| Match Pictures | Matches: 1971 – 1972 | 1971-1972 Pictures |
Trivia
- Jock Stein played the same team as had played in Hungary and done so well. Steve Hancock and Brian McLaughlin also travelled. In goal for Aberdeen was Gordon marshall Snr who had not long left Celtic Park.
- Dixie Deans was still out with a shoulder injury picked up in training in Hungary.
- Stein pleads with Doc to excuse tired Dalglish from International duty.
- Stein declares 'It's our title' after Celtic avoid defeat.
- Good result for Celtic coming off a tough European tie in Budapest.
- On the same day Celtic lost 2-0 to Aberdeen in a Reserve League match at Celtic Park. The Celtic team was Connaghan, Watt, Quinn, McCluskey, Lapinski, J. Davidson, Johnstone, V. Davidson, Wilson, White, O'Hara. Sub Franchetti.
Review
A tight game between two well matched sides which developed into a great midfield tussle. Lennox put Celtic ahead with 17 minutes left to play. Aberdeen redoubled their efforts and were rewarded when Joe Harper levelled the scores with 9 minutes remaining. McGrain was excellent in defense.
The team were, despite the result, generally tired and Dalglish in particular was lacklustre. Hay, McNeill and Connelly had played in just about every Celtic first team game this season bar 1 or 2 and at 21 Dalglish had missed only 4 games so far.
Teams
Aberdeen:
Marshall, Boel, Hermiston, S. Murray, Young, G. Murray, Forrest, Robb, Harper, Willoughby, Graham. Substitute: Taylor.
Scorer: Harper (81)
Celtic:
Williams, McGrain, Brogan, Murdoch, McNeill, Connelly, Hood, Hay, Dalglish (Callaghan 82), Macari, Lennox.
Scorer: Lennox (73)
Referee: J. R. P. Gordon (Newport-on-Tay).
Attendance: 33,000
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Articles:
Sunday Mail, March 30, 1972
CELTIC FLAG DAY BUT IT’S NO GIFT
By ALLAN HERRON
ABERDEEN ……………..1 CELTIC……………1
(Half-time 0-0)
Scorers: Aberdeen – Harper (81); Celtic – Lennox (73).
Celtic paved the way for another flag day with a gutsy, stubborn piece of play against the force of Aberdeen who poured all their troops into midfield to leave little room for skill and entertainment.
For most of the afternoon we had 16 players fighting and jousting for possession away from the target areas.
But if we didn’t get too many Hungarian style moves, we got a lot of punishing tackling and courageous running which held our concentration.
Celtic got the draw they wanted. And the Dons got the result they deserved to leave the conquerors of Budapest five points ahead with eight games to go.
But already it is all over. Celtic can be acclaimed as champions right now.
Mind you it looked as though Celtic had killed any reasonable doubt about the title when they scored a magnificently manipulated goal in 73 minutes.
They were awarded a free kick on the halfway line which Connelly took with a short side pass to Murdoch.
For once gorgeous George the cool cat of the Parkhead back four, drove himself into the Aberdeen rear, with a sprint down the right flank. It caught the Dons flat-footed.
Lennox’s sucker goal
Murdoch smartly slipped the ball to the big man in full flight and before the Don’s defence – which played so well throughout the day – could get themselves in order, the ball was on its way across goal.
In went Lennox, without hesitation, to flick the ball past the helpless Gordon Marshall. A sucker goal, as far as the Dons were concerned.
Celtic had deserved their goal. They had come good after a tough blistering first half which had been played more in the spirit of a cup-tie and which allowed only the brave to hold the ball.
Celtic almost had another goal in 78 minutes when Hood brilliantly controlled the ball on the left, shuffled away from Boel and flicked the ball hard across goal.
Dalglish was there – but so were the long legs of Willie Young who hooked the ball out of danger.
With ten minutes to go, Celtic replaced the tiring Kenny Dalglish with Tommy Callaghan but before Tam could get a touch of the ball, the Dons had scored a real beaut.
Alex Willoughby picked up the ball on the left, floated it towards the edge of the box and there was Aberdeen’s best forward, Joe Harper, who lashed the ball which simply exploded inside the far post. A draw – fair enough.
