Hibs post narrow victory over Celtic in under-18 clash at Lennoxtown

Goals from Dean Cleland and Ethan Laidlaw gave a young Hibs side a 2-1 victory over their Celtic counterparts at Lennoxtown on Tuesday night in a CAS Elite Under-18 League encounter.

The Easter Road youngsters were knocked out of the Scottish Youth Cup by Rangers last week in Glasgow – the second time the Gers have ended the Hibees’ cup hopes – but bounced back with a hard-fought win on the road.

Freddie Owens was the busier of the two goalkeepers in the opening period, being called into action several times in the first half but with the hosts unable to find a way through. Midfielder Jay McGarva had Hibs’ first sight of goal when he got on the end of a Rudi Molotnikov free kick but saw his effort blocked by a defender.

Hibs came out strongly after the interval and had a goal ruled out for offside in the early part of the second 45 but eventually went ahead through Cleland, who collected a pass from Laidlaw before tucking it past the ‘keeper for the opener.

Hibs under-18s bounced back from their cup exit with victory against Celtic

Celtic fought back and made their sustained pressure count when they levelled matters following a set-piece, but losing the goal seemed to spur the wee Hibees into action, and they retook the lead shortly after with Laidlaw adding a goal to his earlier assist.

Molotnikov was the architect of the winner, responsible for playing in his team-mate with a well-timed through-ball that propelled Laidlaw into a one-on-one situation with the goalie. The forward kept his cool before chipping the shot-stopper to earn three points for Gareth Evans’ side in Glasgow.

Hibs: Owens; Whittaker, Waugh, Khan, Hastie; J MacIntyre, Molotnikov, McGarva, McAllister; Cleland, Laidlaw.