On a chilly Sunday afternoon the two young sides served a great tie that warmed up all the spectators at the park.  Celtic Juniors were able to come out on top in a deserved win which sees them through to the Semi-Final draw where they will fear nobody.

Juniors started the better of the two sides and were able to stay on top for the majority of the opening half, in truth.  The home side took the lead with the first attack of the match as their striker McBeth got on the end of a through ball.  The attacker stayed strong and was able to drill his effort under the opposition keeper and into the back of the net.

Juniors’ striker continued to be a threat as he set up team-mate minutes later.  Nice work down the left wing allowed McBeth to find the space to spot Redmond who had drifted from the right hand side and he saw his first time shot saved by Celtic Boys Club’s keeper.

The home side continued to press and were looking likely to score again.  This time a Lennon broke from deep and created some space for himself with a mazy run.  He was 25 yards out from goal and got a left footed shot away but the goalkeeper was equal to the attempt and saved it with ease.

As the half came to an end, Celtic Boys Club began to come into the game.  They were able to carve out their first chance of the match on 34 minutes as Skilling was given the ball on the penalty spot.  He got his shot away but it was a scuffed effort which harmlessly rolled into the keeper’s arms. 

Juniors had the final attack of the half as they broke with pace.  McBeth was involved again as he played a chipped pass to a team-mate who got a shot away which was blocked.  The rebound fell kindly to Juniors who saw Lennon’s good strike directed at goal but goalkeeper, Daniel Farrell produced a good save to keep the deficit at 1.

At half time, the home side, Celtic Juniors were well worth their 1-0 lead.  They were the better side for most of the half and the only downside to their play was that they were not further ahead.  For their guests, they will be happy to only be down by solitary goal at the midway point.  They started slowly but began to assert themselves late on in the half and will look to take that level of performance into the second period.

The second half was a much more even affair in regards to the amount chances the sides created.  Juniors were the first side to have a go in the second half as a quick throw caught the Celtic Boys Club defence sleeping.  The ball was played to Douglar who was 12 yards out but his effort was blazed over the bar.

The visitors were able to then to nearly draw themselves level.  McKinnon played in Young who was just inside the penalty area.  Young’s lobbed effort went over the head of the keeper but finished just wide of the post.

Juniors went on the attack again as they looked to put the tie beyond doubt with time running out.  The home side’s Lennon, who was playing wider now, went on a long run across the park as he moved from the right wing area into a central position.  He was 25 yards out and smashed a left footed effort off the bar with the keeper beaten.

On the hour mark Juniors had a decent shout for a penalty turned down as their attacker was too honest.  He was given the ball on the edge of the area and was able to turn.  A last-ditch challenge came in which got none of the ball but McBeth stayed on his feet, getting a shot away which flew wide of the post.  If he had went down after the challenge he would have won his side a definite penalty.

A couple of minutes later, Juniors got their second of the game.  A lovely lobbed pass was put into the path of Lennon and the attacker was able to drive towards the penalty area.  With the goalkeeper rushing out to meet him, Lennon lobbed the ball over him and it nestled in the back of the net to give his side a 2 goal cushion heading into the final5 minutes of the match.

2 minutes from full time saw a spanner thrown into Juniors’ plans as Celtic Boys Club were able to get a goal to give themselves a chance heading into injury time.  Full-back McCann had pushed forward and was played through with a well weighted through ball.  He got the ball on his left foot and smashed the ball across the goalkeeper – a similar finish to the first goal of this game.

With only 3 minutes added on, Juniors were able to hang on by keeping the ball well and earned their spot in the final four of the competition.