Old Firm stars of the future impress in City of Glasgow Cup tie as Celtic B and Rangers B play out entertaining 1-1 draw

There were plenty of future stars on show at the Penny Cars Stadium when Celtic B and Rangers B played out a thrilling 1-1 draw in the City of Glasgow Cup behind closed doors on Saturday.

It was the first meeting of the campaign between the two colts sides and both sets of talented youngsters served up a fascinating contest full of goalmouth action.

Both goals came in the second half with Charlie McCann’s stunning long-range opener cancelled out by MacKenzie Carse’s low strike from the edge of the box.

After dismantling League One outfit Clyde 9-0 in their previous cup tie last Tuesday, Rangers B team boss David McCallum felt his side didn’t reach the levels they have become accustomed to in recent months.

He said: “It was probably below the levels that they have set. Obviously out most recent game against Clyde was quite a dominant performance, but we didn’t start at those levels today.

“That was one of the key messages at half-time, we had to be more aggressive to get on the front foot. We created enough opportunities, but we never took any of those.

“Our quality was the bit that let us down. You’ve got to take yourself to another level in an Old Firm game. I just think we were too slow to get to that point at the start of the game.

“The boys are frustrated but we need to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. We’ve got two games against (Celtic) in the Lowland League coming up.

“We know enough about each other to understand what each team are likely to be like. We believe that we have more levels to reach within our performances.”

Both teams named strong starting XI’s with a sprinkling of first-team players involved. Rangers had fringe men Cedric Itten, Mateusz Zukowski, Alex Lowry and Leon King in action, while Celtic featured Karamoko Dembele, Owen Moffat, Joey Dawson and Ben Doak in their line-up, all having sampled involvement in the Hoops senior side this season.

The match began at a furious tempo on the artificial surface and Celtic enjoyed a positive start with the lively Dembele on the left flank posing the Gers backline problems with his pace and trickery.

The 19-year-old picked out Doak after just three minutes but his shot was well saved by Lewis Budinauckas in the visitors goal.

Dembele then struck the crossbar before Owen Moffat had an effort deflected but failed to get the necessary power on the follow up to test the Light Blues keeper.

It had been a frantic end-to-end first-half and Tobi Oluwayemi was called into action to deny Itten on 37 minutes after the Swiss striker held off two Celtic defenders inside the box before firing straight at the keeper.

Celtic’s front-three linked up to good effect once again just before the interval as Doak displayed some clever footwork before sending a low ball across the six-yard area. Dawson flicked it on to Dembele but the winger’s strike flew inches wide of the post.

Rangers posed a greater attacking threat in the second half with Ross McCausland carving out a chance after 48 minutes but his shot across the face of goal flashed narrowly wide of the target.

The deadlock was broken just two minutes later after Celtic lost possession midway inside their own half, allowing Charlie McCann to break forward before unleashing a powerful drive past Oluwayemi into the top corner of the net.

However, the Hoops responded well to falling behind and were back on level terms after 62 minutes.

Centre-back Bosun Lawal, making his first appearance in three months, picked out MacKenzie Carse with a perfectly-weighted pass and the midfielder curled a low shot past the outstretched keeper into the bottom corner.

Both sides continued to press for a late winner and Celtic substitute Rocco Vata sent a dangerous ball across the box, which Dawson agonisingly failed to connect with at the back post, denying the former Scunthorpe United frontman a certain tap-in.

At the opposite end, full-back Adam Devine was thwarted by Oluwayemi as the former Tottenham academy shot-stopper secured a third consecutive draw in the competition for Celtic B.

Manager Tommy McIntyre admitted: “Rangers are a good side and we knew their strengths and weaknesses.

“We’ve always given youth a chance, our two full-backs are just 16-years-old, but if they’re good enough then they’re old enough.

“Playing in the Lowland League has been really good for us but the players didn’t need much encouragement to get up for a game like this against our rivals. It had a different edge to it.”

Celtic B: Oluwayemi, Dede, MacKenzie, Lawal, Murray, Carse, Doak (Letsosa; 73), Summers (Ure; 93), Dawson, Moffat (Vata; 73), Dembele

Unused: Morrison (GK), Corr, Easton, Davidson

Rangers B: Budinauckas, Devine, Fraser, King, McClelland, Zukowski, Lowry (Ritchie-Hosler; 79), McKinnon, Itten (Weston; 45), McCann, McCausland (Lyall; 67)

Unused: Cervantes (GK), Miller, Strachan, McInally

Referee: Ross Birrell

GlasgowWorld Man of the Match: Ben Summers (Celtic)