| Match Pictures | Matches: 1971 – 1972 | 1971-1972 Pictures |
Trivia
- Jock Stein flew south in the week to watch the English Cup replay between Derby County and Arsenal. Arsenal were still in the European Cup.
- No change in the team apart from Pat McCluskey on the bench instead of Danny McGrain. Jimmy Johnstone was back having shaken off chickenpox but needed to get match fit.
- Corner count is Celtic 15, Ayr 2.
- Dalglish subbed with Ujpest in mind.
- Biggest roar of the day comes when it's announced that Partick have beaten Aberdeen 2-0 at Firhill. Result almost certainly guarantees Celtic another title.
- On the same day Celtic lost 3-2 to Ayr Utd in a Reserve League match at Somerset Park. The Celtic team was Connaghan, Craig, McGrain, McLaughlin, Lapinski, J. Davidson, Hancock, V. Davidson, Macari, White, Wilson. Sub Mitchell. The Celtic scorers were V. Davidson and McGrain.
- John Fallon joined Motherwell on a free transfer on the 29th February. Motherwell's first choice keeper broke his wrist in the previous game and they needed a goalkeeper urgently. Celtic had now managed to help out both Aberdeen and Motherwell with keepers this season.
- Bobby Murdoch became the father of a happy Leap Year baby when his wife delivered a son, their third child on the 29th February.
Review
A comfortable win and two fine goals from Dixie Deans.
It was goalless through the first half but yet again the half time team talk did the business and they came out fired up. Dixie's first came when he gathered a poorly hit clearance and fired home. And his second came from an acrobatic overhead kick.
Celtic went further ahead in the League after Partick Thistle beat Aberdeen.
Teams
Celtic:
Williams, Hay, Brogan, Murdoch, McNeill, Connelly, Hood, Dalglish (McCluskey), Deans, Callaghan, Lennox.
Scorers: Deans 2 (37, 74)
Ayr United:
Stewart; McFadzean and Murphy; McAnespie, Quinn and Filippi; Doyle and Graham; Ingram; McGregor and Robertson (Mitchell)
Scorers:
Referee: J. C. B. McRoberts (Wishaw).
Attendance: 25,000
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Articles
The Glasgow Herald Monday 6th March 1972
Deans sets Celtic cup problem
By William Hunter
Celtic 2, Ayr United 0
Deans, their No, 9, on Saturday gave Celtic a problem for this week's trip to Hungary. Most of the time he looked out of his depth. But he scored two goals in the second half, and nearly a third, when his more stylish mates never much looked like scoring at all.
Deans, probably, lacks class. He has not been long enough at Parkhead to have the Stein shine on him. But he is strong and sharp. He has a go, and does not fear taking the risk of sometimes making himself look foolish.
Above all on Saturday he had luck. For his first goal he only happened to be handy and close when an Ayr defender ****** a clearance into his path. His second was an overhead kick which went gloriously in-to the net, but looked as if it might as well have gone just about anywhere else.
Luck needed
So Deans in or out in Hungary? Probably out, on performance, is the only reasonable answer. But luck-plus-work go a long way in any cup game. It is a problem one is grateful not to have to solve.
Otherwise. Celtic had a quite thorough rehearsal for Hungary. They do not leave exactly, so to say, Ayr-borne for they played an ordinary and largely ineffective match against opponents who were always game but largely not on the same field after the first 20 minutes.
Dalglish –taken off half an hour from the end for the big one — was on form, and that is passport enough to travel hopefully to any country. Lennox remained revitalised.
Brogan had all his grit and Murdoch, though subdued, all of his majesty. In goal Williams seemed serenely assured despite his almost total unemployment. He had the full confidence of his colleagues, and that is worth a lot.
Europe is a different ball game entirely, however, and the dilemma about Deans must be more than a little worrying. Mainly, though, Celtic had 90 minutes of dull but victorious exercise; also a salutary reminder that it is goals that count and that even they can experience agonised difficulty in scoring them.
For their part Ayr are a young team with not many problems which time and some patience will not relieve. They had a lively left-wing pair in McGregor and Robertson, who was taken off at half-time, and a cool schemer in Graham. All of the backs played well enough, including McAnespie, who was the unlucky one who gave Deans the chance of his first goal. Quinn was especially stalwart.
Ayr's almost total eclipse is disguised by the scoreline and shown better by the total of corners. They conceded 15 corners and won two.
