Reserves win 7 in a row

reserves in seventh heaven with title win

David Friel
CELTIC reserves produced a polished display at a sun-bathed Paradise to beat Hibernian 4-0 and wrap up a record seventh consecutive league title.

Willie McStay’s side were never in any real danger in an entertaining contest at Celtic Park as they sealed the win to finally kill off the title bid of rivals St Mirren.

Darren O’Dea opened the scoring with a deft finish and Ryan Conroy added a second before the break. Evander Sno chipped in with a stunning third and Chris Killen’s fine header rounded off the scoring.

Captain Scott Cuthbert held the trophy aloft at the end of the game as the Hoops second-string were deservedly crowned champions once again.

Celtic fielded a host of first-team squad members for this match and it was Joe Doumbe, still returning from injury, who had the first chance of the afternoon.

Mark Millar played a one-two with Paul McGowan and drove into the Hibs box before shifting the ball to Doumbe. The full-back let fly from 10 yards, only for the shot to be blocked.

Celtic made most of the early running and Sno had a low shot saved by David Grof in seven minutes. Killen then almost profited from fine Paul Caddis wing-play.

Paul McGowan, outstanding for the reserves all season, burst to life in 17 minutes as he waltzed into the box, before falling under Sean Welsh’s challenge. Referee Pat Rafferty waved the penalty claims and then booked McGowan for dissent.

Celtic were being patient in their approach and a Killen pass sent Caddis free on the right. The full-back sent over a first-time cross for McGowan and Darren McCormack had to lunge in to prevent a certain goal.

Yet, it was only delaying the breakthrough as Celtic took the lead in 22 minutes. Sno was fouled and Koki Mizuno’s free-kick was guided past Grof by O’Dea. It was the Irish defender’s third goal in two games.

Doumbe, playing at left-back, rattled a shot into the side-netting as Celtic maintained the pressure on Hibs. McGowan also saw a point-blank effort saved by Grof after superb play from Killen and Mark Millar.

New Zealander Killen was causing problems for the Hibs defence and had another effort deflected over the bar. From the resultant corner, it was 2-0.

Mizuno again took the set-piece responsibility with an inswinging corner that found Killen completely unmarked. Grof saved his header, but Conroy was on hand to score from three yards.

McGowan was denied by a saving tackle from Paul Hanlon as Celtic pressed for more goals. Yet, Hibs still carried a threat and David Wotherspoon steered a shot inches wide on the stroke of half-time.

Killen, running on to a Sno pass, fired past the post as Celtic started the second period in total control. Grof then fumbled a Caddis cross and had to race back to clear off the line and spare his blushes.

In 54 minutes, Celtic added a third. Mizuno took a short free-kick to Sno and the Dutch midfielder lashed a daisy-cutter beyond the helpless Grof.

With the game, and title, now wrapped up, Celtic kept possession well and added a magnificent fourth goal in 70 minutes.

Sno picked out Mizuno infield and he instantly released McGowan. The striker raced into the box and clipped a perfect cross to Killen – who guided a header into the top corner.

Cillian Sheridan and Michael McGlinchey came on for Sno and Killen as Celtic cruised through the closing stages. Paul Cahillane was also given a run-out as the final whistle signalled the end of another successful reserve campaign.









Scottish Premier Reserve League
Monday, May 12, 2008
Celtic Park, Glasgow

CELTIC…4
(O’Dea 22, Conroy 34, Sno 54, Killen 70
HIBERNIAN…0

CELTIC (4-4-2) McGovern; Caddis, Cuthbert, O’Dea, Doumbe (Cahillane 82); Mizuno, Sno (McGlinchey 73), Millar, Conroy; McGowan, Killen (Sheridan 73)
Subs not used: Fox, Lafferty, Cawley, Monti
HIBERNIAN (4-4-2) Grof; Welsh, McCormack, Zarabi, Hanlon; Wotherspoon, Cropley (Johnstone 82) , Currie, Stevenson; Byrne, Donaldson
Subs not used: Flynn, Booth, Kelly, Deane, Russell

WEBSITE MAN OF THE MATCH: Evander Sno















Well done BhoysLet's celebrate another trophy in 10 days

 

great stuff. no doubt about it where the young tallent in Scotland is.

 

The futures bright It is not Orange!

Really does prove we have the best youngtsers coming through, with the added help of bit part players of course.

 

That Evander Sno reminds me of Kaka.

Well Done Bhoys.

 

great job by the reserves, wonder how many more years will their dominance last, and hopefully we will be able to use a good few of them in the 1st team soon

 

unbelievable that most of the amazing players in my school play for the huns or aberdeen

unreal

theres this one guy that will definately make it pro
just one of those special players who are naturally gifted....like aiden

 

and now on to the first team

 

I didn't know this game was happening or i would have went down to see it. By the time i relised it was too late. Well done to the reserves once again.

 

well done bhoys, o dea scores again. sno man of the match? * me!

 

Well done to the bhoys in reserves and o'dea the goal machine lol

 

Nice one bhoys.. keep it up

 

Sno, McGowan, Mizuno and O'Dea must be first team candidates next season.

 

and to cap it off......the huns reserves finished in fifth spot......the futures looking good.

 

i have just read this and am impressed. FOUR assists for MIZUNO!!!

 

Muzino looks good doesnt he.
Hope he gets a wee run next year!

 

I went up yesterday before my flight home last night.Tbh Mizuno has a lot of nice touches anol but i'd say he's a long long way away from 1st team action.Mark Millar on the other hand looks the part to me.Thought he was excellent.

 

I have a bad feeling about Koki not making it. Not the end of the world if he doesnt cause he cost nothing but he doesnt look dominant from what I have seen. Agree re: Miller. He has come from nowhere and looks up to the job. McGowan is also a good player who could walk into any non-OF SPL team. Far better than O'Brien who was always overhyped. Sheridan's season was messed up badly by injury otherwise I think he would have made a good few appearances of the bench this season. Great player. Have a feeling this is cuthberts last season for us due to his age but he is a good player who will do well elsewhere. We should get a first refusal sell back clause put on his contract because I think we could get egg on our faces with him.

Caddis is quality. If he wasnt so wee and light he would be first pick right now. I wonder if he might be moved up one into wide right MF. His problem is can you imagine him v McCullough? Over the years both us and Rangers have been cursed with a predominace of the typical wee slight types that predominate in Scotland's urban working classes. I think that situation has actually got worse as less of the rest of the population is into football than used to be the case.

 

Caddis is wee ,but he's fast and tough. It's never done Shaun Maloney any harm. And look at Messi and Maradona. Midgets!

 

depends on position though. Itd no limitation is you are a flying attacker but its a disadvantage at CB or CF. FB really depends but a lot of pace makes up for lack of strength. Your right though, he looks like he has overcome a lot of the size problem with his pace, strength and reading of the game. He wont get taller now but he probably can bulk up a bit. Lenny was quite short but he was built like a tank. He woudl be fine marking wide but still wouldnt want to see Caddis defending slightly narrower against diagonals pinged to McCulloch or the like. He also looks like he could play wide right MF well. Might be an idea because I rate Caddis, Wilson, Doumbe and Hinkel all pretty highly at RB in different ways so it will be a struggle to get a game. Thought Wilson looked excellent v Hibs apart from one bad cross he put in. We will have to let Doumbe go though. We just have too many RBs and not enough real LBs.