| Match Pictures | Matches: 1983 – 1984 | 1983-84 Pictures |
Trivia
- League debut for Jim Melrose.
- Celtic announce they will play a testimonial against Man Utd for Lou Macari at a date to be arranged.
Review
On Saturday Celtic unleashed their new striking partnership of Frank McGarvey and Jim Melrose on the Premier League and right away new boy Melrose put himself firmly in the hearts of the Celtic support.
Melrose, playing in front of the Celtic fans for the third time inside his first eight days as a Celtic player showed just what the Celtic fans, and the manager, wanted to see – commitment.
Jim beat his former Partick Thistle team-mate, Alan Rough, to score Celtic’s second and earn himself the applause of the fans who’d travelled to Edinburgh from all over Scotland. they had already begun to like him, this goal sealed it.
After his first Premier League match Celtic manager, Davie Hay, demonstrated the kind of cool that was always associated with him as a player. He said “I did not feel any pressure, all the pressure was on the players. They were keen to do well, and they did. I was pleased for the fans, too, that the boys achieved a victory.”
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Saturday’s match was the attitude of the Hibernian officials towards the Celtic support.
Knowing that ours is a very loyal support and would travel to Edinburgh in large numbers, they decided to make the admission charge to the terracing £2.00. if this exploitation alone is not upsetting, the fact that no boys gate or facility for cheaper entry by pensioners existed, surely is.
In these days when we are constantly being reminded of the danger football is in due to falling attendances, should it not be the priority of clubs to encourage young people to come through the turnstiles. Instead, it seems that Hibernian are determined to make it more difficult for them, financially anyway.
Teams
Hibernian:
Rough, McKee, Sneddon, Brazil, Rae, McNamara, Conroy (Duncan), Rice, Irvine, Thomson, Callachan.
Sub:- Murray.
Celtic:
Bonner, McGrain, Reid, Aitken, McAdam, MacLeod, Provan, P McStay, McGarvey (Crainie 66), Burns, Melrose.
Sub:- Dobbin.
Goals:- MacLeod 49, Melrose 62.
Ref:- T Muirhead (Stenhousemuir).
Att:- 16,750.
Articles
- Match Report (See Below)
Pictures
Manager Interview – Davie Hay
- “I did not feel any pressure, all the pressure was on the players. They were keen to do well, and they did. I was pleased for the fans, too, that the boys achieved a victory.
I was very disappointed for everyone last week when we lost to Rangers. There have been changes at the club, on the playing side and although I realise there is still some way to go , I think that performance on Tuesday night against Spurs and on Saturday against Hibs, must show things are heading in the right direction.
I put a great deal of importance on commitment and if our players continue to give the same sort of effort as we saw at Easter Road, then we should do well.”
Articles
Match Report
This was not a particularly entertaining match, but Celtic played a disciplined direct game which had their fans confident of a win from the start.
Hibs, on the other hand, seemed to have very little belief in their own ability and set out to contain Celtic , often reverting to illegal and heavy handed methods.
Both teams came close in the first half. Celtic continually moved forward and saw efforts from McGarvey, Melrose, Burns and McStay all fail to open the scoring. Alan Rough was in fine form.
Thomson and Rice for Hibs got into the Celtic box but Pat Bonner coped with their efforts.
Half-Time
Hibernian 0-0 Celtic
Three minutes after the restart Celtic had a great chance to take the lead when Melrose headed the ball down to Provan in front of goal, but Provan headed wide of the post.
A minute later Provan put in a cross for MacLeod to head high into the net to open the scoring.
Hibernian now came a bit more into it and it took a wonderful save by Bonner to stop Irvine from equalising.
Celtic’s second goal came in the 66th minute and Melrose was the scorer. The striker brought the ball out of the air and coolly shot past Rough from the edge of the box.
Right away, Celtic substituted McGarvey with Danny Crainie and ten minutes later the youngster saw a spectacular mid-air effort, from a cross by Melrose from the right, saved by Rough.
Full-Time
Hibernian 0-2 Celtic
