Match Pictures | Matches: 1983 – 1984 | 1983-84 Pictures
Trivia
- This defeat see Celtic drop to three points behind league leaders Aberdeen.
- Celtic blew a two goal lead.
- 2nd placed Dundee Utd drew 0-0 at Ibrox.
- Celtic played in green socks
Review
Celtic were 2-0 up after 19 minutes and all looked well.
However the big Celtic support looked on stunned as St Mirren came roaring back to lead 3-2 on the stroke of half time inspired by their forward pairing of McAvennie and McDougall.
In the second half Celtic pressed without looking convincing and iy was all over when Ian Scanlon scored an astonishing 40 yard volley with only two minutes to go.
Without the injured Davie Provan Celtic had no width and with Roy Aitken in midfield the defence missed his influence in that area.
Inconsistency is plaguing Davie Hay’s team.
Manager Interview – Davie Hay
“That Celtic performance was abysmal, for Celtic to build a two-goal lead then throw it away in such a manner is unheard of. We cannot afford to play like that on Wednesday night. It we did, we’d have no chance of qualifying for the next round of the UEFA Cup.
“I’m sure that the lads will pick themselves up after this defeat and turn in a more realistic performance, recent games have seen us play brilliantly against Sporting Lisbon then play poorly, like our recent match against Airdrie in the League Cup. Saturday’s was not a match that we started particularly brilliantly but we did build up a lead then we fell away.
“We cannot expect to play as we did against Sporting in every game, but there is a certain standard below which Celtic should never fall. We fell well below that standard on Saturday.”
Teams
St Mirren:-
Thomson, Clark, Hamilton, McCormack (Jarvie), Cooper, Fulton, Fitzpatrick, McAvennie (Alexander), McDougall, Abercrombie, Scanlon
Goals:- Clarke 25, McCormack 32, McDougall 45, Scanlon 88.
Celtic:-
Bonner, McGrain, Sinclair, Aitken, McAdam, W McStay (Halpin), McClair, P McStay, McGarvey, MacLeod, Burns.
Sub not used- Brian Whittaker.
Goals:- Burns 9, Aitken 19.
Ref:-
Att:- 13,062.
Articles
- Match Report (See Below)
Pictures
Articles
Match Report
Celtic started in great form and by the 19th minute had the fans rubbing their hands together in anticipation of what was to come, by half-time, though, things looked entirely different and as the second period went on it looked less and less likely that Celtic would take anything from the match.
One would need to go back a very long way to find the last time Celtic lost full points after building up a two-goal lead. That is exactly what happened here.
Tommy Burns capitalised on some early pressure which turned on the edge of the box, left the defence stranded and shot Celtic into a ninth minute lead with his right foot.
Ten minutes later a long range ball from Paul McStay gave McGrain room overlapping on the right. The Celtic skipper sent over a magnificent cross which was met and headed home by his deputy, Roy Aitken.
St Mirren might have been down but they were anything but out. Within six minutes they were to start the biggest comeback defeat witnessed by Celtic fans for a long, long time.
By half-time Celtic were trailing by a goal after a 20-yard shot from Saints’ full-back Steve Clarke, a John McCormack strike and a header by McDougall had all found the net.
The Celtic defence was in an awful state, there seemed to be no composure, no understanding although McGrain, McAdam and Aitken could each be argued to have been Celtic’s best player on the day.
Things got worse in the second half as move after move by Celtic fizzled out and St Mirren definitely looked the more worthy winners.
As Celtic pushed for an equaliser a magnificent 35-yard shot by Scanlon in the 88th minute left Pat Bonner stranded and assured St Mirren of full points.
Frankly some Celtic players tried hard, but as a team, a point would have been more than they deserved.
