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Trivia
- Tommy Burns had just won 'Manager of the Month' and John Collins 'Player of the Month' in the Bells Scottish Premier League. Burns had steered Celtic to the top of the league following previous week's win over Hibs, while Collins' fine goals for club and country confirmed his status as the country's outstanding player. (Collins was also even so being linked every week with a move to another club).
- On the same day Celtic defeated Motherwell 6-0 in a Reserve League match at Cliftonhill. The Celtic team was Kerr, Martin, Slavin, Mackay, Gray, Carberry (McQuilken 80), Vata, McStay, McLaughlin, Byrne, Hay (Anthony 83). Sub McCondichie (gk). The Motherwell team was Shaw, Ferguson, Campbell, S. McMillan, Miller, Shields, Burns, J. McMillan, Paterson (Bain 58), Rae, McCulloch. Sub Ferguson, Gow (gk). The Celtic scorers were Hay 56, 63, Mackay 20, Vata 76, McStay pen 78, McLaughlin 88.
Review
Hard fought away draw which exposed the weaknesses of the team for all to see, despite being top of the league at this point.
Peter Grant red following two tackles both of which got yellows – thus the red
Brian O'Neil as a centre half!!!!; McStay dropped and on the bench; Donnelly dropped; Mowbray out injured
Teams
Motherwell: Woods, Shannon, McKinnon, Philliben, Martin, McCart, Lambert, Dolan, Coyne, Arnott, Davies. Subs: Kirk, Roddie, Allan (gk)(subs to be confirmed used or unused)
Scorer: Arnott (88)
Celtic: Marshall, Galloway, Boyd, McNally, O'Neil, Grant, McGinlay, O'Donnell, Nicholas (Falconer), Walker (McStay), Collins. NU Sub: Bonner
Scorer: Walker (35)
Venue: Fir Park, Motherwell
Attendance: 10,869
Referee: Timmons
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Articles
- Match Report from Scotland on Sunday
Arnott steals Celtic's thunder
02/10/1994 Kevin McCarra at Fir Park
CELTIC had already lost one of their players – Peter Grant, who was sent off – before two of the three points were also removed from them by Dougie Arnott's 88th-minute equaliser. Although the timing might suggest an under-manned Celtic simply succumbed to bombardment, that was not really the case. They were limited to a draw not because they were a man short, but because of the shortcomings of a man who was there. As the ball dropped innocently into the penalty area, Mike Galloway attempted to bring it under control. Perhaps he was even trying to flick play to his goalkeeper, Gordon Marshall, who was standing nearby. In any case, it was neither the moment, nor the place, for subtlety. The ball bobbled free and Arnott required only to lunge and make contact in order to score.
Motherwell were all pumping hearts and churning legs in the second half and probably deserved the result. That will not soothe an old hand such as Tommy Burns who knows that championships tend to be secured through larcenous victories here and there. An inability to thieve a win yesterday was not entirely a matter of mischance. Galloway could only feature as a defender at a club which has, until very recently, been starved of funds. Without entering into a campaign of vilification, it would be fair to say that he does not exude reliability at the back. A year ago, for instance, misplaced bravado saw him lose possession to Ian Durrant, who then set up the winner for Rangers in the League Cup semi-final.
At right-back and in another couple of positions, Burns sorely needs new recruits. The manager knows it, but extracting good players from other clubs will be a slow, as well as costly, business. For the moment, he has a team fitfully impressive. They only scored once yesterday, but that single goal was rich fare all by itself.
Celtic, after 35 minutes, methodically played passes before swooping on the right. Galloway found Pat McGinlay with his back to goal, but the midfielder still noticed Andy Walker's run and found him with an ideal lay-off. Walker moved on and, from the edge of the area, curled a left-foot shot round Stevie Woods.
Motherwell's exasperation can only have been intensified by the memory of an incident which shaped this game.
With a quarter-of-an-hour gone, Billy Davies knocked a pass into the area and a dummy by Tommy Coyne startled Tommy Boyd who darted out a hand to stop the ball. The referee, Mr Timmons, and his linesman saw nothing amiss.
After falling behind, and still suffering from the disappointment of UEFA Cup defeat, Motherwell might easily have directed their energy towards protests and grumbles. Instead, they whipped up a hectic second half which included a couple of likely chances.
After 50 minutes, Steve Kirk put Coyne through, but Marshall threw his hands up and took enough pace off the striker's chip to allow Brian O'Neil to clear the loose ball.
Fourteen minutes from time, Chris McCart rose to Andy Roddie's cross but directed it too close to the goalkeeper. Until Galloway's intervention, though, a recast defence, in which O'Neil excelled, mostly contained the opposition.
O'Neil's abilities have been acknowledged ever since he was a 16-year-old whose juvenile exploits included membership of that bunch of Scottish tearaways who reached the World Youth final in 1989. Despite the approval, it has been much harder to say what his talent is for. O'Neil lacks the change of pace which has become an essential qualification for the wide positions and that same sluggishness hampered him when Lou Macari gave the 22-year-old an audition as an attacker. No point even thinking about a place in the centre of midfield. So far as Celtic are concerned, it would be easier to secure membership of Muirfield. Even John Collins has been blackballed and can only peer in from his spot on the left. It looked as if O'Neil's career was running out of possibilities. If an apprenticeship at centre-half is his last chance, however, it remains an encouraging possibility. A glance at his height and shoulder span tells you as much. O'Neil has been playing centre-back for the reserves but Tony Mowbray's absence with 'flu allowed him to attempt the adult version of the job yesterday. Concerns that he might not prove aggressive enough were dispelled when he collected a defender's badge of honour, a yellow card within five minutes. Otherwise his performance was full of less questionable marks of distinction.
O'Neil might have had an entirely gratifying afternoon had Grant's pass, in 84 minutes, not been too far ahead of McGinlay, preventing the midfielder from shooting until Woods was close enough to block. There was an even greater misjudgement by Grant a minute later. He had already been booked for an earlier foul on Jamie Dolan and when he halted the midfielder's run another caution, and with it dismissal, was inevitable.