| Match Pictures | Matches: 1972 – 1973 | 1972-73 Pictures |
Trivia
- The League Cup semi-final played on the Monday night at Hampden in horrid conditions of wind and rain. Hibernian had already qualified for the final in a turgid game against Rangers.
- Back in came Evan Williams and Jimmy Johnstone who had both been rested for the Falkirk game, with Bobby Lennox dropping out and Bobby Murdoch named as sub.
- Celtic came from behind with 17 minutes left.
- Tommy Callaghan's spectacular winner was enough to win any game and took Celtic through to play Hibs, conquerors of Rangers.
- Celtic won through to their 9th succesive League cup final.
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Report
For the fourth game in succession Celtic went behind early in the game but still emerged as winners.
The Dons led twice in fact, but on each occasion their lead was short-lived. Harry Hood and Jimmy Johnstone equalised the Aberdeen counters, and Tommy Callaghan scored the all important winner.
In the final period Harper rattled a shot of the post which then ran along the line and Varga missed putting the ball in. Harper's first goal was a great effort. Celtic equalised with a penalty when Hermiston felled Dalglish in the area. In the second half Aberdeen went ahead again with a headed goal but Celtic came right back when Jinky tapped home a shot by McCluskey. And Tommy Callaghan finished it off with a belter of a shot.
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Teams
Celtic:
Williams, McGrain, Brogan, McCluskey, Connelly, Hay, Johnstone, Deans, Dalglish, Hood, Callaghan. Sub:- Murdoch.
Goals:- Hood (pen 33), Johnstone (74), Callaghan (80).
Aberdeen:
Clark, Willoughby, Hermiston, S Murray, Young, Taylor, Varga, Robb, Harper, Jarvie, Miller Sub: G. Murray
Goals:- Harper (30), Robb (73).
Referee: J Paterson (Bothwell)
Attendance: 39,687.
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Articles
Glasgow Herald Tuesday November 28 1972
Celtic stretched to limit by brave Aberdeen
By Ian Archer
Aberdeen 2, Celtic 3
Celtic will meet Hibernian in next month's final of the Scottish League Cup. That is as it should be. These are the country's finest sides during this late autumn of such appalling weather. This will be the ninth successive time that Celtic have contested the last stage of this competition. Familiarity, however, has not bred contempt.
They were pushed long and hard by brave Aberdeen in last night's semi-final at Hampden Park. Twice in the last seconds Jimmy Bonthrone's team hit the woodwork that surrounded a fragile Evan Williams in the Celtic goal.
Glory inevitably goes to losers and here they won it the hard way. That will be little comfort to then but 39,682 fans who stood and shivered on these famous slopes will remember them with gratitude all the same.
HEAVY RAIN
It was a night when even stray dogs would seek shelter. As sheets of rain slanted through the floodlights it was difficult to realise that this was a match of supreme importance to both sides. There would be many of these saturated fans who came to see if Celtic could reproduce the glitter they showed seven days before when Dundee were thrown out of this tournament. The elements prevented such a repetition and Aberdeen's cup-tie tackling also made it an impossible dream.
Instead the crowd stayed to admire the character that Jock Stein breeds at Parkhead these days. Twice they fell behind, twice they equalised, and when it mattered in earnest they moved into the lead. So the pattern of recent weeks, in which Celtic have been giving some brief hope to their rivals was repeated.
Excitement was never continuous on a surface which sent the ball skidding at variable pace across the turf and which made every tackIe a matter of delicate timing. The passing of both sides was also inconsistent on this treacherous surface.
But in two brief periods – one in each half – the match flared to life, and in the closing stages Aberdeen’s refusal to admit that they were about to be conquered led at last to some sustained and heartwarming excitement. It was a tie that left its best moments until last and that cannot be bad. As they say in the theatrical profession, always send the customers out remembering the last act.
A quarter of the match had gone before the preliminary skirmishes were completed. Then Aberdeen made this an appealing tie by taking the lead. After 30 minutes they started to fashion a goal far out with passes from Varga and Willoughby. Steve Murray eventually tossed over the long cross as the Celtic defence waited for an offside decision that never came. Harper controlled the ball with one foot and shot home with the other.
Harper had earlier hit the crossbar so this was no surprise. Neither was Celtic’s reply. In three minutes they were level. Dalglish drove himself in between Murray and Hermiston but someone pushed him firmly in the back. Equally firmly referee Paterson pointed to the penalty spot and from there Hood made no mistake about restoring parity.
TOOK GRIP
A kind of truce was then declared until half-time and for a period beyond. Yet Aberdeen gradually began to take a grip on themselves and slowly began to realise that a place in the final could be won. They picked up a faster pace, managed to string more passes together, and eventually their confidence surpassed that of Celtic. The tie entered its vital period.
After 74 minutes Aberdeen again took the lead. Varga, who despite an earlier injury to his knee had stayed at the heart of the game, took a corner kick on the left. There had been earlier indications that all was not well with the Celtic defence when confronted with high cross balls and these suspicions were confirmed.
