Aberdeen 3 - 3 Celtic

Report

A chilly evening at Cormack Park was the venue for Aberdeen under 18's against Celtic under 18's.

The first forty-five was a half of many chances at both ends, starting in the sixth minute with a ball being cleared off the line by Aberdeen's Victor Enem after a fast ball was played into the box from Celtic's Colby Donovan which spiralled towards the goal due to a deflection.

The first chance of the half for the young Dons came in the fifteenth minute as Alfie Bavidge picked up the ball on the right-hand side after some great battling to win possession from Aberdeen's Findlay Marshall. Bavidge jinked the ball past the defender and fired in a cross that was deflected away for a corner by a Celtic defender.

A clear-cut chance for Aberdeen came in the twentieth minute after a goal kick from Aberdeen's number one, Blessing Oluyemi was headed by the Celtic defender into to the path of the alert Liam Harvey who got to the ball ahead of the Celtic keeper and rounded the goalie but his shot from a tight angle trickled just past the post into the side netting. Credit to the Celtic defence for getting back, pushing Liam wide.

Another chance for Aberdeen came in the thirty-sixth minute as the ball was taken down the right wing by Harvey and crossed over to Captain Dylan Lobban, whose half volley attempt was good but just over the crossbar.

The first goal of the game came in the thirty-seventh minute as the ball was played out to the left side of the box to Celtic's Daniel Cummings, who cuts inside and curled a shot into the right-side netting to make it 1-0 to the visitors. A good finish.

A chance for the visitors to double their lead before the break came as an Aberdeen pass was intercepted by Cummings, his curling effort though was however just shy of the top right corner.

Half Time Aberdeen 0-1 Celtic

The second half got off to a quick start with Aberdeen looking for an equaliser. In the forty-sixth minute a ball over the top from Lobban to Bavidge is met with a ferocious volley which is saved well by Celtic's goalie, Aidan Rice.

The visitors doubled their lead in the fifty-first minute as a cross from the Celtic left midfielder was met by the head of Donovan and close range he found the net. Aberdeen were unhappy as it looked like a hand was used in the build up to the goal.

Despite the scoreline Barry Robson urged his players to keep going.

In the sixty-fifth minute a Celtic corner is counter-attacked as Bavidge collected the ball in his own half and drove for the Celtic goal taking on any opponent in his path. His eventual shot was unfortunately dragged just inches wide of the left post.

Aberdeen kept going and mounted a comeback in the seventy first minute as the ball was picked up by Adam Emslie who skipped past his marker and fired a shot beautifully into the top left corner, off the crossbar from twenty-five yards out.

With their tails up the young Dons equalised in the seventy-seventh minute after a corner taken by Lobban was met by the head of Bavidge at the back post.

The quality of the corners from Alfie Stewart and Lobban were causing the Celtic defence all sorts of problems.

Game on.

With ten minutes to go Lewis Pirie replaced Harvey and the U16 striker immediately caused problems with his pace.

Aberdeen looked the more creative team towards the end of the match, pressing high up the pitch and creating openings on the left, right and through the middle. In the eighty-fourth minute the ball was hassled away from the Celtic defender by Bavidge. The striker cut inside and tried to take the shot on, but it was deflected away for a corner.

Then, down at the other end, a Celtic attack allowed Cummings to get free with the ball. His shot forced an astounding save by Oluyemi to keep the score at 2-2.

A first lead of the game finally came for Aberdeen in the eighty-eighth minute as a near identical corner from Lobban is met, again, by Bavidge who netted his second of the game and gave the Young Dons the lead with just two minutes to spare.

Despite the attempts of the defender on the line, the assistant referee was well position to see the ball had crossed the line.

However, the lead was short lived as a goalmouth stramash in the ninetieth minute led to Celtic's Jude Bonnar being left with a simple tap in to give Celtic an equaliser. The Dons defence just could not get the ball clear.

The game finished 3-3 with both teams looking like they were going to take all three points. Alfie Bavidge's hot streak continued as he now has 11 goals in four matches.

The draw also keeps the young Dons up near the top of the table.