YFS
National Competitions (588)
Bayern snatch win from Celtic's grasp in heart-breaking climax
Written by David WaltonCeltic’s Under 20s produced a stirring performance that came so close to beating Bayern Munich, but ultimately succumbed to a 2-1 defeat at Cappielow.
Jack Aitchison had seized on a loose ball inside the Munich penalty area to fire the young Celts 1-0 in front, but a terrific late double from wonder-kid Oliver Batista-Meier turned the game around for the Bavarians.
The Hoops produced a spirited performance in Munich despite a 6-2 defeat at the Bayern Campus, and they once again started brightly in this one.
They were eager to play out from the back early on, similarly to Celtic’s first-team, and they were confident in this approach. Young Calvin Miller saw a lot of the ball early on, and despite being under pressure from a high Bayern press, the hosts kept their composure in their defensive third.
Ewan Henderson was so impressive two weeks ago in Munich, and he bombed Celtic forward with purpose at times in Cappielow. He forced Ron Hofmann into his first save with a stinging effort from 20 yards out that was well held.
Miller then came close when he collected a Johnston cross at the back post, but his toe poke towards goal was deflected wide for a corner.
It took Bayern 25 minutes to have a meaningful effort at goal, and even then it was from a set-piece. A free-kick was crossed into the area for Felix Gotze to power a header on goal, but Ryan Mullen parried well before gathering.
Celtic’s best bet of a goal still looked from Mikey Johnston. The left-winger has been lauded for his performances in the UEFA Youth League, and had appeared twice for the senior side. He was giving Josip Stanisic a torrid time, but the final ball just wasn’t there.
Another who impressed in the first half was Regan Hendry. His driving runs cause Bayern’s back-line all sorts of problems, and drew a bunch of fouls down the right that led to set-piece chances.
Aitchison and Kerr McInroy both had efforts before the break, but neither troubled Hofmann as Bayern held on until the break.
Killie strike three past Spartans to reach fourth round
Written by David RonneyKilmarnock were on form on Sunday afternoon as a brace from Alex Samizadeh and a goal from Daniel Scally was enough to beat Spartans on their own turf. The side in blue and white progress into the fourth round of the Scottish FA Youth Cup.
Five minutes into the match Spartans had a good chance to take the lead. Cameron Dawson turned past the defender on the left side, getting a shot away on the edge of the box. However, Killie keeper, Curtis Lyle saved the effort at the near post.
Not so long after Spartans were on the attack again. Dawson involved himself in an attacking effort once again as he headed the ball onto Oliver Hetherington who was through on goal on the left-hand side. However, pressure from the opposition defence forced the player to take the ball out of play, unable to get a shot away at goal.
Despite the game being fairly even for the opening quarter of the match, it was the penalty decision that changed the game as Samizadeh was taken out from behind in the penalty box as a cross was played in. The fouled player stepped up to the spot and slotted the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal, the keeper diving the opposite way as Killie went ahead in the 28th minute.
Moments later, Kilmarnock doubled their lead after a good team effort in the 31st minute. Josh Jeffries played in Samizadeh on the right side who burst down the wing with pace. The goalscorer then sent a cross to Scally in the left side of the penalty area, bouncing off his chest and into the net.
5 star Hillwood BC into 4th round of Scottish Youth FA Cup.
Written by Iain ProudfootHillwood Boys Club moved into the 4th Round of the Scottish Youth FA Cup with victory over Ferry Athletic at Dawson Park. Four goals in the second-half proved the difference with the Glasgow side moving one step closer to Cup glory.
As is usually the case with knock-out football the match began with both sides cancelling each other out and few clear cut chances being created. The first real opening came for the away side when a good delivery from Lewis Cannon almost picked out the onrushing Cameron Kelly at the back post. Ferry also began to find joy going forward and were ahead on the 9th minute, Jack Moir flicking the ball into the path of Owen Boath who stabbed the ball into the net.
