1995-02-25: Hearts 1-1 Celtic. Premier Division.

Match Pictures | Matches: 1994 – 1995 | 1994-1995 Pictures

Trivia

  • Celtic record their sixteenth league draw in only their twenty-sixth game of the season.
  • On the same day Celtic defeated Hibs 3-0 in a Reserve League match at Easter Road, The Hibs team was Gardner, Brown, Dods, Tortolano, McDonald, Orr (Lockhart 61), Renwick, Miller, Dallas, Evans, Miller. Sub not used Cook. The Celtic team was Marshall, White, Vata, Boyle (Morrison 26), Martin, Walker (Hamill 80), Gray, Nicholas, McQuilken, Byrne, O'Neill. The Celtic scorers were Gray 6, Byrne 35 and McQuilken 87.

Review

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Articles

  • Match Report (see end of page below)

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Articles

The Herald (Glasgow)
February27, 1995
Celtichopes shot down by Jamieson's guided missile Bad bounce leads to one of the season's best strikes

BYLINE:Ian Paul

MAYBE it was just another example of Sod's Law, but one of the worst games of the year produced the goal of the season from the unlikeliest source. Willie Jamieson, who has scored a few goals in his time but is better known as a staunch defender, delivered the finest 30-yard shot of his life. The ball travelled like a guided missile all the way to the top right -hand corner of the net and gave a game of dreary mediocrity one of the year's finest moments. The man himself seemed as astonished as everyone else at Tynecastle. For a player approaching 32, who has been through most of the good and bad bits of the Scottish professional scene, it was a wonderful experience and he was suitably thrilled. He did not, however, enter into a lengthy, egotistical description of how he deliberately took aim and sent in a glorious volley. "I just decided to hit it," was his more prosaic summation. He reckoned theHeartssupporters, when they saw who had been presented with the ball that far out, were shouting: 'Don't hit it," and also suggested thatCelticmanager Tommy Burns probably shouted: "Hit it," safe in the knowledge that Jamieson had more chance of hitting Gorgie Road than the net. "When the ball came to me I chested it down and would normally have lobbed it over their defence in the hope that one of our strikers could nip in at the back," added Jamieson, "but it bounced a bit near me so I just hit it." His strike came one minute from the end, at a point whenHearts'forwards were about as threatening as a toothless terrier andCeltic, who had been the better side all the way, seemed assured of one of their rare three-point afternoons. It should be emphasised thatCelticwere not good, just better thanHearts.They had scored a fine goal of their own, through Phil O'Donnell, but did very little else to worry aHeartsdefence in which Craig Levein was sound. In fact,Celtic'sbest players were also at the back, where Tony Mowbray played really well and Brian O'Neil, but for a couple of errors, was once again excellent. O'Donnell had his best game for a while, but that was overdue. The £1.7m midfielder has been pretty anonymous in recent weeks, and not just because he has not been scoring goals. His last score before Saturday was in September, a long time ago for a player with his eye on goal, but he admitted he would have been more worried if he had not been in the right place to get chances. "I have missed quite a few, but at least I have been getting into scoring positions," he said. "However, I have been hitting the keeper with them. My form has been up and down and I have been working hard to get a bit more consistent. Niggling injuries have been the biggest problem." He pointed out that all the Parkhead players are frustrated at the run of draws this season — this was their sixteenth — but still believes that second spot in the table is within their reach. At the moment,Celticlie in fourth place, five points behind second-top Motherwell, but O'Donnell, not surprisingly, reckonsCelticwill get into a winning groove and have time enough to make up the ground. O'Donnell's goal, early in the second half, was a well struck left-foot volley that gave Craig Nelson no chance, and nothing much happened from then until Willie Jamieson stepped in.Celticmanager Tommy Burns said: "Somebody up there doesn't like us. It is not the first time we have had a win snatched from us this season. When I saw the ball go to big Willie I thought: no problem. But then as good a goal as you could wish to see flies in." Five players were booked, Levein and Scott Leitch ofHearts,as well as Celic's O'Donnell, O'Neil and Tosh McKinlay, who could have been fortunate not to get a red card for a blatant body-check on Thomas. Maybe the absence of John Robertson and Jim Bett was too much forHeartsbut, whatever the reason, they were a dreary disappointment after their win over Rangers earlier in the week.
The Scotsman
February27, 1995, Monday
Costly habit for overdrawnCeltic

