On another excellent night for football, both Celtic and Whalsay were looking to continue their promising starts to the season and book themselves a spot in the final of the Madrid Cup on 25th May.
Celtic named an unchanged side from their league win against Whitedale on Friday, something they haven’t managed in several seasons, while Whalsay had a strong starting 11 albeit without the experienced Richard Arthur and David Murray.
It was Whalsay who had the first opening of the match when the industrious Stuart Shearer broke clear down the right hand side but was thwarted by a fine Keane Haynes save who also collected the rebound.
Celtic grew into the half well however and opened the scoring on 10 minutes when good work down the left side from Tom Moncrieff and Kennedy Moar set up Brendan Johnson who coolly slotted the ball into the bottom corner for 1-0.
The speedy winger soon added his and Celtic’s second and it was another marauding run down the left wing from Moncrieff that created the chance which Johnson smashed home confidently.
The home side continued to press forward and created several openings but Kyle Duncan in the Whalsay goal dealt with everything thrown his way.
Despite Celtic’s dominance, Whalsay managed to grab that all-important third goal when a mix-up allowed Shearer to steal in and tap the ball home to get Whalsay right back in the game.
The second half continued as the first ended with Celtic pushing forward in search of that elusive third goal. However the pace of Shearer and Lee Irvine on the break was a constant threat and Haynes once again had to be on his toes to clear to safety.
Whalsay thought they had themselves back on level terms when a long throw in was flicked on and finished well by Tom Martin but the striker was in an off-side position, much to the relief of the home side.
With around 75 minutes on the clock, Celtic killed off the tie with a piece of individual brilliance from Connor Regan. James Aitken burst towards the Whalsay back line and was tripped and up stepped Regan to bend the ball over the wall and into the top corner leaving Duncan with no chance.
Celtic had numerous chances to extend their lead but Duncan saved well from Moar, Aitken and substitute Shane Odie while Martin struck a post at the other end. The match was brought to a close at 3-1 and best on the night for Celtic was Tom Moncrieff while Stuart Shearer stood out for Whalsay.
CELTIC TEAM: K Haynes, J Bradley, J Clubb, R Smith, E Smith (S Odie), C Regan, J Aitken, T Moncrieff, B Johnson (R Grant), S Sim (B Buggy) & K Moar