Greig Spence's Hampden goal

Greig Spence is looking to complete a dream season as a double winner at Hampden- kick off 7.30pm.

The striker left Alloa for Celtic at the start of the season and has fired the goals to take Stevie Frail's side to within ninety minutes of the double.

Spence's eight game scoring run- including match-winners against Livingston in the SFA Youth Cup semi and Rangers in the league- came to a halt against Aberdeen on Saturday but that didn't dampen his celebrations of Celtic's title success.

Tonight's Hampden date with Rangers gives the young hoops another opportunity to lift silverware with Spence going into the match full of confidence.

He said: "We can't wait for the game to come along, we're confident on the back of winning the league and the spirit among the players is sky high.

"This is the first final that I've been in for a while and playing at Hampden will be the highlight of the season- you can't get better than a final at the National Stadium.

"Goals are what strikers are there for, especially when you play on your own up front. I've managed to bag a few and I've been happy with that.

"Every time that I get put through on goal it's in my head that I'm going to score.

"Although I've scored a few goals we've had a great defence, they've had a good run of clean sheets and that spreads confidence throughout the team."

After a lean spell in February Spence was dropped for the home defeat from Rangers but responded with a double against Falkirk in the following match.

At any level scoring in eight consecutive games is a fantastic achievement with Spence convinced that being left out helped turn his season around.

"I went through a bad period and got dropped," he recalled. "The coaches got a reaction from me after that and I've been happy with my form.

"Looking back I was maybe trying too hard and things weren't going for me. Football is about highs and lows, I was firing blanks, I wasn't playing well and deserved to be dropped.

"The coaches told me that I had to offer more to the team and score more. It's great to be scoring but I feel that I've been contributing more to the team as well.

"Winning the league was great and now we're looking to add another trophy.

"We've had two close games with Rangers. They are a good team but we know what's at stake and winning a final at Hampden would be a fantastic feeling."

Anyone going to Hampden should get along early, it's pay at the gate, in the past there has been a lack of turnstyles to let supporters in.

Frail joy as title triumph gets closer

Stevie Frail was delighted by his side's performance to beat Hibs today to move to a point away from clinching the championship.

Goals from James Keatings and Greig Spence put a smile on the coach's face with just one point required from the last two matches against Aberdeen and Hearts to put the title beyond Rangers.

"We're getting close to winning the league and that can get nervy," Frail said. "I though that we were terrific today, especially in the first half.

"They passed and moved the ball well, scored a good goal and there didn't seem to be any tension in their play.

"We got the second goal at a good time and looked comfortable after that. 

"The players were told to look only at this game, take each game on it's merit and not be sidetracked. If they play as they can and work as we ask them to then there should be no problems."

Keatings spectacular goal in the 28th minute killed off any nagging fears of a frustrating afternoon in front of goal.

During the first part of the season Keatings was used mainly on the wing but has moved inside in recent months with Sean Fitzharris taking over out wide.

Frail explained: "James has scored a few good goals this season, he got a top class goal down at Kilmarnock.

"He played well earlier in the season coming in off the wing, he was hard to pick up. At times we've had to put him in the middle and he's did well there in recent matches especially against Livingston and Rangers. 

"We're always at him to shoot but at the right times. Sometimes he pulls the trigger when he's not set and skies it but today he took a touch in the middle of the park, opened up his body, looked to shoot and struck it well and their 'keeper couldn't reach it."

Spence scored for the seveth game running with the former Alloa striker visibly growing in confidence game by game.

As well as having the priceless knack of anticipating where the ball will drop in the penalty area the striker has developed the art of getting himself in front of defenders and turning quickly despite taking some hefty 'treatment' from opponents.

"Long may Greig's scoring run continue," Frail added. "He led the line very well today and is a nuisance for defenders. He's gaining in confidence with every game.

"That's not just from his goals but from his performance against Rangers which was arguably his best game for us."

Celtic 2-0 Hibs match report

On a lighter note

Firstly, it was refreshing to hear Neil Lennon's after match thoughts following today's unspeakable performance and result at Hampden.

The caretaker boss will take his share of the blame, the performance of today's players was no real surprise with no-one emerging with any credibility.

The fall-out will be interesting but only Paul Caddis and Paul McGowan, two relatively untried reserves, offer any options to change the team against Motherwell.

From Lennon's quotes it looks like Georgios Samaras and Marco Fortune may not be seen again in a Celtic jersey, with Landry N'Guemo possibly suffering the same fate.