BYLINE:By Mike Aitken

SIXTEEN draws in 26 league games suggest that eitherCelticcan't decide whether they're hard to beat or that this is a team which is just plain shy about winning.Tommy Burns, theCelticmanager, thinks his side have been drawn into a mid-table position mainly by an inability to supply a killer touch.
Saturday's share of the spoils withHeartsat Tynecastle was a particularly galling example for him ofCeltic'stalent for proving quick on the draw.
This was another game the Glasgow side should have won, and although nothing could have stopped Willie Jamieson's spectacular late equaliser forHearts,it would be remiss ofCelticto dwell over much on a sense of misfortune.

The fact of the matter was thatHeartsdelivered their worst display in months, and no more than competence was required ofCelticto pocket three points.Celticwere the more impressive side and useful contributions from centre-half Tony Mowbray, goal-scorer Phil O'Donnell and winger Brian McLaughlin gave them the upper hand.
Yet, faced with an ineptHearts'side who were quite unrecognisable from the team who put four goals past Rangers a week ago,Celticwere strangely unwilling to assert their sup- eriority.
True, O'Donnell's 53rd- minute goal was a splendid creation.
The former Motherwell player chested down Brian O'Neil's header from a John Collins corner before firing a stunning volley past Craig Nelson from 16 yards.
It was only O'Donnell's fourth goal since joiningCeltic, and the midfield player feels he should have scored more.
"By the law of averages one was sure to go in sooner or later," he said. "I should have scored more than four this season but I would be more concerned if I wasn't getting into shooting positions."
Having shaken off niggling injuries, O'Donnell is confident that he can helpCelticto overtake Motherwell and Hibs and finish in second place.
"To finish second would assure us of a place in next season's UEFA Cup and that's an important target," he said. "I feel it's well within our capabilities if we can get back to winning ways. One of these days we're going to give some team a hiding but what matters more is that we develop the winning habit.
The margin doesn't matter – it's winning that counts."
Tommy Burns would agree with that sentiment as he takes his players to Malaga today for a prestigious friendly against Real Madrid, and the manager is prepared to be ruthless in order to turn around the club's fortunes.
The dropping of Paul McStay is a case in point. Burns rates the club captain and Scottish internationalist as a £ 5 million player but is not prepared to select any member of his squad on reputation alone.
That was why Pierre van Hooijdonk, the £ 1.2 million Dutch striker, was withdrawn midway through the second half of this match. Burns wasn't taken with the big centre-forward's contribution and made the point that if he was prepared to leave out a Scotland captain, he wasn't going to lose any sleep over substituting van Hooijdonk.
"Whether the player cost £ 1 million or £ 40 million is immaterial," observed Burns.
"If they're not performing, they won't be there."
Burns knows that his side's shortcomings are not confined to the strikers, adding that a more positive attitude was required throughout the team..
Heartsdidn't so much lack a killer instinct as look dead on their feet againstCeltic. Clearly, the 4-2 Cup win over Rangers had taken its toll, while the absence of John Robertson and Jim Bett was keenly felt.
The team lacked all cohesion, understanding and fluency.
They scrambled a point only because Jamieson scored by far the best goal of his career a minute from full-time.
"A wonder goal or a fluke," laughed the much-travelled centre-half. "Yes, of course, that was the best goal I've ever scored. Gary Mackay had played the ball to me around 30 yards out, and my initial thought was just to lob it into the box.
"When I took a touch, the ball sat up nicely and I decided to have a go. In those circumstances you're not thinking about placing the ball – you just hit it as hard as you can.
"I'm sure Tommy Burns was thinking when it came to me, 'go on hit it Willie', because all my team-mates were probably thinking 'don't hit it!' It was the goal of a lifetime for me."
By contrast, Craig Levein was coming to terms with the fact that he will missHearts'Scottish Cup quarter-final with Dundee United at Tynecastle on 12 March. The defender was booked againstCeltic, taking him over the points limit and earning him a three-match ban.
Tommy McLean, theHearts'manager, said: "I feel sorry for our fans who went from watching our performance against Rangers to seeing us sink to that level. Until we can develop all- round consistency, we won't amount to anything more than a middle-of-the-road team."
Verdict: It took an extraordinary goal to salvage a point for a poorHeartsside.Celticalso scored a fine goal and enjoyed the lion's share of the play, but lacked the belief to win.

