YFS
Celtic moved three points clear of second placed St. Johnstone, with a comfortable performance over Hearts in a wet and blustery Dumbarton. The young Celts went ahead through a first half tap-in from Fiacre Kelleher and a second half goal from substitute Regan Hendry.
Celtic coach Tommy McIntyre made five changes to the eleven that faced Kilmarnock. Out went Bailly, Hill, Hendry, Archibald and Tierney, who started against Dundee United on Sunday. Into the starting eleven came Fasan, Waters, McCalum, Miller and Scott Allan.
For the visitors, six changes were made to the side that were beaten 1-0 by St. Johnstone. There was no start for Mason, Smith, Reid, Reilly, Zanatta and Belgian, Arnaud Djoun, after making his first team debut on Saturday. Filling their shoes were Gallagher, Henderson, Baxter, McLean, Moore and Soufian El Hassnaoui.
Hearts got the proceedings under way when Ian Smith sent a twenty yard free kick over the Celtic wall and the goal. Celtic then countered with several Aidan Nesbitt balls into the Hearts penalty area to which the Jambos coped well. That was until a free kick was delivered for Celtic captain Fiacre Kelleher to rise above the defence, but only manage to head over.
Against the run of play, Robbie Buchanan shot from fifteen yards and Leonardo Fasan was unable to hold. The ball trickled toward the line, but Calum Waters was quickly on scene to clear before Hearts tapped in. Celtic broke from the clearance, the ball was played wide to Calvin Miller who then skewed a shot wide from fifteen yards.
Nesbitt once more opened up the visitors defence with a great ball through to Jack Breslin. He stormed in toward goal but was successfully tackled just short of the goal line. The Celts then went one up from an Allan free kick, the ball was played into the penalty area for Breslin to touch on toward the near post, and Kelleher was on hand to touch in.
Celtic continued to dominate with their slick passing game, with Nesbitt contributing greatly to the effort, but they couldn’t find a route through the well organised Hearts defence.
