Ciaran Diver and Keiran Campbell were the goalscorers tonight as Celtic’s u-17 side kicked off 2016 with a 2-0 win over Motherwell at Braidhurst High School.
Michael O’Halloran’s side had waited over a month for competitive action and were given a tough 90 minutes from a Motherwell side that matched their opponents in most areas with the hoops having the edge in front of goal backing up a hard earned clean sheet for Aidan McAdams and the back four.
There was a tweak to the usual playing formation with Jack Aitchison joining Diver in attack, backed up by Campbell on the right flank, Michael Johnston on the left with Lewis Bell and Ross McLaughlin anchoring the midfield.
At the back Stevie Welsh partnered Wallace Duffy in the centre with Shaun Bowers and Robbie Deas on full-back duty.
Celtic started the match impressively, linking up well in the final third and taking the lead in the tenth minute. Johnston came in off the left flank, laid the ball inside to Diver who held off a defender before steering a shot from 12 yards past the home keeper.
Midway through the first half Deas and Aitchison required five minutes of treatment after running into each other with Motherwell picking things up and starting to assert themselves after the stoppage. On the half hour the home side hit the post but the half ended with Celtic on top.
McAdams was the busier of the two keepers as the second half kicked off but on the hour Celtic doubled their lead. Johnston and Diver were again involved with the ball fed to Campbell whose low shot from 10 yards out found the back of the net.
Motherwell kept going in the search of a goal but the Celtic defence was resolute and determined to give nothing away as they claimed all three points.
CELTIC McAdams; Bowers, Welsh, Duffy, Deas; Campbell, McLaughlin (McInroy 75), Bell, Johnston (Watson 79); Diver, Aitchison
