Match 1495 - Saturday, 29th December 2012

Season:  2012/13
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  EASTER ROAD STADIUM

***  SHOCK WIN FOR HIBS  ***

              

HIBERNIAN    1     CELTIC     0

Scorer:  Griffiths

What a difference a Saturday afternoon 3pm kick off time and no television coverage makes to a game of football.  Easter Road was almost fill in contrast to last years corresponding fixtures that I attended.

I've said before that Leigh Griffiths is the best player in Scotland outside of Celtic Park and he continued his terrific season by scoring the only goal of this encounter to the delight of the big Hibs support.

It was a wet miserable afternoon and Celtic's play mirrored the weather.

Easter Road is my favourite ground in Scotland (bar one exception) since the completion of the steep single tier East Stand therefore it was great to witness it almost full and the atmosphere it and a memorable win created even if it was at the expense of Celtic.
 

Hibernian:

01 Williams;  02 Clancy (Maybury);  04 Hanlon;  06 McPake;  07 Deegan;  08 Claros;  11 Cairney;

16 Stevenson;  20 Taiwo (Handling );  09 Griffiths (Wotherspoon); 10 Doyle

Celtic:

01 Forster;  03 Izaguirre;  04 Ambrose (McGeouch);  06 Wilson;  23 Lustig;  25 Rogne (Kayal)

08 Brown;  67 Wanyama;  09 Samaras;  11 Nouioui (McCourt); 88 Hooper

Attendance:

16,800

 

Match 1494 - Saturday, 22nd December 2012

Season: 2012/13
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    4    ROSS COUNTY    0

Scorers:  Brown, Hooper(2), Forrest

 

Two sides of Celtic on view today, bad first half like many of their home SPL matches this calender year followed by a very good second half display.

FLASH BACK - Match 1365 - 10th April 2010

Season:  2009/10
SCOTTISH CUP Semi Final
Venue:  HAMPDEN PARK
 PARK

                    

 

 

 

CELTIC    2 - 0    ROSS COUNTY

Scorers:  Craig, Scott

 

First Division Ross County cause a huge upset in the semi final of the Scottish Cup to compound an awful season for Celtic.  Celtic had high hopes that Neil Lennon would salvage some from a poor season under Tony Mowbray but truth be told Ross County didn't need to play exceptionally well to knock out this sorry Celtic side with no fight or quality.

Celtic:

Zaluska,  Hinkel (Rasmussen 84),   Naylor,   Thompson,  O'Dea,  N'Guemo (Crosas),  Brown,  McGeady,  Keane,  Samaras,  Fortune (McCourt 67)

Ross County:

McGovern,   Miller,  Morrison,  Boyd,  Keddie,  Scott,  Brittain,  Vigurs,  Gardyne (Lawson 90+1),  Barrowman,  Craig
 

Att: 24,535

 

FLASH BACK - Match 1095 - 10th January 2004

Season:  2003/04
SCOTTISH CUP 3rd ROUND
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

                         

 CELTIC    2 - 0    ROSS COUNTY 

Scorers:  Hartson, Lambert

Att:  30,565 

Took the whole family to this one in what was the first ever meeting between the sides in a competitive match.  My youngest son, Paul who was 3 fell asleep during a pretty uneventful Scottish Cup tie.  Despite fielding a strong starting XI Celtic struggled to make the breakthrough.  John Hartson eventually woke the crowd late on when he used his strength and a little nudge to engineer the vital opening goal.

 

CELTIC team:

Rab Douglas,   Bobo Balde,   Jackie McNamara,   Ross Wallace (Beattie 80),  Paul Lambert,  Neil Lennon,   Henrik Larsson,   Chris Sutton,  Didier Agathe (Pearson 80),   Shaun Maloney (Petrov 66), John Hartson

 

 

ROSS COUNTY team:

Graeme Smith,   John Rankin,   Jim Lauchlan,  Hugh Robertson,   Jamie McCunnie,  Sean Webb,  David Winters (Gethins 76),  Stephen O'Donnell (Higgins 82),  David Hannah,  Mark McCulloch  ,  Graham Bayne (Cowie 81)

Match 1493 - Saturday, 15th December 2012

Season:  2012/13
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

                      

CELTIC    2    ST. MIRREN    0

Scorers:  Wanyama, Hooper

A straightforward victory for Celtic as St Mirren rarely attempted to leave their own half however it took them until the final 10 minutes to secure the victory with a second goal. 