Scotland on Sunday
February26, 1995, Sunday
Celticquick on the draw

BYLINE:Kevin Mccarra

THERE is always a price to be paid for excitement.Hearts'thundering 4-2 victory over Rangers in the Tennents Scottish Cup put the players through tormenting exertion, but those who attended this match must have felt they had paid to watch the warm-down.Jaded in mind and body, the Edinburgh side benefited from the refusal ofCeltic'smatches to reach a firm conclusion. No matter how much money has been raised by share issuses,Celtic, in one crucial sense, remain overdrawn.

This was the 16th occasion on which Tommy Burns's team has shared the points this season.At least oneHeartsplayer is entitled to be peeved by the suggestion thatCelticwere the victims of some kind of statistical hex. There was nothing ethereal about the 89th minute equaliser.Hearts'goal owed everything to the power of a mighty frame.Celtic, forced back to defence but with little reason for fear, made one more clearance down the left. Gary Mackay gathered and prodded play into the middle for Willie Jamieson. The centre-half flicked the ball and volleyed it into the top corner of the net from 30 yards.
No-one could have guessed that a goal of such splendour could be contained within so dreary a match. Given that Jamieson moved to Tynecastle in a budget transfer from Partick Thistle, following a career in which he had won respect mainly for intransigent marking,Celticwill feel that his sumptuous finish was an undeserved freak. They, however, had allowed him the space to attempt that outrageous strike. Even more damningly,Celticfailed to belabourHeartswhen they were confused and vulnerable.
Burns has endeavoured to stay calm and that policy is understandable at which emotion has been ruinously on the loose for years. All the same,Celtic'sblandness should not be confused with serenity. They were unable to come up with an onslaught even in the spell, after the first goal, whenHeartsmust have been on the point of writing off the whole afternoon.
Tommy McLean's side were uneasy from the very first exchanges and largely depended on Dave McPherson to avoid punishment for their lethargy.
Since the return to Edinburgh, he has recovered a great deal of composure There are players who are a perfect fit for one particular setting. McPherson makes sense at Tynecastle. The years with Rangers brought increasingly more animosity from a crowd unwilling to forgive him even when the mistakes he made resulted from the fact that he had been dragooned into the alien role of right-back. WithHearts,however, he need not keep an ear cocked for derision from the crowd. His efficiency in the centre of defence never faltered and both ofCeltic'sforwards, Willie Falconer and Pierre van Hooijdonk, could give only peripheral performances. The Dutchman, who had made some thoughtful passes, was substituted and Burns said that the McStay principle, which has seen the dropping of the captain, applied to every player. "I don't regard anyone as safe," he said.
His words were positively conciliatory compared to those of McLean. "We didn't deserve anything," he complained. "We created nothing and were lucky to get a point. We were so disjointed andCelticmust be unbelievably disappointed."
The visitors, however, never found the tempo which would have set repeated tests for the opposition. The few opportunities tended to come as a relief from the clumsiness and widespread confusion.
The best chances of the first half arrived in its closing moments and each of them was saturated with inaccuracy. Brian O'Neil was short as he attempted to nod back to Pat Bonner, who, outside his area, headed only to Brian Hamilton. He, however, was unable to manufacture a precise finish and Bonner hurried back to save his attempt. In 44 minutes, van Hooijdonk's subtle free-kick reached Phil O'Donnell but his first touch was clumsy and he was booked for the untidy lunge at Craig Nelson with which he attempted to recover possession.
In 52 minutes, though, O'Donnell shed any tentativeness as he scored his first goal since September. A John Collins' corner was cleared and then headed back by O'Neil.
O'Donnell controlled the ball on his chest and thrashed a drive high into the net. There was a further opportunity soon after when Van Hooijdonk sliced open the left-hand side of theHeartsdefence to let O'Donnell run but Falconer could not reach the low cut-back.
Hearts,with Jim Bett and John Robertson suspended, were bland in attack but the introduction of Kevin Thomas, whose pace bedevilled O'Neil, madeCelticincreasingly dependent on their excellent centre- half, Tony Mowbray.
The visitors, all the same, might have been left musing on flaws in a helpful victory. Instead,Celticmust brood yet again as the prospects of qualifying for Europe worsen.