YFS
Celtic Juniors’ impressive fight was just short of the mark as Syngenta Juveniles stole the show late in this Scottish Cup semi final.
The struggle to break the deadlock did not come easy for either team in an end-to-end clash dominated by midfield battles and strong displays from both goalkeepers. All three goals came in the second half with an unfortunate own goal from Celtic being the first, the fight was not over when Celtic’s Mark McBeth slotted home a crucial equaliser which looked to be the action that took the game to extra time before a late piece of magic from Syngenta’s Jake Coulter.
Celtic kicked the game off, both teams displaying aggression and creativity straight from the whistle. Chances on goal were slim in the first quarter with most of the play dominating around the midfield areas.
On the 10th minute Syngenta were granted the first corner of the game from a strong tackle by Celtic’s Joseph McKenna – there was no break in the defence as the ball was cleared up-field and onto Celtic’s offense, which proved to become a trend of end-to-end football in the game. After a marginally offside claim which looked to be a goal-scoring opportunity for Syngenta, they pushed on with the momentum and in the 15th minute looked to open the scoring again with a series of 1-2s and slick movement pioneered by Grant Forrester but a strong catch from Celtic’s goalkeeper pacified the situation.
It did not take long for Celtic to retaliate when a run and long range shot from McBeth pushed Syngenta on their heels after marginally going over the bar. Breaks in both teams’ midfield were becoming more apparent as the box-to-box chances began to pick up nearing the 20th minute. A great display of passing witnessed Coulter curling the ball just round the post, which was sharply added to by a Syngetna punt from the goalkeeper which Coulter again acted upon forcing a corner. From the corner Celtic counter-attacked which saw the ball land at McBeth’s feet as he put a worthy effort just past the far post.
Approaching half time close calls came fast from Celtic’s Kieran Douglas, McBeth, Ronan Fox and a remarkable run from Robbie Lennon which watched him go past three defenders and force Allan Dickson into tipping the ball to the left of the goal and it echoed around in the Guy Meadow stand that it would take something out of the ordinary to separate these two strongly matched teams.