Celtic team:

Forster,  Matthews,  Lustig,  Ambrose (Izaguirre),  Wilson,  Mulgrew,  Wanyama,  Brown,  Samaras (Lassad),  Kayal (McCourt),  Hooper

St Mirren team:
Samson,  van Zanten,  Dummett,  McAusland,  Goodwin,  Robertson (Guy),  McLean,  Teale,  Imrie,  Thompson (Parkin),  McGinn

Personal note:

Celtic v St Mirren  - match no. 58 dating back to 8th Auguest 1981

Celtic Park - 38:  St Mirren - 18;  Hampden Park - 2

SPL - 52; League Cup - 2;  Scottish Cup - 4

Celtic wins:  45;  Draws:   9;  St Mirren wins:  4

FLASH BACK - Match 448 - 7th April 1990

Season:  1989/90
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue: CELTIC PARK

                              

CELTIC     0    ST. MIRREN    3
Scorers: Torfason, Shaw, Lambert

A pitiful day in the history of Celtic.  Not so much for the score but for the team line up on the park.  Probably the worst Celtic team that I have ever witnessed.  With the exception of Wdowczyk a steady left back none were worthy of sharing a dressing room with Paul McStay and Pat Bonner.  Still even although football pundit Andy Walker, little more than a one season wonder, played in one of the worst Celtic teams in history he feels he is qualified to comment on far superior Celtic teams.  Maybe before he gives his expert opinion he should remember this match, this team.
The best memory of the match was the emergence of Paul Lambert who scored a terrific third goal for Saints.

Celtic team:
Bonner, Morris, Wdowczyk, Galloway, McCahill, Whyte, Grant, McStay, Walker, Coyne, Miller

Personal note: Next day I attended the FA Cup semi Final between Manchester United and Oldham at Maine Road.

FLASH BACK - Match 642 - 25th Aug 1993

Season: 1993/94
SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP 3rd Round
Venue:  GAYFIELD PARK

ARBROATH    1    CELTIC    9 
Scorers: Tindall; McAvennie(3), Nicholas, McGnlay, McNally, Payton(3)

As Celtic are scheduled to play Arbroath on Wednesday in a Scottish Cup replay it gave me a chance to post my only visit to Gayfield Park which was 19 years ago when failing Celtic manager Liam Brady recorded the biggest win I have ever witnessed.  The only down side was it came against one of Celtic's all time greats Danny McGrain who was a rockie manager with the part-timers.
The match included two hat tricks, one Frank McAvennie and the other Andy Payton who had only came on as a substitiute!
Local man Kevin Tindall got the consolation goal for Arbroath with the last kick of the ball.

Celtic team:
Bonner,  Boyd,  Wdowczyk,  Grant,  McNally,  Galloway,  McGinlay,  McStay,  McAvennie,  Nicholas,  Collins; 
Subs used - Payton, O'Neill

MATCH 1492 - Saturday, 8th December 2012

Season: 2012/13
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  RUGBY PARK

                                      

KILMARNOCK    1    CELTIC    3

Scorers:  Sheridan; Brown, Ledley, Samaras

Fresh from their successful Champions League group campaign Celtic produced a solid performance to record a good away victory.  The third goal was a thing of beauty as it contained 20 passes before an inch prefect cross from Matthews was headed home by Samaras.

Kilmarnock

• 01 Bell 02 Tesselaar 04 Fowler 05 O'Leary 06 Nelson 07 Racchi (Sissoko - 56' ) 08 Kelly 11 Harkins (McKenzie - 68' ) 12 Sheridan 14 Heffernan 15 Perez (O'Hara - 68' )

Celtic

• 01 Forster 02 Matthews 03 Izaguirre (Kayal - 76' ) 04 Ambrose 06 Wilson 21 Mulgrew 08 Brown 16 Ledley 67 Wanyama 11 Nouioui (Samaras - 66' ) 88 Hooper (Miku - 82' )

Att:

• 6,501

Pre-match we enjoyed some refreshments in the Park Hotel situated outside the main stand.  A God send considering how miserable the weather was outside. Ideal for a snack and/or a few drinks before or after the match.

http://www.theparkhotelayrshire.co.uk/

Personal note:  63rd time seeing Kilmarnock (all against Celtic) and this was my 24th visit to Rugby Park.

FLASH BACK - Match 810 - Aug 1997

Season:  1996/97
SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Venue:  RUGBY PARK

DI CANIO ROCKS RUGBY PARK TO IT'S CORE

           

KILMARNOCK    1    CELTIC    3
Scorers: ??; Di Canio, Thom, Cadete
Att: 15,900

With Celtic looking out of sorts Paulo Di Canio was introduced as a second half subsitute for his first appearance for the club and he made an immediate impact.  There had been great excitement following the Italian's summer move from AC Milan and in a very short period of time showed what all the fuss was about.  His quick feet and clever movement made him an instant hit with the Celtic support.
The Celtic fans like what they saw and the Chadwick Stand rocked as the 3,000 away fans went wild as they celebrated a great second half fight back and a new star.

