On a difficult night for football with strong cross winds both teams struggled to settle into any sort of rhythm with the ball being out of play more than in play in the opening stages. Ness had the first effort of note after ten minutes when Declan Adamson’s well struck free-kick went wide of the left hand post.
Celtic were next to threaten when James Aitken’s through ball found Connor Regan in space but Ness keeper did well to rush out and block the striker’s effort from the edge of the area. Celtic’s next effort came from a corner from the left which found Robert Smith but he couldn’t keep his header down and it went tamely over the crossbar.
With twenty five minutes on the clock Ness had their best chance of the half when after a mix up between defender Jack Clubb and keeper Taylor Lynch, Ian Bray pounced on the loose ball and with Lynch out his goal struck towards goal but Clubb did well to block Bray’s effort to stop a certain goal.
With half an hour gone Celtic took the lead when following a throw in from the right Clubb found himself in space on the right side of the box he waltzed through a static Ness defence and shot low into the left hand corner.
Ness came out in the second half in determined mood and equalised soon after the restart when Stuart Farmer’s pass found Harry Thomson and he drove into the box and was taken down by Lynch in the penalty area. After a delay as Lynch required treatment following the challenge Ness’s Tomas Smith stepped up and placed the ball high into the corner to give Ness a deserved equaliser.
Both teams exchanged chances in the second half as the game opened up with Shane Odie hitting the side netting for Celtic and Bray seeing a lob from the edge of the box go wide of the target.
With both teams looking for a winner Ness had a chance to win it with ten minutes remaining when James Farmer’s pass out to the left found Edward Oldbury but his left footed effort was saved by Lynch.
With only minutes left Celtic got the winner when Smith surged down the right wing and his cross wasn’t dealt with by the Ness defence and Kennedy Moar found himself free at the back post to place the ball home from close range. Best on the night for Celtic was Connor Regan and Robert Smith while for Ness Harry Thomson and Dylan Leishman were the pick of the bunch.
CELTIC TEAM: T Lynch, J Clubb, D Clubb, J Bradley, R Smith, E Smith, J Aitken, T Moncrieff, S Odie, C Regan, K Moar