Rangers B boss David McCallum revealed Oscar Cortes and Rabbi Matondo both came through their comebacks unscathed as the Ibrox kids claimed the Glasgow Cup.
The pair hadn’t featured since September and were given the first half at Lesser Hampden to impress watching first-team manager Philippe Clement just 48 hours after the club’s Premier Sports Cup Final heartache. Goals from Paul Nsio, Cole McKinnon and a late strike from Zak Lovelace saw McCallum’s side win last season’s delayed showpiece, with prolific Hoops hotshot Daniel Cummings replying along with Samuel Isiguzo.
Matondo, 24, hadn’t played since limping off in this season’s first Old Firm derby with a hamstring injury while Cortes hadn’t featured since a draw with Hearts in August on the opening day. And both looked sharp in flashes during a 45-minute run out, with new Light Blues CEO Patrick Stewart also in the stands.
McCallum said: “They are both coming back and trying to get into the manager’s thoughts. Every player out there had a reason to be involved.
“For those two, they’re senior players who are coming back into the first-team squad and getting back to being selected. What we wanted was for every player to contribute, and they did what was asked of them and 45 minutes was always the plan.
“We were a bit up and down in terms of performance. We didn’t quite get to the levels we can reach in the first half. We were inconsistent. But at the start of the second half I thought we looked really good and Zak came on to win us the game.”
Despite Celtic starting the better side Rangers were gifted a 12-minute opener and returning Colombian Cortes had plenty to do with it. Young Hoops keeper Aidan Rice took a heavy touch from a passback and was instantly closed down by the wideman, who nicked the ball and teed up the onrushing Nsio to net. But it took Celtic just eight minutes to draw level when a Francis Turley pass was deflected into the path of Cummings and the youngster made no mistake.
The 18-year-old – fresh from scoring six goals in six games for the young Hoops side in the UEFA Youth League – has been linked with moves to Anderlecht and Club Brugge. It’s easy to see why after the young Scot put in yet another top-tier shift here.
Only a superb tackle from Gers defender Robbie Fraser – who came off the bench for the first team against Spurs last week – denied Cummings his second. It was a turning point as Rangers regained the lead 10 minutes after the restart when a Fraser cross was clawed by Rice into the path of McKinnon, who showed excellent technique to keep his volley down.
Celtic hit the post through defender Lenny Agbaire after keeper Mason Munn misjudged a cross and the young Hoops levelled for a second time when sub Isiguzo prodded in a close-range finish with Rangers pleading for a handball in the build-up. But Lovelace won it with three minutes left, showing good strength to poke in a fine finish after holding off the Celts defence.