The St Mirren U20s let a half-time lead slip away in a four minute period early in the second half as they went down 4-1 this evening to Celtic in a SPFL Development League match-up at The Paisley 2021 Stadium.
Saints started the match brightly with David Clarkson firing the first shot on goal in 2 minutes but his effort went narrowly wide of Conor Hazard's post.
Clarkson came close again on the 20 minute mark but his header came rattling off the crossbar, then ten minutes later he came close again as he pulled his shot just wide of the target.
St Mirren got their just rewards five minutes later when Kyle McAllister fired the ball past Hazard to open the scoring.
Saints went into the break deservedly with the lead but within ten minutes of the restart they were left reeling as well as trailing the Glasgow side. Jack Aitchison pulled Celtic level on 49 minutes when he took advantage of slack defending by Saints before going past Willison and slipping the ball into the back of the net.
Two minutes later Saints were stunned as Celtic took the lead as Aitchison scored again, this time with a header. Another two minutes after that and the game was all but lost for Saints as Michael Johnston went on a run before firing the ball past Willison to make it 3-1 for Celtic.
Celtic put the finishing touch to their second half performance with a fourth goal on 90 minutes as Daniel Higgins fired a shot into the top corner.
Next up for Saints in the Development League is a trip to the Highlands on 1st November to face Ross County.
St Mirren U20: Willison, McNaughton, McDonald, Magennis, Whyte, Gordon, Gallagher, McLear, Shankland (O’Keefe 70), Clarkson (MacPherson 70), McAllister (Flanagan 76).
Subs: McKendry, Johnston, Fawkes, Henry (GK)
Match pictures by John Millar – © John Millar.