The ball was flighted a fraction of an inch too high for Murray, who had stolen in at the near post. But his glancing header carried the ball behind him and Robb came charging in to head again at the far post. Williams was totally beaten as the ball crossed him. There were few who could deny that Aberdeen deserved the lead, even fewer who could not believe that they could retain it until the end.
It was, however, a lead that lasted precisely 60 seconds. Celtic, these days, are deadly when their anger is roused. They have this huge conceit of themselves, and seem to take it as a personal insult when opponents have the temerity to score against them.
Celtic had shown little form in the second half. Callaghan and Dalglish had run well from midfield, Hay was steady at the back, and Hood, in flashes, was cutely inventive. But somehow the pieces had not fallen into place. Now they mounted the vital charge.
Johnstone, in particular, had been ominously quiet but he it was who scored the equalising goal, stealing round an unguarded blind side to roll a hard and low McGrain cross into the Aberdeen net. It was all against the pattern of play, but the course of the match was now completely altered.
Murray was booked as the tide started to turn and 10 minutes from the end Celtic scored their winning goal. They went into the lead for the first time when Hood studiously poked a high ball across the Aberdeen penalty area. Dalglish, who might have shot himself, left it to Callaghan who was winding up for one last effort, and Clark had only the barest glimpse of the ball flashing into the back of the net.
The tie was still not won for Celtic. For the next 10 minutes Aberdeen chased everything, scurrying to take a series of free kicks and aiming every ball at Harper and Jarvie. Suddenly they looked better than at any time in the match.
HIT POST
Harper hit a post in one last scramble in which body piled upon body in an effort to move the ball over the line. Varga hit the other post as the siege continued, but somehow Celtic were there as victors at the end.
It had been a physical match but the damage was done to limbs and not friendships. Aberdeen seemed reluctant to go down the tunnel until every last handshake had been made. This was the very spirit of Scottish football and Aberdeen will come back to this city anytime, assured of a welcome.
ABERDEEN—Clark; Willoughby and Hermiston; S. Murray, Young and Taylor; Varga and Robb; Harper, Jarvie and Mitchell. Substitute—G. Murray.
CELTIC—Williams; McGrain and Brogan; McCluskey, Connelly and Hay; Johnstone and Deans; Dalglish, Hood and Callaghan. Substitute—Murdoch.
Referee—J. W. Paterson (Bothwell).
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Celtic's great fighting spirit took them through to an all-green League Cup Final with Hibs on December 9th. They picked themselves off the canvas – and a soaking canvas it was on a dreadful night of wind and rain – to beat Aberdeen 3-2 for the third time this season.
But even the most partisan Celtic fan in the 39,687 crowd must have spared a moment's sympathy for this fighting Aberdeen side. A whole-hearted team who never gave in, who gave Celtic a tremendous fight. Scotland can be proud of these valiant soccer warriors who provided such a torrid match.
There was little in it at the end. Aberdeen were a greatly improved side from that who lost to Dundee United on Saturday. They played with no little skill, tremendous heart and at a cracking pace. They played giant Willie Young at centre-half, and this gamble came off, for the big fellow gave determination to the defence. And Dons' strategy was good, with Hermiston and Willoughby switching from the start, so that Jimmy Johnstone was marked by the resilient Willoughby. A shrewd move which paid off.
Celtic were never at their best because the Dons played with such perseverance. But they showed, in glimpses of fantastic football, why they are at the top.
Twice they were a goal down.
Twice they fought back to equalise – and then scored the winner with 10 minutes to go.
That's the quality which wins honours.
It was action all the way, almost from the start as the notorious swirl gusted all over the wide field. There were thrills galore before Dons opened the scoring in 30 minutes. And a gorgeous goal it was. The astute Varga cutely switched the pattern of play, Steve Murray got the ball and sent over a pin-point cross. Joe Harper brilliantly got control and with the aplomb of a true professional snapped the ball into the corner of the net.
But three minutes later joyous cheers from the Celtic fans split the leaden air. Kenny Dalglish, in rip-roaring form, was surging through when Hermiston brought him down with a squelch on the sodden turf.
PENALTY….and Harry Hood did a fine job with the spot-kick.
Just before the interval, Celtic seemed to be taking control – but what a different story in the second half. Celtic sagged as Ian Taylor inspired Dons to greatness. Now the Dons had the edge and Davy Robb again putt them ahead in the 73rd minute.
Were Celtic dismayed? Not on your life!
From the centre they hurled themselves at Bobby Clark, and within seconds had equalised. Jimmy Johnstone slipped the ball past the helpless Clark after Brogan and McCluskey had ripped the Dons defence.
The game boiled, Steve Murray was booked.
With ten minutes to go the Dons defenders stood petrified as Tom Callaghan crowned a fine night's performance by cracking home the winner from a Hood pass.
But it wasn't over. In the dying minutes there was almost heart failure among the Celtic followers as Varga hit the post. Harper also hit the wood, then a shot was cleared on the line.
A great night for football, with Celtic as hard pressed as they've been this season.
