RANGERS B fell to defeat in the City of the Glasgow Cup as Celtic B ran out 3-1 winners this afternoon.
Despite a strong opening 45 minutes, the Light Blues found themselves 3-0 behind inside 15 second half minutes as a double from Joey Dawson and a Mackenzie Carse strike put the away side in a commanding position.
Ross McCausland reduced the arrears for the Gers with a quarter of an hour to play but, despite further chances for the home side, they were left empty-handed on the day.
There was a mix of youth and experience in the Gers side as John Souttar and Ridvan Yilmaz were handed starts in order to build up minutes following their return from injury.
There wasn’t much to separate the sides in the opening exchanges, although the Gers were entering the final third more frequently as Ridvan showed nimble footwork to drive inside off the left and fire a shot goalwards that Bosun Lawal cleared to safety.
The Turkish international was called into defensive action only moments later, reading Ben Quinn’s cut-back after the Celtic winger sprung the offside trap and looked to square the ball across the six-yard box.
Robbie Ure then went close to breaking the deadlock for the Light Blues on 14 minutes. After a promising sequence of playing involving Zak Lovelace and Ross McCausland down the right, Adam Devine fizzed a cross that squirmed its way to the far post where Ure could only dig his finish into the ground and watch the ball trickle past the post.
It was end-to-end action for a spell before the 20th minute mark. John Souttar made a terrific sliding block to deny Ben Summers as the midfielder unleashed at goal from the edge of the penalty area, before Lovelace fed McCausland but, after the Northern Irishman did well to manufacture the space for a shot, he could only divert his strike straight into the grateful arms of Josh Clarke.
Rangers were able to sustain a period of possession on 23 minutes, pinning Celtic into their own half by moving the ball quickly around midfield. Lovelace subsequently peeled into the left channel to receive a pass before laying the ball back to Bailey Rice at the edge of the penalty area whose curling strike narrowly evaded the far post.
The away side created a moment of danger just minutes later as Ben McPherson’s cross looked destined to reach Joey Dawson from point-blank range before Souttar intervened to good effect with a clearing header.
The Gers were defending their penalty box to tremendous effect when required and it was Adam Devine on this occasion who denied Quinn the opportunity to head home following a deep cross from the right. The ball fell then to the edge of the penalty area for Mackenzie Carse to strike, but the Celtic midfielder could not keep his shot under the crossbar.
Rice showed impressive vision moments before the interval to pick out Charlie Lindsay who had broke beyond the Celtic defensive line and into the danger area. The Northern Irishman looked primed to open the scoring for the Light Blues from close range, only to miscue his finish and allow Clarke to collect the loose ball.
The home side rung the changes at the interval as Connor Allan, Lewis MacKinnon and Robbie Fraser replaced Ridvan, Souttar and Devine.
However, the Light Blues suffered a setback less than 60 seconds after the restart as Dawson turned home a cross from the left for Celtic to break the deadlock.
The Gers were still in the midst of regaining their composure when they fell further behind in the contest. MacKinnon turned Quinn’s initial cross away from the danger area, but the ball fell invitingly for Carse to strike a powerful effort into the bottom corner to double the away side’s advantage.
Lovelace and Ure dovetailed effectively just moments later as Rangers looked to immediately halve the deficit, although Lawal intervened for Celtic as the latter looked to pull the trigger inside the penalty area.
The visitors stretched their advantage even further just beyond the hour mark when Dawson reacted first from a Summers corner that travelled through a crowd of bodies to finish beyond Budinauckas.
There was still time for the Gers to haul themselves back into the game, going close through Fraser after the full-back played an intricate give-and-go with Lindsay on the edge of the penalty area.
The goal that the Gers were striving for to offer a glimmer of hope arrived with 15 minutes remaining. Fraser broke quickly down the left and relayed a pass inside to McCausland in a dangerous area; the attacker turned towards goal and curled a sumptuous strike into the bottom corner that left the Celtic goalkeeper with no chance.
Rangers then almost engineered a second goal of the afternoon to make the final ten minutes even more interesting. Ure did tremendously to pinch the ball inside the Celtic penalty area, teeing up Lovelace who could only watch his finish drag wide of the post.
The Light Blues certainly weren’t allowing their heads to drop despite the size of the task as the dangerous McCausland drew a fine save from Clarke at his near post after manufacturing space for a shot on his left side.
Ure was next to go close for Rangers, firing into the side netting in stoppage time as the referee blew for full-time minutes later to draw the match to a close.
The young Gers will now shift their attention towards Saturday afternoon’s visit to Edinburgh University in the Lowland League.
RANGERS B: Budinauckas, Devine (Allan, 45), Souttar (MacKinnon, 45), King, Ridvan (Fraser, 45), Rice, Lindsay (Stevens, 70), Lyall, McCausland, Lovelace, Ure
Subs not used: Pazikas, Strachan, Graham
CELTIC B: Clarke, McPherson, Anderson, Lawal, Robertson, Carse, Brooks (Dede, 79), Summers (Kelly, 63), Dawson, Letsosa, Quinn (Thomson, 70)
Subs not used: Morrison, MacKenzie, Murphy, Cummings