Given Celtic’s dominance this season, there would have been little surprise about the result at Hampden last night as the tentacles of the Parkhead side’s domestic grip extended into the immediate underbelly of the game.

It is the second time in three years that Celtic have won the Scottish FA Youth Cup final, while last night’s victory made it three wins out of three this week for the Parkhead side against a beleaguered Rangers. If the Ibrox club are sick of the sight of Celtic, the converse would appear to be true for those of a green and white persuasion.

Even at this level, Celtic seem to have streaked significantly ahead of their Ibrox counterparts. Of course, the real barometer of that is measured not in trinkets handed out for the trophy cabinet but in the players who will graduate from here into first-team football.

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There were two recent examples of that journey inside the stadium last night with Kieran Tierney and Callum McGregor watching the affair, the former the current pin-up boy for the success of Celtic’s academy while the latter is knocking on the door of Gordon Strachan’s Scotland squad after an impressive campaign.

Last night’s contest was as one-sided as the 90 minutes they contributed to on Sunday in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final.

The goals came from Sam Wardrop, Calvin Miller and Aidan McIlduff, goals that sealed a performance that was fluent and robust from first minute to last. Aside from those who put their names on the scoresheet, there were strong performances from the likes of Jack Aitchison, the youngest player to score for Celtic’s first-team, when he netted against Motherwell on the final day of Ronny Deila’s reign at the club.

The 17-year-old striker featured for 75 minutes with a performance that contributed to a burgeoning reputation. Aiden Nesbitt featured as an attacking midfielder and looks better equipped to deal with the physical challenges of first-team football after a loan spell at Morton this term.

Read more: Tommy McIntyre insists it is all about players for the first-team at Celtic

Coveted Ibrox kid Billy Gilmour, still just 15, played the opening half and although he struggled to impose himself on the encounter that owed more to the fact that Rangers were overrun in the central pastures.

As a contest, the game was over and done with by the interval. Sam Wardrop opened the scoring seven minutes before the break to give Celtic what had increasingly seemed like an inevitable lead.

Michael Johnston’s started the move with a little back-heel which led to Calvin Miller’s cross. It was flicked on by Joe Thomson before Thomson flicked it on for Wardrop to take a touch at the back post before lashing it onto the net.

Their superiority was confirmed on the cusp of the break when a seemingly innocuous long ball from Celtic keeper Conor Hazard was met by the head of Ross McCrorie. The young defender tried a header back to the his twin brother Robby in goal, but the attempt was weak and fell significantly short of the reach of the Ibrox stopper; Miller nicked in to dink his way around the grounded goalkeeper and roll the ball into the net.

There was little indication that the young Ibrox side had the stomach to spearhead a way back into the game, an impression that ossified into solidity when Celtic added a comical third. Aidan McIlduff’s shot ought to have been held by Robby McCrorie but instead the keeper parried the ball over his own head and into the net.

Joe Thomson came close with a dramatic diving header that would have been the pick of the goals had it gone in after a flighted ball to the back post from McIlduff but by that stage Celtic could afford to indulge in a little bit of showboating.

CELTIC: Hazard; Ralston, Wardrop, Kerr, Mcllduff; Hill (Hendry 84), Thomson (McInroy 77), Johnston, Nesbitt, Miller, Aitchison (Archibald 75). Subs: Doohan, Crossan, Duffy, Watson

RANGERS: Robby McCrorie; Houston, Ross McCrorie, Wilson, Lyon; Ashmore, Barjonas, Gilmour (Jeffries 46); Rudden Gibson 66), Dallas (Burt 55), Atakayi. Subs: Wright, Bradley, Abaradan, Krones.