| Match Pictures | Matches: 1921 – 1922 | 1921 pictures |
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Review
Celtic lose their first game of the season to an injury-stricken though spirited Hibernian.
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Referee:
Attendance: 17,000
Goals: Paterson, Gallacher, Walker
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- Match Report (see end of page below)
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Match report from The Scotsman, 20th September 1921
There was a crowd of about 17,000 at the Autumn Holiday match at Easter Road, Edinburgh, yesterday, and they saw the Celtic suffer their first Scottish league defeat, after one of the keenest games in Edinburgh this season. Th Hibernians had to rearrange their side, and in place of the injured Anderson, the experiment was made of playing Paterson at centre forward. Shaw was at centre-half, and the vacancy in the middle line was filled by the inclusion of Strang. Templeton played for McGinnigle, who was still injured, and Walker was at outside-left. The first half was evenly contested. At the start the Hibs were mostly aggressive, but they did not take their chances, though Ritchie struck the crossbar when Shaw was out of his goal, and Paterson had more than one good attempt to find the net, one in particular when he caught the ball in the air and came near scoring with a hit-or-a-miss effort.
It was to Paterson that the first goal fell, and a nice hook of his it was that beat Shaw. Straight from the kick-off the ball went to Gallacher, and the Celt, despite the close attention of two Hibernian men, took the ball down to Harper, whom he beat with a gentle tap. No Hibs' player had touched the ball from the kick-off. The two goals were scored within almost the same minute. At half-time an equal division of the goals was just about the right thing according to the play.
The second half was all in favour of the Hibernians, who gave the Celtic defence a bad time, but it was not until the last minutes that the leading goal was obtained, Walker heading through from a fine cross by Ritchie. Walker had not been particularly prominent prior to that. Paterson was far from the ideal centre-forward, but was always a source of trouble to the defence. The Celtic defence was weaker than it used to be; so were the half-backs; and the best of the forwards were the inside wing men – Gallacher and Cassidy. Halligan and Dunn, notably the former, were also very good, and Halligan was as useful a forward as any in the game. Ritchie also played well. The Hibernian defence was very sound. All over, they well deserved their victory; it would have been hard luck on them if they had had to be satisfied with a draw.