Hillwood responed well to the set-back and found themselves level 6 minutes later, a looping cross from Kieran McCrory's free-kick found Aiden McCann and he made no mistake nodding past the keeper.
Ferry looked to restore their and immeditly began pressuring the Hillwood backline, Moir brought out a good save by Archie Dickson and Liam Scott fired an effort over the bar.
With the half drawing to a close it was Hillwoods turn to excert pressure and almost finished the half in front, Aayan Ali forcing a solid stop by Lewis Burns.
Hamilton show clinical edge to beat Falkirk in Youth Cup clash.
Written by David WaltonA real ding-dong encounter between Hamilton and Falkirk ended in a 4-2 win for Accies at the SuperSeal Stadium in the Scottish Youth Cup.
A brace from Ross Cunningham added to strikes from Marc Kelly and Ryan Tierney for Hamilton, whilst Falkirk twice got themselves back on level terms through Kevin O’Hara and Reis Peggie.
Hamilton came into the match on the back of a confidence-boosting 3-0 home win against Dundee United in the Development League, with memories of their terrific 4-2 win over Queen’s Park in Round two still fresh in the mind.
For Falkirk, they came into the game on the back of two games without a win. A 1-0 home defeat to Motherwell was followed up by a 1-1 draw in Dundee – leaving the Bairns looking to the Youth Cup to springboard league success.
The game had hardly settled before Hamilton stormed into an early advantage. Leon McCann was showing great energy down the left early on, and after reaching the by-line within minutes of kick-off, his low cross saw an initial effort parried by Robbie Mutch, before Marc Kelly turned in the rebound.
Hamilton looked buoyed by their early start, and were winning the aerial duels impressively in the final third through Kelly and the impressive Ryan Tierney.
Falkirk stuck to their principles however, and after an early wave of pressure from Accies, the Bairns started to play it out from the back. Falkirk used their passing game to good effect as the half wore on, as they grew in confidence and started using the flanks.
Marky Munro and Mark Stow were combining well down the left, with Stow in particular looking like he could create something.
A few crosses into the penalty area troubled Hamilton as Falkirk turned the screw. Firstly, a corner was controlled by Mark Finlayson, who hooked over the bar on with an over-head effort. Then, moments later, a deep cross to the far post from Reis Peggie found Conor Langton waiting, but his header was sent over.
A goal was coming with Falkirk in control of the ball, and it was no surprise when they equalised through Kevin O’Hara. The Bairns won an aerial duel in the midfield, with Jason Jarvis flicking a ball through for O’Hara to run onto. He strode forward with confidence to bury a low effort past the helpless Alex Marshall.
Credit must go to Hamilton for how they responded to the Falkirk goal. After surviving an initial flurry of counter-attacks, Accies grabbed control of the midfield and started winning the 50-50s.
With 10 minutes to go until the end of the half, Hamilton’s pressure started with a patient move around the Falkirk box, with Ross Cunningham firing wide from outside the area.
This led to a late siege of pressure in the first 45 from the hosts, as a Cunningham effort was blocked in the box, before Tierney’s clever glancing header was saved spectacularly from Mutch.
Accies had the ball in the net twice in the final five minutes of the half, both being put in by Lewis Ferguson. Firstly, the youngster lashed home a rebound but was adjudged to have fouled Mutch, before beating the Falkirk goalkeeper in an aerial duel and once again being penalised for it.
Raith Rovers into next round of Youth Cup after seeing out Inverurie Loco Works
Written by Ryan McNeilInjuries and suspensions meant both sides were down to the bare bones, with the Dundee West team line only featuring 12 names, while Kennoway had just 13 players available. The hosts weren’t helped when midfielder Jude McIntosh was lost to injury inside the opening five minutes.
Both sides struggled to get a foothold in the game early on, with play being stopped regularly for niggling fouls from both sets of players. Dundee West got their first sight of goal after 17 minutes when Callum Rae looped a cross over the Kennoway defence into Cavan McLaren, but he could only send his shot straight at Craig Doctor.
