Aidan Nesbitt has revealed that he renewed his Celtic season ticket before bagging a Hampden hat-trick to lift the Little Big Shots SFA Youth Cup.
The 17-year-old has been a Celtic fan since before he could dribble a ball with his hoops mad family ensuring that he always had a place in Paradise.
A year ago Nesbitt scored the only goal of the game to win the Glasgow Cup but surpassed that last night as Stevie Frail’s side notched up an emphatic 5-2 win.
“Scoring a hat-trick in a cup final against Rangers is an incredible feeling,” he admitted. “I’ve been a Celtic fan all my days and it means everything to be involved in a cup final win at Hampden.
“I renewed my season ticket in the afternoon, I’m in section 144 with my family, so scoring three times in a cup final win is very special, I know what it means to the fans and everyone at the club.
“We set our standard in the semi-final by beating Hibs 6-0 and picked up on that in the final.
“The whole team played well, Hampden suited our style. Winning this trophy means a lot to everyone in the dressing room, winning in style makes it more special.”
An own goal from Calum Waters cancelled out Sam Wardrop’s opener before Nesbitt took charge of the match.
In the 27th minute he turned his marker inside out before slamming a low shot past Liam Kelly to put Celtic in front.
After setting up Luke Donnelly for the third the favour was returned for goal number four with Nesbitt first to the ball to complete his hat-trick from the penalty spot.
“I need to work on my finishing,” he added in all seriousness. “It’s something that I’m aware of and work on all the time in training.
“Their defence opened up a bit for my first goal, I saw a gap in the goal and luckily enough I put it away.
“Luke set me up for the third, their keeper made a move and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the shot and again it went in.
“When we got a penalty there was no way that I was going to miss, I missed in training on Wednesday but I wasn’t going to mess up with the chance to complete a hat-trick.”
Nesbitt’s trickery on the right and Kieran Tierney’s power on the left is a powerful combination.
Despite being just 17-year’s-old both bhoys have been at Celtic for 10 years with Nesbitt delighted by his team-mates elevation to the first team.
Nesbitt was in Gran Canaria with Ronny Deila’s first team squad in January but illness and injury set his progress back.
Deila watched the action from the stand at Hampden and is bound to have the hat-trick hero earmarked for promotion.
“Seeing KT in the first team was fantastic, obviously that’s my target as well,” Nesbitt added. “We’ve been together a long time and encourage each other all the time.
“Being together in a cup winning team at Hampden was a great feeling and it’s something I’d love to experience with the first team.
“I’ll keep on working hard and hopefully I’ll get a chance to impress with the first team.”
CELTIC: Hart; Wardrop (Kelleher 79), O’Connell (McCart 90), Findlay, Waters; Lindsay, McManus; Nesbitt, Donnelly, Tierney (Miller 84); McMullan
SUBS: McCabe, Hill.
Scorers: Wardrop, Nesbitt 3, Donnelly
