YFS
The two sides met in a sunny Springfield for a 12pm kick off in Division B of the Under 14 Central Scotland FDL. Celtic kicked off the encounter, but it was Jerviston who were quickly on the front foot, pressing the Celtic defence high up the pitch hoping for a mistake. They forced one in the second minute when confusion in the defence led to the ball falling to Tony Mullen in the box, but the strikers near post shot was easily saved by Blair McKay.
However, a minute later Mullen did not make the same mistake capitalising on another Celtic defensive mistake to pick up the ball, drive goalward and smash past a helpless McKay. In the 7th minute Mullen scored his second of the game when he was well found rushing through the middle of the pitch on a Jerviston counter attack. He then managed to hold off his marker and retain his composure to slot the ball into the bottom left hand corner.
A minute later Celtic almost halved the deficit when Aidan Gallagher’s through ball found Sharo Abdullah on the counter attack. However, he was only able to get a flick on the ball, after being pressured by a combination of defender and goalkeeper, and his shot was scooped up by Dominic Leary.
As the first half progressed Celtic began to dominate proceedings with their beautiful Tiki-Taka style, with Jerviston looking to counter from a Celtic mistake with their high intensity pressing. Celtic’s pressure nearly paid off in the 32nd minute, when a free-kick found Robbie Neill in the box, but his attempt was well saved by Leary. Soon after that chance the referee blew the half time whistle, with Jerviston going into the interval 2-0 up.