| Match Pictures | Matches: 1952 – 1953 | 1952-53 Pictures |
Trivia
- Celtic had been due to play East Fife at home, a top of the table clash, on the 29th December. McPhail was to play outside right with Fallon at centre forward and John Jack at left half. On the day of the game a sudden cold snap gripped Scotland and the game was cancelled, not though a frozen pitch but because of fog.
- Joe Baillie was out injured with a twisted knee sustained in the last played game against Airdrie – Alex Rollo moved to left half as cover there; the 6ft 2" James McIlroy came in as centre forward. McIlroy had played in the floodlit away friendly at Doncaster Rovers the previous month when he had been doing his National Service with the RAF in the north of England. He'd performed well enough for Celtic to bring him back up the road (he was already signed to Celtic) and on here for his senior debut. To make way for him, McPhail moved to outside right!
- Sean Fallon was appointed team captain in oreder to give McPhail a chance to improve his form. Fallon selected Jock Stein as his vice-captain.
Review
A great game that saw all the Celtic players tackling hard and laying the ball on for others. Fernie had a very good shot in the early minutes. Fallon made a last ditch tackle to deny Reilly. Rollo was doing well on the left and made a good run and cross for McIlroy to head over. McIlroy got the opening goal for Celtic on the half hour mark. Collecting a clearance from Hunter at the half way line, he took off on a run leaving Hibs defenders in his wake and fired home from 12 yards. McPhail nearly got a second when Younger failed to hold a Walsh shot. Both Walsh and Peacock came into the game and McIlroy's height was causing Hibs problems. At half time it was 0-1 to Celtic.
Celtic came out searching for a second and nearly got it from McIlroy. Hibs got their equaliser when Boden fell in the act of tackling Johnstone which allowed him to get his cross over for Reilly to head home.
A very decent game which Celtic made a lot of the running and should have won.
Teams
Hibernian:
Younger; Govan, Howie; Buchanan, Paterson, Combe; Smith, Johnstone, Reilly, Turnbull, Ormond.
Scorers: Reilly (59)
Celtic:
Hunter; Boden, Fallon; Evans, Stein, Rollo; McPhail, Fernie, McIlroy, Walsh, Peacock.
Scorers: McIlroy (30)
Referee: R Yacamini (Perth)
Attendance: 40,000
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
- Match Pictures
