Celtic B fight back to seal 4-3 victory | OneFootball

Scottish Lowland LeagueSaturday, February 17, 2024Netherdale Stadium

GALA FAIRYDEAN ROVERS…3

(Reilly 19, Galbraith 24, Boyle 43)

CELTIC…4

(Dobbie 29, 59 & 63, Cummings 67)

Celtic FC B sealed an incredible three points on Saturday afternoon as they came from behind with ten men to win 4-3 against Gala Fairydean Rovers.

After being reduced to ten inside the first 15 minutes, it looked like a long way back for the young Celtic side, who were 3-1 down heading into the break.

But a superb second-half turnaround, with goals from Lewis Dobbie and Daniel Cummings, saw the Bhoys take home victory in brilliant fashion on the road.

After a weekend away from action, the Bhoys were back to league duties on Saturday afternoon as they made the long trip down to the Scottish Borders.

With several players still to return from international duty, the Celts made a few changes to the side that ran out impressive 3-0 winners in the Glasgow Cup against Rangers last time out.

And they made a positive start to proceedings at Netherdale Stadium, enjoying large spells of the ball as they aimed to create their first few openings of the match.

Inside the opening ten minutes, Celtic can within inches of grabbing the all-important opener through Daniel Cummings.

A brilliantly weighted ball from Lenny Agbaire found the run of Ben Quinn, who fired the ball across the goal, but it was just out of reach for the forward.

Unfortunately for the young Hoops, despite that positive start, they found themselves going down to ten men after just a quarter of an hour was played as Agbaire was given his marching orders.

After some good pressure to win the ball back, the home side appeared to be on the counter before the defender pulled his marker down, which was judged by the referee to be a straight-sending-off offence.

It didn’t take long for the home side to take advantage of the extra player as two quick-fire goals handed them the lead in the opening half an hour.

Pouncing upon mistakes at the back, the Gala Fairydean forwards made no mistake with their finishes, both coming on the left-hand side of the penalty.

Despite the triple setback, the Hoops did manage to find a way back into the game as Lewis Dobbie pulled a goal back.

Turning home Bruno Davidson’s low cross inside the six-yard box, the forward was able to half the home side’s deficit, giving Celtic a fighting chance in the match.

The Bhoys did well to create some openings in the half, with Ben Quinn and Bruno Davidson sending dangerous deliveries into the area. But there was no one there in a Celtic shirt to meet them.

Heading towards the break though, Gala Fairydean were able to restore their two-goal advantage, pressing high to win the ball back once more, before bending the ball beyond the helpless Josh Clarke.

Finding themselves so far behind and also a man down after 45 minutes, it could have been easy for the Bhoys to lose hope.

However, they certainly didn’t do that with their second-half display, putting in an incredible performance to turn the match on its head.

The comeback was kickstarted by Lewis Dobbie, who completed his hat-trick early in the half, turning home a rebound, before tucking home a composed penalty to level up the scoring.

And just a matter of minutes later the comeback was complete as Daniel Cummings turned home a goal of the season contender, with almost the entire Celtic team being involved in the build-up.

Despite playing over an hour with a man less, it was a dominant second-half display with the Hoops creating a number of chances to add to the scoring.

Seeing out the match to seal all three points, it proved to be an extremely positive return to action for the young Hoops, producing an incredible second-half turn around to maintain their unbeaten start to 2024.

CELTIC: Clarke, Donovan, Robertson, Bonetig, Agbaire, Turley (Haddow 75), Davidson (Davidson 89), McArdle, Cummings, Dobbie, Quinn (Osagie 81)

Subs: Morrison, Isiguzo