Rangers lost 0-2 to Celtic at Broadwood in an SPL Under-21 Fixture this afternoon.
Both sides fielded experienced line-ups with Michael Ball, Dan Eggen and Christian Nerlinger in the Rangers team, Tom Boyd, Ulrik Laursen, Stan Varga, Colin Healy and David Fernandez in for Celtic.
An afternoon of torrential rain limited the attendance somewhat to perhaps 2,000, although quite why the game was held at Broadwood and not Ibrox remains a mystery.
Dan Eggen almost presented Celtic with a gift opener in the first stages of the game – only for Allan McGregor to retrieve the situation with a tackle on Shaun Maloney.
At the other end Rangers had a solid penalty claim denied by Referee Mike Tumilty three minutes later when Liam Miller blatantly handled the ball.
The Ibrox line-up was an odd one with Stephen Hughes up front and Bob Malcolm in midfield, and the uncertainty thus created was obvious when Celtic took full advantage in fourteen minutes – Bryan Prunty striking the opening goal with a low drive in off an upright from a Maloney pass.
Two minutes later an eighteen-yard shot from Miller struck the underside of the bar as Rangers struggled to cope with the pace of the Celtic attacks.
It had been a poor first-half from the Light Blues, the more experienced players being the more culpable, and two minutes from the interval a Ball error led to the award of an extremely soft penalty to Celtic when McGregor was adjudged to have upended Prunty. The Celtic centre surprisingly recovered enough to convert the spot-kick.
John Brown made two changes at the interval with Bob Davidson and Darryl Duffy replacing Malcolm and Nerlinger.
Rangers made a better fist of things in the second-half without ever really threatening to rescue the game. Maurice Ross was inches away with a 22-yard volley from a Stephen Hughes corner in 56 minutes, then Steven McLean only just missed the target with a twenty-yard free-kick on 69 minutes.
Celtic held firm however – and finished the stronger with Maloney heading over from a Craig Beattie cross in 82 minutes, then Beattie shooting wide when released by Miller.
Nevertheless the 2-0 win confirms Celtic as Under-21 League title winners.
RANGERS McGregor; Malcolm (Davidson 45), Ball; Dowie, Eggen, Walker; Ross (Campbell 88), Nerlinger (Duffy 45), McLean, Hughes, W. Gibson
UNUSED SUBS McLeod, Smith
CELTIC Broto; Boyd, Laursen; Miller, Kennedy, Varga; Healy, Fotheringham (McCann 80), Prunty (Beattie 65), Maloney, Fernandez
UNUSED SUBS Herbert, Vanzanten, Jack
REFEREE Mike Tumilty