Celtic had had to work hard for their corn. The Dons had set out to bottle up the midfield and cut out the through balls to Dalglish, Macari and Lennox.
Both teams expended a lot of energy trying to win the ball, and hold it. Nobody got a second chance.
The Dons best players were all in defence. Only Joe Harper caused any real problems to Celtic. Even so Williams had to pull out a number of awkward saves.
Connelly was the key player for Celtic, always cool, always alert to the pass to make the Dons suffer. Hood, brilliant in possession had a terrific 90 minutes while Murdoch, McGrain and Williams played well.
ABERDEEN—Marshall; Boel, Hermiston; R. Murray, Young, G. Murray; Forrest, Robb, Harper, Willoughby and Graham. Sub.—Taylor not used.
CELTIC—Williams; McGrain, Brogan; Murdoch, McNeill and Connelly; Hood, Hay, Dalglish, Macari, Lennox. Sub. Callaghan for Dalglish 80 minutes.
Referee – J. R. P. Gordon, Newport on Tay.
Attendance – 33,000
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The Sunday Post, March 12, 1972
DONS PLAYED IT TOO CAGEY
By DOUG BAILLIE
ABERDEEN 1, CELTIC 1.
Half-time 0-0. Scorers – Aberdeen – Harper (82 min.); Celtic – Lennox (74).
Aberdonians are famed for being canny with their cash. I’m afraid this self-same caution has reared its ugly head in their team as well. And they will never win the League title as long as they persevere along these lines.
Consider these points. Celtic had just returned from a tough game in Europe. The Dons must have known they had to beat them to keep in touch with the top.
But what happens? They play it tight at the back and leave only Jim Forrest and Joe Harper to do the brunt of the attacking.
They did get a goal however, and a smasher it was, too, but it came when the game was petering out to a quiet Celtic victory and they at last threw their earlier caution overboard.
It proves my point. They can and will do better when they have a real go!
In the end I reckon it’s a great result for Celtic and a bad one for Aberdeen.
Jock Stein sent out his Hungary heroes. His boys didn’t play as well here as in Budapest, but they have got it down to a fine art when it comes to doing just enough to get by and no more.
CRACKING GOALS
All in all, it was a disappointing match. With so many players involved in the midfield, it was unbelievable.
Nevertheless the big crowd got something to shout about with the two goals.
Davie Robb flattened David Hay and Murdoch placed the free right into George Connelly’s path on the overlap.
George steadied himself, took a look and hit a screamer across goal. Bobby Lennox didn’t bother to take a look. He swung his leg, connected and if the net hadn’t been there the ball would have finished up in the sea.
Aberdeen’s was practically identical. Alec Willoughby cut one back and local hero Joe Harper did very well to hit home a left-footer with the ball slightly behind him.
The league is now kaput as far as the Dons are concerned. No doubt Jimmy Bonthrone will be thinking about just how he is going to pip Celtic next season.
The safety-first will have to go for a start, and I would play Davie Robb in the firing line. He’s lost in midfield. I know from experience, not all that happy in my case, just how awkward a customer he can be up front.
CLASS BY THEMSELVES
Celtic, of course, are cert flag winners, and you have got to admire them.
From the pomp and circumstance of Europe to auld claes and parritch of League football. In my book they are in a class by themselves.
Bobby Murdoch is Bobby Murdoch again. Billy McNeill and George Connelly were solid at the back. And with Harry Hood supplying the goods in midfield and Ken Dalglish and Lou Macari up front they cannot go wrong.
Aberdeen? They are missing Buchan’s class (and I don’t mean any disrespect to George Murray – he did a good job). But I did like big Willie Young and Joe Harper.
Crowd –33,000
Aberdeen—Marshall; Boel, Hermiston, S. Murray, Young, G. Murray, Forrest, Robb, Harper, Willoughby and Graham.
Celtic—Williams; McGrain, Brogan, Murdoch, McNeill, Connelly, Hood, Hay, Dalglish (Callaghan), Macari, Lennox.
Referee – J. R. P. Gordon, Newport on Tay.
