University of Stirling was punished by a ruthless Celtic B performance in Airdrie on Wednesday night as the colts ran out 6-0 winners.
Corey Thomson gave the Glasgow side a slim lead heading into the break after a tight first half, but substitute Bruno Davidson doubled the lead immediately after the break.
Stirling tried to respond, but a flurry of late goals from Bosun Lawal, Thomson, Adam Brooks, and Ben Summers wrapped up a night to forget for the Uni.
Head coach Chris Geddes said: “For 75 minutes we played alright. First half we were only 1-0 down, and we had some good opportunities. But then to lose a goal after 35 seconds is criminal. They took every chance they got, but we’ll rub this one out and move on.
“I don’t judge my guys based on Celtic B team, rather the Lowland League teams we are playing in the next eight or nine games, so we’ll focus on Sunday now and forget about that one.
“We played into their hands a bit as we lost our structure, and maybe we should’ve just shut up shop, but it’s a learning curve for me as a coach and my players, and hopefully it never happens again.”
The opening exchanges at the Excelsior Stadium weren’t too dissimilar to those at Forthbank last Saturday as Stirling fell to a narrow defeat against Rangers B.
Geddes’ side kept it tight against another Old Firm club and could’ve taken the lead after a minute but for a rare miss from Calum Rae, who watched his lobbed effort sail wide of the Celtic goal.
With little to separate the sides, it took a moment of quality to break the deadlock. Ben Quinn latched onto a pass down the left before teeing up Thomson to find the opener from close range on 28 minutes.
The game was far from out of sight heading into the second half, but Stirling was dealt a swift blow when Rocco Vata crossed for Davidson to double the lead just 30 seconds after coming on.
Celtic’s half-time substitute was involved again as he showed terrific skill to get to the by-line before assisting Lawal, who was perfectly placed on the front post to poke home on 75 minutes.
At the other end, the ball looked certain to cross the line but James Berry’s touch crashed off the crossbar, and almost instantly after Celtic had a fourth with nine minutes to play.
The hosts cleared their lines and hit on the break, but despite Ben Fry reaching Celtic’s through ball first, his pass was misplaced, and Thomson curled into the corner from around 25 yards.
On 84 minutes, Adam Brooks grabbed Celtic’s fifth with a cool finish inside the box, and just four minutes later Celtic had six as Summers struck from range to seal a difficult evening for Stirling.
Celtic B: Clarke, Dede, Otoo, Lawal, Corr (Mackenzie 60’), Carse, Vata (Kelly 74’), Thomson (Bonnar 82’), Dawson (Brooks 74’), Summers, Quinn (Davidson 45’)
University of Stirling: Fry, Heal, Lavery, Service, Burrows (Bainbridge 79’), Berry, Jarvis, Rae (Russell 65’), Stokes, McAninch (Torreggiani 65’), MacIver-Redwood