East Stirlingshire: With club's 4000th league game on horizon, Shire impress in 2-1 league win at Celtic B

East Stirlingshire made it five Scottish Lowland Football League games undefeated as they won 2-1 over Celtic B 2-1 at Airdrie on Friday night.
By Craig Goldthorp
Published 10th Oct 2023, 12:45 BST
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The visitors were ahead within seven minutes as Luke Rankin slotted home after a defensive mistake, but the young Hoops responded quickly as Corey Thomson shot in off the underside of the bar to level.

The Shire winner arrived just two minutes into the second half when Tony Coutts netted an incredible finish with his left foot from the edge of the box.

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“I’m delighted,” Shire manager Pat Scullion told ShireTV post match. “I thought the boys were excellent.

Tony Coutts applauds Shire fans after scoring winner against Celtic BTony Coutts applauds Shire fans after scoring winner against Celtic B
Tony Coutts applauds Shire fans after scoring winner against Celtic B

"Celtic B passed the ball really well. They had a lot of possession in the first half, they were causing us problems.

"But we scored a goal fairly early on. We nick it and it’s a really good finish by Luke.

"They equalised and we made a slight tactical tweak at half-time. That gave us a foothold in the game and we scored quickly in the second half so the boys got a lot of belief from that.

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"It was a really good finish from Tony. I thought he was outstanding tonight.”

Luke Rankin scores East Stirlingshire opener against Celtic B (Pic by Ashleigh Maitland Photography)Luke Rankin scores East Stirlingshire opener against Celtic B (Pic by Ashleigh Maitland Photography)
Luke Rankin scores East Stirlingshire opener against Celtic B (Pic by Ashleigh Maitland Photography)

Shire, 14th with 13 points from 13 games, play a South Challenge Cup third round tie at Caledonian Braves this Saturday with kick-off at 2pm.

Scullion’s side then entertain Cumbernauld Colts in the league next Wednesday, October 18, kick-off 7.45pm.

It is Shire’s 4000th league game so the club is giving away 500 community tickets over the next two league fixtures. Email Fraser Cromar at at [email protected] for more information.

Related topics:Airdrie

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