Scottish Lowland League Wednesday, February 8, 2023, Forthbank Stadium, Stirling…
UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING 2-1 Celtic B
(Jarvis 22, Stokes 39) (Cummings 50)
Celtic B fell to their sixth defeat of the Lowland League season with a 2-1 defeat to University of Stirling last night at Forthbank Stadium. Celtic’s opponents have had a good season so far – and the win allows the student side to jump above Celtic into 4th spot in the Lowland League standings, by two points, but this was a disappointing result for Celtic B.
Goals from Jarvis, midway through the first half, and Stokes six minutes prior to the break, left Darren O’Dea and Stephen McManus’ side with a mountain to climb in the second half. It was a task that was ultimately to prove a thankless one despite Cummings goal just five minutes into the second 45 giving the Hoops some hope of a comeback.
Preparation complete ✅
5 minutes until kick-off! 🔜#UOSCEL | #SLFL | #COYBIG🍀 pic.twitter.com/5lh6i1TPRJ— Celtic FC B (@CelticFCB) February 8, 2023
The University side somewhat worryingly controlled possession throughout the opening 45 minutes and Jarvis almost had Stirling ahead after 11 minutes but Joe Morrison in the Celtic goal saved well. Bruno Morrison then hit Stirling on the counter attack with able assistance from Mackenzie Carse but Joey Dawson saw his effort ruled out for offside.
And after 22 minutes the Celts were a goal behind, as the ball broke to Jarvis at the edge of a congested 18-yard box who then showed great composure to arrow a shot past the despairing dive of Morrison to leave the Celts trailing. More bad news was to follow when Dylan Corr had to be replaced by Daniel Cummings with 13 minutes of the first half left, and Cummings joined Joey Dawson in Celtic’s attack.
Celtic then had some hope of an equaliser, as both Davidson and Carse had chances to score from tight angles but couldn’t find the net, before the Hoops found themselves two goals behind, when James Stokes’ low drive left Morrison without a hope in the Celtic goal and concluded a desperately disappointing 45 minutes for the Hoops.
📍 Forthbank Stadium #UOSCEL | #SLFL | #COYBIG🍀 pic.twitter.com/kolxeLGO6W
— Celtic FC B (@CelticFCB) February 8, 2023
Celtic came out for the second half with more purpose and scored after 50 minutes. Dawson and Cummings linked well in the build up and it was the latter who drove into the area and slipped the ball into the net to bring Celtic back into the game.
Celtic were then denied by Ben Fry in the Stirling goal as Carse curled a free-kick over the Stirling wall but found the ‘keeper a match for his effort, before Celtic moved into the last 20 minutes and their best spell of play, in terms of possession, but couldn’t create the chances to match the territory gained.
Celtic had one last chance to score as a free-kick in injury time offered an opportunity to grab a share of the points, but Stirling were to hold on for an important win, meanwhile Celtic have a fair bit of post-match analysis to pore over to find the answers as to what went wrong against a very ordinary opponent and one Celtic fans would likely expect them to defeat home or away with an element of comfort.
Next up for the young Celts is a visit to Newtown Park to face 12th placed Bo’Ness United on Saturday – and a reaction from the young Hoops after a hugely disappointing defeat in Stirling will be expected.
Speaking after the disappointing result Darren O’Dea expressed mixed feelings on the night.
“I have mixed emotions. We are missing nine players with injuries,” the Celtic B Team co-manager said. “They have all put in so much that they’ve started to pick up little niggles, but the young lads that came in were excellent and showed real personality.
“All we can ask is for them to show the courage to play and they all did that, especially in the second half. We had to change shape because we’re lacking personnel and it did disorientate them in the first half. The message was that the principles of the way we play never change, regardless of the shape.’
O’Dea added: “At this club, if you don’t perform, you’ll move to the side and someone else will come in. The younger lads showed last night that they’re ready to go. They’ve trained with us a lot as we want them to be near our environment and understand what’s required.
“Josh Dede has been with us all season although not played too much, and Magnus Mackenzie is the same. Now we’ve started to bring in Daniel Cummings, Kyle Ure and Francis Turley. These boys are first-year professionals, and they impacted the game more than anyone.”
Next up for the Celtic B team is another away fixture, this time against Bo’ness on Saturday and Darren O’Dea admits that this will be an even tough challenge than last night for the young Hoops.
“There are different learnings from last night for each of the players, and Bo’ness will be a completely different game,” O’Dea noted. “Their pitch is narrow and they’re a lot more physical, so they’re going to need to stand up to that. We must play in our style, that’s what will demand the ball at all times. I think we lacked that for spells in the first half, but certainly, in the second-half, we were a lot better.
“Bo’ness will probably be a bigger test in all honesty, but I think with the experience we had last night, hopefully, that stands us in good stead.
Celtic B Team Line-up v Stirling University: Morrison, Dede, Mackenzie, Corr (Cummings 32), Robertson, Ure, Davidson, Carse, Dawson, Letsosa, Quinn (Turley 78) Subs: Osagie, Clarke
Niall J
