Glasgow Cup
Newlandsfield Park, Shawlands
Tuesday February 22, 2022

QUEEN’S PARK… 3
(Darcy 7, Thomson 18, Williamson 37)

CELTIC B…3
(Dawson 1, Dembele 59, Letsosa 89)

Celtic B came from 3-1 down to earn a draw against Queen’s Park in the Glasgow Cup - with a showstopping late equaliser from Tsoanelo Letsosa at the home of Pollok Juniors.

The Bhoys gave the host side a shock when Joey Dawson took advantage of a lapse of judgement from Jacques Heraghty, stealing the ball off the young keeper and scoring within the first minute.

But the Spiders didn’t take long to redeem themselves, levelling the scores in the seventh minute through Ronan Darcy.

Dawson had another opportunity on the quarter-hour mark when he ran on to Dylan Corr’s lofted ball and was one-on-one with the keeper, but Heraghty was able to block the attempt.

Just 18 minutes in, the home team were awarded a penalty after Dane Murray tried to clear the ball from Oluwayemi’s initial save, taking down an opposition player, and Jack Thomson scored from the spot to put his team ahead.

The match looked as though it had settled after half-an-hour of end-to-end action. But a ball played over the top found Scott Williamson who slotted the ball past the Celtic goalkeeper, giving the SPFL League 1 outfit a two-goal advantage.

Magnus MacKenzie replaced Corr at the break as a half-time pep-talk and change of tactics saw more long balls played, which began to change the game for the Celts.

The Bhoys had a big opportunity in the 55th minute when Karamoko Dembele skilfully brought the ball into the box, but his chance was saved well by Heraghty.

In the 59th minute, Dembele was taken down in the box as the Queen’s Park defenders struggled to deal with the birthday Bhoy. Dembele smashed the resultant penalty into the top right-hand corner and make it a 19^th birthday to remember.

A picked-up back-bass by the Queen’s Park keeper resulted in an indirect free-kick in the box for Celtic. Dembele’s shot was blocked but the young side almost scored from the subsequent corner.

Another two changes for Celtic gave them more freshness to keep searching for a third goal. Letsosa and Rocco Vata replaced Owen Moffat and Adam Brooks.

Substitute, Ben Doak showed off his pace down the right-side of the soggy pitch, and in the 80th minute almost assisted Dembele but the chance was saved.

Celtic’s character and resilience was rewarded in the 89th minute when Letsosa’s shot from range flew into the top left corner taking the scoreline to 3-3.

CELTIC: Oluwayemi, Dede, Paterson, Murray, Corr (MacKenzie), Carse, Dembele, Summers, Dawson (Doak), Moffat (Letsosa), Brooks (Vata).
Subs: Easton, Morrison, Ure.

Match Reaction

Resilient B team fight back to earn draw against Queen’s Park