| Match Pictures | Matches:1953 – 1954 | 1953-54 pictures |
Trivia
- Again an unchanged team.
- On the Monday before the game Jimmy McGrory, Stein, Evans Tully and Peacock all went up to Arbroath to watch Stirling Albion play. The Binos held a record of never having been beaten by Celtic at Annfield.
- The match was an all-ticket game.
Review
Stirling were two goals up after twenty five minutes and looked as though they were cruising. The Celtic forwards looked settled but the defense had been beaten twice. Smith, Williamson and Kelly had all outwitted the Celtc defenders and Rattray was there to put the ball away. For the second again a simple pass outwitted the defense and Rattray easily slipped the ball past Bell. The fight back started when Stirling Albion were punished for handball. Haughney took no chances and blootered the ball into the net. Four minutes later Higgins equalised with a deft shot after a pass from Evans. Three minutes later they were ahead when Mochan scored direct from a free kick 30 yards out – a sensational turn round.
At the restart Celtic were in a confident mood and after five minutes Mochan got his second again from another cracking shot. As the Celts increased in confidence the Stirling defense started to crumble. When Kelly scored ten minutes from the end their heads came up and the last part of the game was tense.
That saw Celtic breaking the hex of Annfield and qualifying for the last eight in the Cup.
Teams
Stirling Albion:
Jenkins; Ferguson, Whitehead; Smith, Milligan, Swanson; Chalmers, Williamson, Kelly, Rattray, Brander.
Scorers: Rattray 2 (7, 25), Kelly (80)
Celtic:
Bell; Haughney, Meechan; Evans, Stein, Peacock; Higgins, Fernie, Walsh, Tully, Mochan.
Scorers: Haughney (29 pen), Higgins (33), Mochan 2 (36, 50)
Referee: H Phillips (Wishaw)
Attendance: 25,750
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)