Celtic B travelled to Cumbernauld to face off against Clyde FC in the City of Glasgow Cup, producing a lively 1-1 stalemate at the Broadwood Stadium.
Some familiar faces featured for the young Celts, with the likes of Northern Ireland internationalist Conor Hazard appearing between the sticks and Dane Murray slotting in at centre-back.
In the early exchanges of the tie, Rocco Vata executed a sweet cross from the right-hand side, which Joey Dawson put narrowly over the bar on the stretch.
Crisp build-up play between the midfield three of MacKenzie Carse, Tsoanelo Letsosa and Ben Wylie was a constant feature of the first half.
Keeping in with this theme, playmaker Wylie sprayed a searching ball over to right-winger Vata, who again swept across a brilliant centre to Hoops striker Dawson who hit the bar from close range. Carse arrived swiftly on the rebound; however, his strike was agonisingly deflected out for a corner kick.
Irishman Wylie was once again involved in proceedings, spinning an outside of the foot through-ball which teammate Letsosa dragged just wide from an exceedingly tight angle.
Just before the interval, the impressive Brody Paterson forced Clyde goalkeeper Josh Bradley-Hurst into a save from close range after some inventive approach play.
Kicking off the second half, Euan Deveney crashed an excellent 25-yard volley off the bar for the opposition minutes after Celtic goalkeeper Hazard claimed a dangerous ball at the second attempt under pressure from the Clyde striker.
Then came the all-important goal for Tommy McIntyre’s men. Following good work down the left from Owen Moffat and Joey Dawson, the ball broke to Ben Wylie, who smashed a controlled drive low into the right-hand corner giving the keeper no chance.
Celtic looked to have won the game as they dictated the latter stages of the encounter, creating some half-chances. However, a lofted ball over the Hoops’ defence led to goalkeeper Hazard rushing out and bundling over experienced Clyde substitute David Goodwillie.
The challenge looked to be outside of the penalty area. Nevertheless, the 6ft 6in giant was shown a straight red card, subsequently gifting the Bully Wee a golden opportunity to level the scoreline.
Goodwillie duly obliged, sending stand-in stopper Ryan Mullen the wrong way to give his side a share of the spoils. Celtic can count themselves extremely lucky not to have won the fixture after putting on an assured display.
Man of the Match: Ben Wylie
Playing the role of lead orchestrator in the vast majority of the Celts’ attacking play, the 19-year-old can take heart from yet another encouraging display in green and white.
On-site report.
