| Match Pictures | Matches: 1967 – 1968 | 1967-68 Pictures |
Trivia
Willie Wallace, who had been ordered off on the 9th December in the game against Dundee Utd faced the disciplinary committee on the Monday before this game and found himself suspended till January 5th, meaning he'd be out for four games.
- During the week the club were hosted at the City Chambers by the Lord Provost John Johnston and presented with a silver plaque by the City of Glasgow in commemoration of their European Cup win. The plaque bore the city coat of arms together with the club crest along with the names of the team, the directors and backroom staff. In return Robert Kelly presented the Lord Provost with a silver cigarette case and the Lady Provost with a commemorative medallion.
- Willie O'Neill had picked up a back injury and was seeing a specialist to try and diagnose the nature of the injury. He was out for the rest of the yeaqr at least.
- A new Combined Reserve League was set up and due to start in the new year
- Jock Stein delayed naming any team until he had seen the pitch at Cappielow. A heavy pitch at the ground saw somewhat unexpectedly Joe McBride at centre forward marking his return to the first team, with John Hughes going to his usual outside left berth. Stevie Chalmers found himself skelf collecting on the bench again. Willie Wallace, as noted above, was suspended.
- Both Gerry Sweeney and sub Tony Taylor for Morton were ex-Celts recruited to Morton from Celtic's reserve sides.
Review
If the Dundee game showed apparently a close-score game which was in fact an easy Celtic victory, then this game was the exact opposite. With a 4-0 win one would have expected an easy walk for Celtic but this game was far from that with three goals coming in the last fifteen minutes.
Celtic started well putting Morton under pressure and after five minutes Joe McBride shot the Bhoys ahead after a great through pass from McNeill. This came after Lennox had already had a 'goal' ruled out and Jimmy Johnstone was already creating havoc on the right wing. What happened thereafter was that Morton got their defensive act together with Murray Strachan and Rankin outstanding.
It wasn't till late in the game with the heavy pitch taking more of a toll on the Morton players than on the fitter Celtic players that Celtic started to find themselves on top. Hughes was always the menace and revelled in the heavy conditions and for the last part of the game he moved into the centre. Together with McBride they formed a spearhead against the Morton defense. Good work between them saw McBride slip the ball into the net on 76 minutes for Celtic's second and five minutes later Hughes scored with an individual goal when he cut in from the left. It took just three minutes to cap that and McBride headed home after good work from Hughes and Auld.
Team
Morton
Russell, Murray, Loughlan, Artentoft, Strachan, Rankin, Thorup (Taylor), Jensen, Mason, Stevenson, Sweeney
Celtic
Simpson, Craig, Gemmell, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, Lennox, McBride, Auld, Hughes Substitute: Chalmers
Scorers McBride 3 (5, 76, 84), Hughes (81)
Referee: J McKee (Kirkintilloch)
Attendance: 18,000
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
