| Match Pictures | Matches: 1977 – 1978 | 1977-1978 Pictures |
Trivia
- Stanton, Conn and Lynch were all out injured.
- The start was delayed for 10 minutes to allow the large crowd to get in.
- John Doyle is controversially sent off in the second half for accidentally hitting the ball off referee Bob Cuthill.
- Trouble breaks out in the terrace behind the goal as Celtic fans throw cans and bottles. Only the appearance of Jock Stein calms them.
- Doyle's sending off is later overturned at an SFA hearing.
- Roy Kay made his full Celtic debut.
- Ex-Celts Bobby Hannah plays for Ayr and Jim Brogan is on the bench.
- Highlights were shown on Scotsport next day.
- On the same day Celtic beat Ayr United 3-0 in a Reserve League match at Celtic Park. The Celtic team was Baines, Newman, McGrane, Mackie, McWilliams, Ward, Gibson, Godzik, G. McCluskey, McLaughlin, Temperley Subs Clifford and Coyne. The Celtic scorers were Temperley, Mackie and McLaughlin.
Review
Ayr, playing in an unusual all red strip, came back from a goal down to win 2-1.Their two goals were poor efforts from Celtic's viewpoint and Pat Stanton's calming influence was sorely missed in the Celtic defence.
Celtic went ahead when Craig picked up a rebound of a Tommy Burns shot. But in the second half McCall scored with a good shot from a pass from Bobby Hannah and three minutes later he fired home again.
Doyle's sending off was a travesty and embarrassing in front of his old club but at least the SFA were to overturn the decision a short while later. Cuthill lost control of the game which was in no way a dirty match, booking 4 players and sending off Doyle.
Teams
Ayr Utd:
Sproat, Rodman, Kelly, Fleming, McAnespie, Hannah, McCall, McSerry, Masterton, McCulloch, Crammond. Subs: Brogan, Phillips
Scorers: McCall 2 (56, 59)
Celtic:
Latchford, McGrain, Kay, Aitken, MacDonald, Burns, Glavin (Doyle), Edvaldsson, Craig, Lennox, Wilson (Casey).
Scorer: Craig (15)
Referee: R R Cuthill (Edinburgh)
Attendance: 14,500
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
