Celtic's Jack Aitchison nets second Forest Green goal

By David Walton

October 20, 2019

Young Celtic striker Jack Aitchison notched his second goal for Forest Green Rovers yesterday.

Rovers were in action at home to Mansfield Town in the Sky Bet League Two division. However, despite going 2-0 ahead, Forest Green allowed their lead to slip, and left with a 2-2 draw.

Aitchison notched Forest Green’s second of the game early on in the second half. That came after Aaron Collins had initially put Forest in front. A double from Andy Cook, however, wiped those goals out.

Jack Aitchison is finally making his mark in senior football (Vagelis Georgariou/Action Plus via Getty Images)

For Aitchison’s goal itself, he collected a pass around 20 yards out. He then turned superbly and slotted home a fine strike into the bottom corner at the far post. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can view it by clicking here.

The goal marked Aitchison’s second in eight games for Forest Green. It was also his first in League Two since joining the club back in early-September.

Manager Mark Cooper was quick to praise the goal after the game. He labeled it a “great bit of play” in his post-match comments (Gloucester Live).

Looks like being Aitchison’s best loan spell yet

Out of his three loan spells away from Parkhead throughout his career, this already looks the most productive. The Celtic striker is learning some key lessons with his new temporary club.

Aitchison has well outgrown the Parkhead youth ranks (Ian MacNicol/Getty images)

He’s certainly had to fight for his jersey since arriving at The New Lawn club. He’s now started seven of his last eight matches, and he’s clearly providing an energy to Forest Green’s final third that wasn’t previously there.

Results so far have been hugely mixed. There’s a general acceptance that Forest Green play good football, but they’ve only won half of their games since Aitchison joined. It can be twisted, however, as they’ve only lost one of them.

So far, it’s proving to be a much more beneficial time for the Scotland youth international than his spells at Dumbarton and Alloa were respectively.

Aitchison’s side will be eyeing promotion to League One (Vagelis Georgariou/Action Plus via Getty Images)

In both of those spells, Aitchison only managed a grand total of 15 appearances and bagged just one goal. The move to England appears to be the right one for him. He’s helped get Forest Green up to sixth, and they currently sit just four points off the top.

There are still huge question marks over whether the young forward will make it at Parkhead. But he’s evidently enjoying his football these days, and it’s clear to see when you watch Forest Green’s highlight packages. Here’s hoping he can continue the positive promotion push and make it a successful year for himself in England.