Friendly Match
Lennoxtown Training Centre
Tuesday, November 19. 2019

CELTIC…6
(Griffiths 11, 14, Burt 19, 21, 55, Harper 64)

Stenhousemuir…0

CELTIC'S reserves recorded a dominant 6-0 win in a friendly against Stenhousemuir at Lennoxtown tonight (Tuesday). Leigh Griffiths scored two inside three minutes and Liam Burt bagged himself a brace before the half-time break. The second period saw Burt complete his hat-trick before Cameron Harper rounded off a busy night of goals for the Hoops.

Celtic’s dominance was on show from the off as Tommy McIntyre’s side moved the ball with a good tempo in the early stages. Jonathan Afolabi came close to scoring early on with his side-footed effort but it was too close to the goalkeeper who saved comfortably.

The opening goal quickly followed as the visitors crumbled under Celtic’s attacking pressure. Dave McKay showed good vision to pick out Griffiths inside the box and the Hoops striker took a touch before coolly slotting past the keeper.

Celtic tightened their grip on the game and Griffiths punished the opposition just a few minutes later. Burt played his team-mate through and Griffiths finished well in a one-on-one situation.

Burt accompanied his excellent play with a goal shortly after when he drilled a shot from the edge of the area into the bottom corner. He mirrored Griffiths’ brace with a second in quick succession to put Celtic 4-0 up at the break.

The Celtic midfielder completed his hat-trick 10 minutes into the second half. The Hoops were highly effective in the wide areas and Daniel Church provided a cutback for Burt to finish first-time from inside the penalty area.

Cameron Harper caused the opposition problems all night with his impressive dribbling and willingness to run at the defence. He created numerous chances for himself and got the goal he thoroughly deserved with a close-range finish.

Celtic didn’t look content to settle for just six goals and Grant Savoury, who had been excellent in the right-back position, was unfortunate not to make it seven when he smashed Harper’s assist off the post with his first-time shot.

Tommy McIntyre’s Hoops were never troubled in defence and they controlled the game from start to finish. The final whistle brought to an end a productive night for the young Hoops and gave their manager plenty of positives to reflect on.

CELTIC: Mullen, Savoury, Hendry (Murray 64), Church, Paterson, McKay, Robertson, Burt, Harper, Afolabi (McBride 45), Griffiths (Mazis 64)
Subs: Smith, McRobb

Griffiths on target as Celtic Reserves hit Stenhousemuir for six