Anyway the Celtic u-19 side were in action at Stirling University today and beat Falkirk 2-0 to go nine points ahead of Rangers who have four games left to play.

Darren McCauley opened the scoring in the first half with Greig Spence seeling the points in the second half, scoring for the sixth game running.

It's a big leap and hardly the ideal circumstances but perhaps Tuesday night against Motherwell could be the time to give Spence his debut.

Spence is the goal hero as youth side beats Rangers.

A golden goal from the prolific Grieg Spence earned Celtic a 1-0 win over Rangers to put Stevie Frail's u-19 side into pole position to lift the SPL title.

With just seven minutes left to play the former Alloa striker timed his run to the front post perfectly to connect with a Richie Towell cross to give Celtic a richly deserved win at Murray Park.

The result puts Celtic seven points clear of Rangers with just four games left to play and although the Ibrox side have got two games in hand the destination of the championship is in Celtic's hands.

Youth coach Stevie Frail said: "We're delighted with the win, it's a tough place to come but we had a game plan, the players stuck to it and we're thrilled with the three points and also the performance.

"At times we had to be more direct, you can't play football all the time but ultimately we got three hard earned points.

"We've told the boys that nothing is won today, the game is over, we've picked up three points and we'll be in tomorrow working hard for the Falkirk match next week.

"They are young boys and they'll naturally be high after coming to their rivals ground and winning well. They need to temper things however and make sure that they are ready for the next match.

"We got three points today and we have to focus now on the game at Falkirk which will be just as tough."

Celtic started with the team that had beaten Livingston in midweek to reach the final of the SFA Youth Cup and enjoyed the bulk of possession throughout the first half.

Rangers were content to defend in depth with only two inswinging free kicks from Sean Fitzharris causing them any real concern.

The best chances of the first period came in the final minute when a snap shot from the Rangers Rhys McCabe came back off the post before Celtic raced to the other end of the park with Spence turning well onto a Paul Slane pass but finding his shot held by the Rangers 'keeper.

Within a minute of the restart James Keatings struck the post with Celtic upping the tempo and forcing Rangers further back without carving out much in the way of clear cut chances.

The match was following a familiar pattern with Celtic finding it almost impossible to break through the well organised Rangers defence.

With sixteen minutes left to play Darren McCauley replaced Keatings who seemed to take a bad blow on the ankle with Rangers almost snatching the lead in the 78th minute when Archie Campbell escaped from Declan Gallagher only to find Towell heading his net-bound shot round the post.

In the 83rd minute Celtic made the decisive breakthrough thanks to Spence.

After being forced across the Rangers 18 yard box Callum Bagshaw exchanged passes with Towell on the right with Spence timing his run to perfection to slide in at the front post to net before being mobbed by his jubilant team-mates.

"It was a well worked goal and something that we've been working on," Frail explained.

"We knew that the Rangers goalkeeper is good coming out for crosses so we wanted balls played in hard and low.

"Richie Towell put in a good cross and it was a great finish from Greig Spence. Greig did well to get across the front and get his touch in.

"We had a similar incident on Wednesday against Livingston when Richie opted to shoot rather than square the ball to Greig, but he put across a fantastic ball today and it was a great finish from Greig.

"The overall manner of the performance was great and I felt that Greig was exceptional playing up on his own.

"He held the ball up well, led the line and scored a well deserved goal.

"If we had lost today we'd have been hoping that Rangers slip up, we won the match and that is part of players development.

"Part of a players development is being involved in games like this where it is all about gaining the three points."

Celtic played out the remaining minutes expertly with the ball played into the corners to eat up precious time. 

RANGERS: Adam; Durie, Cole, Scott, Wylde; McCabe (Dick), Wiktorski, Hutton (McAusland), Ness, Naismith (Wright); Campbell

Subs: Weir, McGeouch, McNeil

CELTIC: Guardino; Towell, D Gallagher, Hughes, Lowden; Bagshaw, G Gallagher, Keatings (McCauley 74); Slane, Spence, Fitzharris.
SUBS: Kennedy, F Twardzik, Marsden, Jones, McGregor, O'Donell 

Frail's joy with Spence scoring run

Youth boss Stevie Frail was delighted with his side's 2-1 win over high flying Motherwell at Bathgate earlier today.

The SPL u-19's is a a fiercely contested division with a run of four straight wins putting Motherwell in contention for the title.

A double from Greig Spence, taking his tally to five in three games, was enough to give Celtic the points ahead of two crucial games against Livingston in the SFA Youth Cup and Rangers in the league.

