Rice’s save from a dangerous looking cross landed at the feet of Cole McKinnon, who found himself with space just inside the box and he produced a good finish to give his side the lead.

The young Celts continued to press forward and just after the hour mark Francis Turley whipped a dangerous looking ball to the back post from a corner.

It looked like the ball might go in straight from the corner kick, however as it crept beyond the back post, Lenny Agbaire came rushing in and was unlucky not to divert the ball in from the tightest of angles.

With 15 minutes left to play, the Hoops found the equaliser they had been searching for throughout the second half.

Turley picked the ball up on the left wing and drifted a ball over the Rangers defence towards Isiguzo and Cummings who were lurking in the box.

There was some confusion over which of the Bhoys got the final touch on the ball, but replays showed that it was Samuel Isiguzo whose touch had taken it in to the back of the net to make it 2-2.

Isiguzo found himself with another massive opportunity with 83 minutes played when Josh Dede found him in space in the box, however Isiguzo’s strike from 12 yards out went well over the bar and the chance was gone.

It was to be a missed opportunity that the Celts would rue just a few moments later as Zakariya Lovelace used his strength on the edge of the Celtic penalty area to get away from Colby Donovan and fire his side in front for the third time in the match with a decent finish.

That was to be the deciding goal of the match at a cold, rain-soaked City Stadium, and despite the disappointment of not clinching the Glasgow Cup, Stephen McManus and his side will take a lot of pride in how they played, especially against a side which featured a number of first team players.

Next up for Celtic’s B team is a return to Lowland League action as they face University of Stirling at the Albert Bartlett Stadium on Friday night.

CELTIC: Rice, Donovan, Frame, Robertson (C), Agbaire, Ure, Dede, McArdle, Cummings, Turley, Bonnar

Subs: Morrison, Davidson, Bonetig, Kyle, Haddow, Isiguzo, Dobbie

Fixtures

Celtic B Vs. Rangers B - Tue, Dec 17th 2024, 19:00