Joe Thomson scored a stunning equaliser against Raith Rovers on Tuesday night as a youthful Celtic XI drew 1-1 with Raith Rovers to mark the naming of the Turnbull Hutton stand at Starks Park.
Celtic had found the Raith backline difficult to break down during the first half although Thomson had sent in two 20 yard efforts on Kevin Cuthbert’s goal.
Undeterred the midfielder made it third time lucky on the hour mark when he took a short pass from Kieran Tierney, let the ball roll across onto his right foot, then sent an unstoppable curling shot beyond Cuthbert into the net.
Five minutes into video for Thomson’s goal
“It was a great goal from Joe,” hoops coach Stevie Frail said afterwards. “Kieran Tierney did well, he lost the ball but reacted quickly to win it back, he found Joe and it was a great finish.
“I could single out players but I felt that as a team we were fantastic. It was a young team we put out but that’s the level I know they can play at.
“I had a bit of a go at most of the players after the Turriff match on Saturday but I was thrilled by the way they played against Raith.
“The reaction against an established Championship side was excellent, it was a great performance all in. We maybe lacked a bit of creativity in the final third, but a lot of the play from the back was really satisfying.”
Frail added: “We wanted to win the match, it was a friendly but we wanted to win because of the level of opponents, it was a nice pitch and a game in honour of a stalwart like Turnbull Hutton who did a lot for the game.
“In the last ten minutes we tired a bit, we introduced a few subs and had to call on a few good saves from Colin McCabe. He didn’t have much to do until then but came up with a few saves, that’s what Celtic goalkeepers are required to do.”
CELTIC: McCabe: Janko (Wardrop 68), McCart, O’Connell (Higgins 85), Tierney; Breslin (Murray 82), Lindsay; Nesbitt, Thomson, Hendry (Archibald 82); Currie (Miller 54) SUBS Doohan, McIlduff, Lafferty