Kennoway should have opened the scoring just after the half hour mark when Rudy Bou was sent in behind the Dundee West defence, but he sliced his effort horribly wide with only David Boylan to beat.
Bou would make amends for passing up this opportunity less than a minute later, as he opened the scoring from close range. Dylan Walker’s shot was saved by Boylan, but the ball eventually broke across the face of goal, where Bou was waiting to finish past the defender on the line from a matter of yards out.
Boylan denied Bou a second on the stroke of half time, when he smothered the striker’s effort from a tight angle.
Fife ease to victory over SISFA in National Trophy
Written by Jack Millar & Matthew McDonaldGullan shines as Hibs edge past East Kilbride in Youth Cup
Written by Jamie BraidwoodJamie Gullan lit up Easter Road with two goals and an eye-catching display as Hibernian overcame East Kilbride in the third round of the Scottish Youth Cup.
Gullan’s goals either side of half-time, the first a well-struck free kick and the second an instinctive finish, were enough to secure victory over a resilient East Kilbride side, who replied through Jay McInally in first-half stoppage time.
“It was just about the result today,” said Gullan afterwards. “We didn’t play our best but we got what we wanted so we’re all happy.
“They were difficult to break down and were right in our faces from the start. We just had to keep passing the ball to find space. In the end two goals were enough.”
From the start, it was clear that the 18-year-old was Hibs’ biggest threat. His speed on the ball allowed him to beat his full-back every time, and drive forward into the space.
The visitors were surely aware of the danger, but there wasn’t much they could do about it. In the 26th minute Gullan again turned at halfway and ran at the East Kilbride defenders, who hauled him down on the edge of the box. Undeterred, Gullan picked himself up and curled a sublime shot up, over the wall, and into the far corner.
“I practice free-kicks in training,” Gullan said. “I want to step up and take them and I fancied my chances.”
East Kilbride continued to sit in, and were fortunate not fall further behind just before the break. From a corner, goalkeeper Kieran Bell was forced into making a save on the line. His palmed effort only went as far as Hibs striker Ruairi Paton, who, from under the bar, couldn’t keep his header down.
Hibs were perhaps a little too comfortable, and the equaliser came from a complete lapse in concentration. Defender Josh Campbell was under no pressure at all, but his back-pass to keeper Maciej Dabrowski was woefully under-hit. East Kilbride forward Gavin Millar burst onto the loose ball but was smothered by Dabrowski. Instead, it broke to McInally, who poked the ball over the line from the edge of the box.
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Ruthless Bayern put six past hard-working Celtic
Written by David WaltonCeltic ultimately came up short against a ruthless Bayern Munich side in the UEFA Youth League on Wednesday night.
Mikey Johnston impressed the Bayern fans who turned up to watch their youngsters with his directness and ability to reach the by-line consistently. However, Munich proved to have the all-round better quality in the final third.
Goals from Johnston and Ewan Henderson wasn’t enough to halt Bayern, with a Manuel Weintzheimer brace adding to goals from Frank Evina, Felix Gotze, Marin Pudic, and an own goal from Robbie Deas.
Celtic started confidently and looked threatening down the left-hand side. Henderson and Johnston were combining effectively, and a couple of cut-backs in the box failed to be controlled by Aitchison.
The bright start followed by some Munich pressure. The Bavarians looked threatening whenever Batista Meier or Meritan Shabani got on the ball. Some early openings for both Pudic and Shabani were easily gathered by Ryan Mullen.
The young Hoops weren’t afraid to play out from the back, showing a composure in defence when playing out that is symbolic of the way Brendan Rodgers has his senior side playing.
Yet Bayern showed their ruthless streak midway through the first-half, with Celtic not covering themselves in glory at the back.
Firstly, the powerful Evina picked the ball up on the right, cut inside, and saw his effort spin off the unfortunate Calvin Miller and into the far corner.
