Paul McMullan and Jordan Hart were the Celtic heroes in tonight’s 1-0 Glasgow Cup win over Rangers at Lennoxtown
Things looked bleak for Celtic on the half hour mark when skipper Stuart Findlay was red carded and Rangers awarded a penalty.
Hart dived to his right to save the spot kick from Fraser Aird with McMullan capitalising on a slip in the Rangers defence seven minutes later to smash the ball past Liam Kelly in the net.
Until Findlay’s red card the game had been fairly evenly contested with Rangers having a slight edge with a noticably more physical side.
Lewis Kidd and Jamie Lindsay were at the heart of Celtic’s creative efforts but after going down to ten men it was a backs-to-the-wall performance that earned the home side the points.
“I thought that it was a penalty, I’m the first to put my hand up, but I’m disappointed by the decision to send Stuart off,” coach Tommy McIntyre said about the turning point in the game.
“I felt that the Rangers player was going away from goal and that Ross Madden was stepping in. I agree that it was a penalty but I felt the ordering off was very harsh.
“Jordan Hart is our u-16 keeper and was excellent for us. He saved the penalty and had a few other good saves. He had an excellent game.
“It looked like it was going to be a good game then it got spoiled a bit by the ordering off.
“I felt that we dealt with it well. Rangers are a big physical team but once we got organised we limited them to long balls into the box and we defended them well. I’d have liked to have played a bit more football but the game turned and we had to work hard.”
With Findlay sent off Ross Madden stepped in to partner Eoghan O’Connell in central defence with Tim Mjallby taking a step back to play at left-back.
Seven minutes after the penalty save Celtic took the lead when McMullen pounced on a slack ball across the Rangers backline, beat a defender then smashed the ball past Liam Kelly into the net.
“Paul should have scored earlier with a chance when he took a touch too many before lobbing the goalkeeper,” McIntyre added. “But his goal was exceptional.
“He’s a good young player and one for the future. He showed a bit of intuition, sensed that he could win the ball and dispatched it very well- he just buried it into the net- it was a great finish.
“Paul is still at school, he’s part of our programme with St Ninians, and is a handful for any team. He’s blossoming into one of those strikers that doesn’t give defenders a minutes peace.
“He doesn’t have the physical attributes yet but he makes up with that with his heart. He’s quick, he has a good touch and his work rate was fantastic.”
With a one goal lead and down to ten players the second half lasted a lidetime for the young Celts.
Madden and O’Connell mastered the defence brilliantly but at time the hoops dropped dangerously back towards their own 18 yard line.
Hart was pleased to see the ball rebound into his arms from the post in the 52nd minute but there were no major dramas or scares as Celtic hung on to claim all three points.
CELTIC: Jordan Hart, Paul Hinley, Eoghan O’Connell, Stuart Findlay, Ross Madden; Adam Brown (Jaison McGrath 67), Lewis Kidd, Jamie Lindsay, Tim Mjallby; Paul McMullen (PaulMcLellan 73), Denny Johnstone SUBS Liam Henderson, Callum Watters, Mark Barman, Connor Gaffney
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Superb result for the young guns, even more so after playing for an hour with 10 men. I’m sure they will take a great deal from this game and push on even more. While results are of secondary importance at this level, it’s still good to get one over your biggest rivals. Keep up the great work Bhoys.