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The Glasgow Herald, Monday 13th March 1972
Docherty to decide today whether to replace Dalglish
By Raymond Jacobs
Celtic, by drawing 1-1 with Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday, the fourth such result in a row in league games between the two clubs, kept their only rivals for the title at a five-point distance. With only eight games left, one of them in hand, Celtic have a firmer grip than ever on a seventh successive championship — a record that would stand for a long time against all-comers, with the possible exception of Celtic themselves.
Now Celtic face up to an exhaustive programme, beginning with the Scottish Cup quarter-final against Hearts on Saturday and the European Cup return tie against Ujpest Dozsa on Wednesday of next week. In preparation for these games Jock Stein expects to take his players to Troon on Thursday and then to their usual Ayrshire coast stamping ground, Seamill.
In the meantime, Stein will almost certainly be at Leicester tonight to watch Arsenal, possible opponents for Celtic in the European Cup semi-finals, in their FA Cup second replay against Derby County. Such an intensive succession of matches added to the league schedule puts a strain on the resources even of a club as richly endowed as Celtic, and Wednesday’s inter-League match at Middlesbrough adds to it.
One result is that Stein has asked Tommy Docherty to release Kenny Dalglish from the Scottish League pool because the player is physically tired. Dalglish was replaced near the end of Saturday's match by Tommy Callaghan and Docherty will decide today whether or, not to call up another player. Lou Macari, another chosen for the English game, has an ankle injury and his response to further treatment today will decide whether or not he travels to Yorkshire tomorrow.
Hopes that the long-awaited game between the two clubs who have been solely involved in the contest for the league championship would be a memorable one were not sustained. It was too hectic and untidy and interrupted by numerous free kicks to develop into a game embodying a display of the finer arts of the game.
A European match, of course, has a notoriously unsettling effect on ateam's performances, before and after it. Mix in the travelling involved and disappointment that Celtic did not maintain the brilliance of their form against Ujpest was tempered. Celtic played as though they were still trying to clear their heads of the powerful bouquet left by their champagne football in Budapest.
The same side were, so to speak, suffering from a hangover and, understandably, could not make lightning strike again. Hood and Lennox carried the burden of Celtic's attacks, but Hay and Dalglish were less productive than they had been three days before. The best of Celtic derived from the knowing touches of Murdoch and from farther back yet, where the Connelly-McNeill partnership was firm and McGrain and Williams gave little away.
Appropriately Celtic's goal emanated from Connelly, breaking fast on the right to take Murdoch's delicate chip forward, and Lennox rammed in the wing half's cutback pass with 16 minutes of the game left. That was just about the only clear-cut chance Celtic made, and, credit for the fact that it must be a long time since they contrived so few lay with Aberdeen's defence, under particular pressure during the second half.
And yet it was inevitable at the end, to be disappointed by Aberdeen. It was, after all, for them to show that they could rise to this challenge, but too many of their players did not respond to the needs of the hour.
Harper was virtually on his own as an effective threat, and it was fitting that he should score, hooking home Willoughby's cross eight minutes from time. But the feeling then was that Aberdeen were simply fighting back, relaxed in the knowledge that the battle was over. They did make more chances for themselves than Celtic; Steve Murray and Forrest were not far off hitting the target and Young had a header cleared from the line by McGrain. But they were as unsuccessful at bringing continuous pressure to bear as Celtic, on whom, of course, the burden to do so lay less heavily.
Narrower horizons
Indeed, apart from Harper, Young was potentially more dangerous in attack than any other in his side, especially when he used his height and power at the set pieces. George Murray looked much more the part as Young's support in defence than he did against Partick Thistle. But at the end Aberdeen seemed to be pleased at having avoided defeat — which in its own way summarises their inhibition and their narrower horizons.
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Sunday Mail, March 12, 1972 (Back page headline)
Stein’s plea to Doc….
KENNY NEEDS A REST
Celtic manager Jock Stein will get in touch with Scotland team boss Tommy Docherty tomorrow and suggest that Kenny Dalglish be pulled out of the League national at Middlesbrough on Wednesday.
Stein, who substituted Tom Callaghan for Dalglish 10 minutes from the end of yesterday’s absorbing 1-1 draw with Aberdeen said: “We pulled Kenny out simply because he was tired. This boy has missed nothing all season.
“I’ll be back in touch with the ‘Doc’ and make him aware of the situation. He can play him if he likes, but Dalglish is a tired player at the moment.”