The lead was doubled when a deep free-kick from Shabani found Gotze, and despite having chances to clear their lines, the Hoops defence allowed Gotze time to slot it past Mullen.
Meier and Wintzheimer both came close with efforts in the box, but when it looked as though Celtic would finish the half strongly through Johnston’s directness – Bayern extended their lead.
A long diagonal ball to Meier was brilliantly controlled – taking it past Duffy with his first touch. He slid it past Mullen before the back-tracking Daes could only knock it into his own net when trying to clear.
Maryhill Juniors clinched a place in the third round of the Scottish Cup after coming from behind to beat Cambuslang Football Academy at Lochburn Park.
Both sides received byes into the second round of this competition and aimed to reach the third round on the journey to the final in Airdrie. Despite the prize on offer, neither side could force a goal in the opening forty-five minutes.
Nonchalant Notre Dame beat Broomhill to progress in the Scottish Cup
Written by Lewis MoynihanFour goals in the second half were enough to send Notre Dame SA into the third round of the Scottish Cup at the expense of their Glasgow and District Youth Football League Division 2 rivals Broomhill SC.
The game was the second time the two sides have met this season with their previous match in the league ending a 9-1 away win to Notre Dame SA. This confidence showed at the beginning of the match with Notre Dame dominating the early exchanges at a wet Coatbridge Sports Center.
Their domination soon paid off when they created the first chance of the game, in the 2nd minute, Jude Carroll had the ball fizzed into him at the edge of the box but his shot was well saved by Arron Purba to keep the scores level. Two minutes later another chance came to Notre Dame this time Shay McKenna got in behind the Broomhill defence but his shot rattled off the crossbar and was eventually cleared.
The Broomhill defence held their line after this and either caught the Notre Dame attack offside or Purba was always quick off his line to clear and play the “sweeper keeper” role. This resulted in the Notre Dame attackers being forced to shoot from distance. A tactic which nearly worked when, in the 10th minute, Joshua Harvie found Ross Condy on the edge of the box but the ever reliable Purba was more than equal to the effort.
It took until the 16th minute from Broomhill to get their first chance of the match when tricky winger Charlie Lawson burst through on goal and rounded Nathan Dawson but his shot was cleared in the box by a back-tracking Notre Dame defender.
A minute later saw arguably the best chance of the half with Carroll rounding Purba and finding Jamie Mulvaney in the box but his shot was cleared off the line. The rest of the half saw each defence cancelling out the other team’s attackers and the first half ended goalless.
Tynecastle cruise past Kirkfield United Red in Scottish Cup
Written by Jamie ByrneGoals from; Arin Tuncay, Bailey Simmons, Gary Robertson, Somina Dublin-Green, Stephen Watson and Josh Ferguson helped Tynecastle cruise into the third round of the Scottish Youth FA Cup.
A smart finish from Tuncay in the early minutes of the match helped Tynecastle get off to a flyer. Moments later, Simmons doubled the tally for the day by showing some great composure to fire it past Kirkfield keeper Cameron Dickie.
Robertson was unlucky not to get Tynecastle’s third in the 15th minute as his powerful shot went just wide of the post. A minute later Dickie pulled off another save to prevent a third. This time from goal scorer Tuncay, in the 16th minute.
After a failed clearance from a corner from the visitors. Robertson skipped past two defenders and floated the ball into the top right corner at the edge of the box to give Tynecastle their third for the day in the 21st minute. Daniel Deya’s long range effort just went over the bar in the 23rd minute.
Kirkfield had their first clear cut chance of the day as the visitors charged forward on a quick counter attack and ended in Tynecastle keeper Fraser Taylor denying Kirkfield attacker Jack Hamilton a goal back. From a close ranged effort in the 25th minute.
However, Dublin-Green ended what was any potential first half comeback from Kirkfield after he converted the ball into the net after multiple deflections and failed clearances in the 32nd minute of the game, giving Tynecastle their fourth of the day. As well as being the climax of what was a very dominant first half performance from the home side.