Celtic gain late revenge in Glasgow Cup classic

CELTICU20

RANGERS U20

Middleton 77, 86

3

Aitchison 19, Johnston 38, Deas 90

2

Celtic gained revenge for their Scottish Youth Cup final defeat by Rangers just five days previously by beating their traditional foes 3-2 in the under-20 City of Glasgow Cup final.

Both sides included a number of the under-18 players who had starred at Hampden with the higher age limit in this competition also allowing Celtic to include Michael Johnston and Rangers to list Glenn Middleton.

Both first-teamers made an impact in another rollercoaster of a contest but it was Celtic defender Robbie Deas, who has been on loan at Cowdenbeath, who was the cup-winner deep into injury time.

Celtic took the lead on 19 minutes when striker Jack Aitchison accepted skipper Stephen Welsh’s pass and evaded two tackles before firing home.

An equaliser almost came 11 minutes later when Jamie Barjonas let fly from 25 yards but his effort smacked off the bar.

Barjonas was cautioned for a foul on Aitchison on 38 minutes and his offence led to a goal with Johnston cracking the free-kick into the net from 19 yards.

Middleton restored parity with two great strikes in the final 13 minutes as he first fired past Ryan Mullen from the edge of the box before sending a thunderous drive from 30 yards into the net via the underside of the bar with four minutes left.

Reece Breen missed a great opportunity to complete Rangers’ recovery when he scuffed his shot and Celtic made the most of that reprieve with Deas volleying in the decisive goal five minutes into added on time.