"It was an excellent result for us today," Frail admitted. "Motherwell are strong at this level, they had a few lads who've featured in their first team and they've been in good form recently.

"We were well prepared for the match, the players put everything into the game and got their reward. It would have been nice to record a clean sheet but the result was important.

"Everyone is looking forward now to playing Livingston at Celtic Park in the cup, we're hoping to progress into the final and that will give them confidence for the league game with Rangers."

After losing 2-1 to Rangers Frail's side have responded with three back to back wins thanks largely to the goalscoring run of Spence.

The striker was left out for the Rangers game but has bounced back from that decision to show the form that earned him his early season transfer from Alloa.

Frail added: "We discussed with Greig why he was left out against Rangers and he's came back stronger.

"He's upto 12 goals now for the season and is one of the top scorers in the division.

"He's working hard on his game and is putting the chances away.

"The team is playing well as a unit, we're getting a few players back from injury as well as younger ones coming into contention from the u-17 side.

"Callum McGregor scored twice for the 17s on Sunday and came into our side today and didn't look out of place."

SPL u-19 league table

Spence nets double as youths bounce back

A first half double from Greig Spence helped Celtic's u-19 return to winning ways with a 3-1 win over Falkirk after the disappointment of Saturday's defeat from Rangers.

Spence had suffered the agony of seeing an injury timer shot against Rangers slip over the bar todeny the hoops a draw but showed great character to score from two one-on-ones with the Falkirk keeper.

"I'm pleased for Greig that he scored two goals, one on his left side which we've been working on," coach Stevie Frail said.

"We looked again at the chance against Rangers and we both said that it was a one that he should have put away.

"Maybe coming on as a substitute didn't help him on Saturday but he started today and showed his ability with two well taken strikers goals".

The former Alloa striker was restored to the starting XI alongwith Michael Ordish in place of James Forrest and Patrik Twardzik.

The new look formation saw Ordish and Sean Fitzharris playing on either flank with Spence through the centre in front of a three man midfield comprising of James Keetings, Grant Gallagher and Filip Twardzik

Celtic got off to a bad start when the Falkirk No.7 was given space in the penalty box to collect a cross from the left and drill a low shot beyond Daniele Giordano in the 13th minute.

There were some harsh words exchanged between the players after that goal but seven minutes later Spence equalised after being sent through on goal by Twardzik with the striker showing composure to sent his shot inside the keeper's left hand post from 18 yards out.

After the Falkirk goal Fitzharris swapped from left wing to right with Ordish moving over onto the left.

Keatings was looking impressive in central midfield with the balance between the midfield trio posing Falkirk problems.

Six minutes from the interval Richie Towell put in a typical whiolehearted tackle 40 yards from goal to win the ball, with one pass the ball was sent through to Spence who showed confidence from his earlier goal to net from the edge of the penalty box.

Early in the second half substitute Patrik Twardzik secured the points when he headed home from close range after being set up by his brother Filip.

TEAM: Giordano; Towell, Gallagher, Hughes, Lowden; F Twardzik, G Gallagher, Keatings; Ordish (P Twardzik 56), Spence (Jones 70), Fitzharris

Youth's held to a draw by Hearts

Celtic's u-19 youth side were held to a 2-2 draw against Hearts today at Barrafield.

It was the third draw in a row for the young hoops with Greig Spence and an own goal counting for Stevie Frail's side.

Details of the match are patchy with nothing as yet on the website of either club or on the SPL website.

The point was enough for to take Celtic into joint second place with Motherwell with last season's double winners Hibs in top spot thanks to their 4-1 win over St Johnstone.

Missing from the Celtic side was James Forrest who was promoted onto the bench with the first team for the first time.

The nonsense of that rule was highlighted with Barry Robson, Koki Mizuno and Willo Flood sitting in the stand at St Mirren while Forrest missed out on 90 minutes of action with the 19's in order for the SPL to be seen as promoting youth football!

Latest table from the SPL website.

Of the loan Celts Darren O'Dea had to settle for a point as Reading drew 1-1 with Watford while Simon Ferry had a similar fate with Swindon drawing 1-1 with Wycombe, Ferry was substituted after 65 minutes while Ben Hutchison spent the game on the bench.

Cillian Sheridan will be hoping for his first Plymouth goal tomorrow when they entertain Nottingham Forest at Home Park with Mark Miller in action for Ujpest Dozsa away to Paks.