Di Canio equalizer

Thom 1:2

Cadete 1:3

Match 1491 - Wednesday, 5th December 2012

Season:  2012/13

Group Match - Match Day 6

           

             

CELTIC    2    SPARTAK MOSCOW    1

Scorers:  Hooper, Commons(pen);  Ari

Celtic progressed from a difficult group after a very tense night at Celtic park against Russian side Spartak.  Celtic reached a remarkable total of 10 points from their six group matches.

On the night a mistake from the Spartak defence gifted Gary Hooper the chance to score the opener and he did not pass it up, striking the ball home from outside the box.  Late in the first half Spartak got their reward for some good attacking play when Ari chipped in an equaliser.

In the second half Celtic enjoyed more possession but their efforts where thwarted by the post and the Russian keeper before the ref, who from a Celtic's point of view had a great game, pointed to the spot with ten minutes to go after Samaras was slightly pushed in the box.  Commons took responsibility and fired his shot high off the under side of the crossbar and into the net to give Celtic the lead that they needed.  Benfica could only draw in the Nou Camp against an under strength Barcelona side which meant Celtic qualified for the knock-out stage of the Champions League for the third time in six years.

Aiden McGeady made a welcome return to Celtic Park.  As in the previous visit in 2007 Spartak were reduced to 10 men with five minutes remaining.

Celtic

• 01 Forster
• 03 Izaguirre
• 04 Ambrose
• 06 Wilson
• 21 Mulgrew
• 23 Lustig (Matthews - 71' )
• 08 Brown (Ledley - 84' )
• 15 Commons
• 33 Kayal (Nouioui - 73' )
• 09 Samaras
• 88 Hooper

Spartak Moscow

• 30 Pesiakov
• 02 Insaurralde
• 17 Suchy
• 06 Rafael Carioca
• 07 Kombarov
• 19 Jurado
• 21 Kallstrom
• 23 Kombarov
• 09 Ari (McGeady - 61')
• 10 Dzjuba
• 29 Emenike

 Personal note: 

Spartak Moscow become the 100th club that I have seen on more the one occasion.

FLASH BACK - Match 1245 - 29th Aug 2007

Season:  2007/08

Qualifying Round 2nd Leg

Venue:  CELTIC PARK

CELTIC    1 - 1    SPARTAK MOSCOW

Scorers:  McDonald;  Pavluchenko

Artur Boric was the hero as Celtic won a dramatic penalty shoot out to book their place in the Champions League proper.  Scott McDonald shot Celtic ahead only for Roman Pavluchenko to level. Pavluchenko had earlier missed a penalty which meant the match went to extra time as it mirrored the first leg score.
There have been many great European nights at Celtic Park since 2001 but few have matched this one for sheer excitment and energy.  It was end to end for 85 minutes then Spartak where reduced to 10 men then it was backs against the wall for the last  five minutes of normal time plus 30 minutes extra time before the grand finale of the penalty shoot.
A truely epic match for all in attendance.

Celtic:
Boruc, Wilson, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor (O'Dea 110), Nakamura, Scott Brown, Donati, McGeady (Riordan 104), McDonald (Zurawski 97), Vennegoor of Hesselink.
Goals: McDonald 27.  


Spartak Moscow:
Pletikosa, Soava, Stranzl, Kovac, Shishkin, Mozart, Torbinsky (Boyarintsev 100), Titov, Bystrov (Kalinichenko 95), Welliton (Dedura 88), Pavluchenko.
Sent Off: Stranzl (85).  
Goals: Pavluchenko 45.


Agg (2-2): Celtic win 4-3 on penalties 

Att: 60,000
Referee: Roberto Rosetti (Italy).

Match 1490 - Saturday, 1st December 2012

Season:  2012/13
SCOTTISH CUP 4th Round
Venue:  CELTIC PARK

                   

CELTIC    1    ARBROATH    1

Scorers:  O.G.;  Doris

A dreadful result for a makeshift Celtic team which consisted of 4 youngsters.  They failed to score against their Second Division opponents as it was only a comical own goal that give them a half time lead.  The Arbroath keeper was not over worked but he did have a number of fantastic saves.

A deflected free kick late in the game earned the lower league opponents a replay. 

Celtic

• 24 Zaluska
• 02 Matthews
• 04 Ambrose
• 23 Lustig (Nouioui - 79' )
• 25 Rogne
• 43 Chalmers (Izaguirre - 54' )
• 08 Brown (Kayal - 64' )
• 40 Ibrahim
• 46 McGeouch
• 67 Wanyama
• 07 Miku

Arbroath

• 01 Morrison
• 02 Baxter
• 03 Hamilton
• 05 Malcolm
• 06 Keddie
• 08 Robertson
• 04 Kerr
• 07 Paul Currie (Rennie - 64' )
• 11 Sheerin (Birse - 75' )
• 09 Doris
• 10 Holmes (Gribben - 90' )

Att: 15,000