| Match Pictures | Matches: 1962 – 1963 | 1962-63 Pictures |
Trivia
- The draw was made for the semi-final of the Scottish Cup. Celtic would meet Raith Rovers away. In the other semi, Dundee or Rangers would meet either Dundee Utd or Queen of the South. Raith Rovers had beaten Aberdeen 2-1 rather unexpectedly. Dundee had drawn with with Rangers 1-1 with Rangers having a last minute winner chalked off for offside with the ensuing supporters mayhem. The Queen of the South v Dundee Utd game had yet to be played when the draw was made.
- Celtic's second XI reserves met Morton's Reserves at Cappielow on the Monday night, the game ending in a 1-1 draw. The team was Madden; Young, Gemmell; Henderson, Cushley, J Brogan; Jackson, Lennox, Rooney, Gallacher, Byrne. Three of these had yet to make a first team debut. They were right half Sam Henderson, left half Jim Brogan who had only recently started full time at Celtic and centre forward Benny Rooney. Only Rooney would fail to make the first team but he would come back as Celtic Youth Development Officer in the future.
- As the League table for the end of the previous month shows, the Maryhill Magyars were having a good season and stood third in the table. Celtic were two points behind them having played three games more.
- Celtic had delayed announcing their team till right before kick off. Jim Kennedy was out and Willie O'Neill came in; With John Hughes out, John Divers moved to centre forward with Bobby Murdoch going to inside right and Bobby Craig restored to the team.
Review
Johnny Divers had a great game at centre forward and caused the Thistle defense no end of trouble with his movement. This made openings for all the other forwards. Divers made the opening and pass for Craig to get the opener in the first minute. Thistle's attacks all lacked the final killer punch. The second was rather fortuitous with a Chalmers shot hitting Murdoch's foot to cannon in. Sandy Brown handled to give Celtic a penalty not long before half time, which Duncan MacKay despatched. And there was still time for a fourth when Divers pounced on a short pass back.
After the break Bobby Craig got his second and Celtic's fifth and Fleming got a consolation goal for the Jags. Celtic were cruising at the end and were able to take Bobby Murdoch off ten minuites from the whistle when he was injured. Billy McNeill controlled the game at the back for Celtic with ample support from his fellow half backs Price and McNamee, but this was a very good team display from Celtic.
Teams
Partick Thisle:
Niven; Muir, Brown; Harvey, McKinnon, Cunningham; Cowan, Fleming, Smith, Duffy, McParland.
Scorers: Fleming (76)
Celtic:
Haffey; MacKay, O'Neill; McNamee, McNeill, Price; Chalmers, Craig, Divers, Murdoch, Brogan.
Scorers: Craig 2 (1, 47), Murdoch (24), MacKay (pen, 42), Divers (44)
Referee: H Phillips (Wishaw)
Attendance: n/a
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
