Nathan Young-Coombes sealed Youth Cup glory for Rangers over their arch-rivals Celtic after a brilliant 3-2 victory at Hampden.

Rangers netted twice in the opening ten minutes before Celtic pulled it level with a couple of their own in the early stages of the second half. Young-Coombes became the hero for his side, converting a header to give the young Gers victory.

In the opening couple of minutes Young-Coombes showed how much of a threat he could be, finding space in the Celtic box, before seeing his shot deflected wide.

Only five minutes had been played before Ciaran Dickson put Rangers in front. The youngster picked up the ball on the edge of the area and sent a lovely side footed shot into the bottom corner.

Adedapo Mebude doubled Rangers’ lead two minutes later. The forward found some room in the Celtic penalty area and blasted his shot past goalkeeper Liam Hughes.

Some sloppy play in the young Gers midfield allowed Celtic forward Cameron Harper to break away on the counter. The move eventually came to nothing as Harper’s shot was turned around the post by Rangers stopper Lewis Budinauckas.

Joshua McPake missed a good opportunity to all but end things on the 42nd minute mark, but his shot from the left fizzed just wide of the post.

Celtic came out flying after the break. Just two minutes after the restart Karamoko Dembele showed some great feet before finding Harper. He made no mistake with the finish, dragging his side right back into proceedings.

Just a minute later the Hoops were level. Paul Kennedy’s free kick took a massive deflection off the wall and ended up in the bottom corner, leaving Rangers to rue the chances they squandered in the first half.

The start to the second half was even more manic than the first, but things went quite during the next 15 minutes, with both teams fighting for possession in midfield.

It was Rangers who were to strike next after a brief lull in this pulsating clash. Young-Coombes got on the end of a free kick and guided his header into the top corner to restore Rangers’ lead.

The Ibrox side were then awarded a penalty after Mebude was clipped as he made his way towards goal. Celtic keeper Hughes turned came out on top, pushing Kai Kennedy’s penalty round the post.

The game raced from side to side in the latter stages, Rangers looking to kill it off and Celtic looking for a way back in. Chances were few and far between though as both sides waited patiently for an opening.

Celtic thought they had pulled it back two minutes from time when Harper headed home Dickson’s cross, but it was quickly ruled out as the ball was judged to have went out of play.

Rangers held in there and got over the line, lifting the Youth Cup after a terrific 90 minutes of football.