1891-09-26: Celtic 2-0 Dumbarton, League

From a Newspaper Report at the time

Played at Celtic Park in the presence of an enormous crowd of spectators.
Madden kicked off for the Celtic, who lost the toss, and had thus to play against the wind, which was very strong. Campbell was early on the ball, but a kick-out spoiled his run, and soon after he let the ball go over the lines.
Dumbarton retaliated strongly, and Miller was only stopped by Reynolds. McNaught tried to centre, but the ball went over. A foul against the Celtic looked a little dangerous for them, but the ball went harmlessly past the posts.
A throw-in followed, and Miller, of Dumbarton, had a good chance, but in his anxiety to score he headed the ball wide of the mark. The Dumbarton men kept in the vicinity of the Celtic goal, and a corner again made things look dangerous for the Celtic, but Taylor made a bad kick and sent the ball past.
The Celtic forwards then bothered the Dumbarton men, but A Miller at back, repelled splendidly time after time. A great race then took place between Bell and Reynolds , in which the Dumbarton man came off best, and the ball was well centred, but again missed the goal.
Dumbarton continues to hover around in the Celtic end of the field, though a foul against the visitors let the Celtic get to the other end. They were soon back, but Dowds spoiled his side’s chances by trying a back pass, which was collared by Boyle. Doyle, however, relieved , and time after time proved himself a more than usually strong back, and but for him the Dumbarton men must have scored. The same has to be recorded of A Miller, Dumbarton’s left back, who warded off repeated attacks.
Great excitement was caused by a sharp and sustained attack by the Dumbarton forwards, and time after time, as Bell, McNaught and Taylor sent in shots, they were only kept from going through by the excellent goalkeeping of Duff.
Campbell was the only man doing any runs for the Celtic, but McMillan at back was tackling splendidly. At last he got a chance to shoot, but was too strong, and the first real shot at Dumbarton’s goal proved futile. He had a second try a minute later with a flying shot, the ball narrowly missing its mark.
A fine shot from Bell gave Duff a lot of trouble, but he managed to scrape the ball behind. The corner which followed did not result in anything special.
A corner taken by McCallum looked like business; the ball was taken to the other end, and Bell had a try, but missed the goal. Another corner fell to Dumbarton, but though well placed, the visitors again failed at the critical moment, so excellent was the Celtic defence.
Half-Time came without any goals having been scored.
In the second half Dumbarton had to contend against the wind, but it was not quite so strong as before. The first item was a free kick for Dumbarton, but it proved of little use for goal-scoring; and a bad miss by Miller, the Dumbarton back, let the Celtic into dangerous proximity of McLeod, though Boyle, by kicking past, relieved him of any immediate anxiety.
Three corners fell to the ph men, but B Keir and McMillan both saved.
After five minutes’ determined work by the Celtic men, the ball was passed out to the wing, and the Dumbarton men, missing the cross-shot, Campbell got hold of it, and, with a low shot of great force and unerring aim, he sent the ball through goal so smartly that McLeod had not the least chance to save.
Miller, the Dumbarton centre, instituted runs after this, and Taylor tried hard to equalise, but his efforts were all to no purpose.
At the other end a good shot by Dowds struck the crossbar, and Maley was equally unfortunate by his return shot just skimming the bar. The Celtic continued to do all the pressing. McCallum had an easy chance to score after beating Miller, but threw away his chance, and McMahon with a fine open goal was not any more successful.
Dumbarton struggled with great determination to get on a level with their opponents, and but for Duff’s pushing out a shot of McNaughts they would have gained their end.
The Celtic men were fairly in the humour, however, and pressed Dumbarton severely after this. Just towards the close Dumbarton got another chance to equalise, but a good shot by Thomson went a foot past the opening.
All was hopelessly lost after this for them, and about half-a-minute from the finish, McMahon headed the ball through the Dumbarton goal for the second time, the whistle blowing just after the kick-off, leaving the Celtic victors.
Result – Celtic, 2 goals; Dumbarton, 0.

Article

Match Report 2

From a Newspaper Report at the time

This match was played at Parkhead before about 12,000 spectators. Celtic started the ball against the wind and rain. Dumbarton at once assumed the aggressive, and kept the play in the Celtic end. The game proceeded in a perfect storm. The players left the field for ten minutes. The field was in a bad state when the game was resumed, and play, which was forced in spite of the storm, was lively enough. Dumbarton, aided by the elements, put in some deadly pressure. Three times in succession the Celtic goal narrowly missed downfall. The groundsmen showed some fine beating up, and could not be confined to their quarters. At half-time neither team had scored. The rain stopped before the interval and with its stoppage the Celtic took a greater share in the aggressive work. When they resumed with the wind behind them the groundsmen took up the pressure, and in five minutes a smart shot from the left brought about the downfall of the Dumbarton stronghold. The Celts continued to hold the upper hand, and had hard tries, but Dumbarton never lay down. The footing had become very treacherous, rendering anything like accuracy impossible. The storm was renewed when fifteen minutes had gone, but not so severely. The pace was astonishing for the conditions, and it would be difficult to say which side showed the smartest play. The Celts tried hard to add to their score, but Dumbarton was difficult to beat. They conceded corners in abundance, but guarded their posts safely. Towards the finish Dumbarton spurted gamely, and once almost scored. Result :- Celtic, two goals; Dumbarton, nil.