| Match Pictures | Matches: 1996 – 1997 | 1996-1997 Pictures |
Trivia
- Hugh Keevins claimed in the pages of the Scotsman that Pierre Van Hooijdonk was about to be sold to West Ham for a fee of around £4.00mill. Harry Redknapp appeared at Starks Park to watch Van Hooijdonk.
- The Daily Record was linking Cadete with a move to Leeds Utd.
- Paolo Di Canio (ankle) joined Andreas Thom, Alan Stubbs (hamstring), Brian O'Neil and Peter Grant on the injuries list.
Review
The team started slowly and conceded a goal and were playing catch -up thereafter. Considerably better play in the second half saw Cadete equalise and Hay grab a late winner.
Teams
Raith Rovers:
Scott, Taylor, Millar, V Andersen, Craig, Millen, Twaddle, S Andersen, Hallum, Lennon, Thomson.
Non Used Subs: Duffield, Bonar, Lorimer.
Scorer: S Andersen (13)
Bookings: Andersen ,Andersen ,Taylor (Raith)
Celtic:
Kerr; Boyd, Gray (McKinlay, 57), McNamara, MacKay, O'Donnell, Donnelly (Hay, 57), Wieghorst (McStay, 35), Van Hooijdonk, Hannah, Cadete.
Scorers: Cadete (73), Hay (88)
Bookings: Boyd ,Hannah ,Mackay (Celtic)
Referee: A Freeland (Aberdeen)
Att:
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Stats
| Raith Rovers | Celtic | |
| Bookings | 3 | 3 |
| Fouls | 16 | 15 |
| Corners | 4 | 8 |
| Shots on Target | 3 | 9 |
| Offside | 1 | 2 |
Hay to the rescue with late winner
The Scotsman 15/01/1997
Raith Rovers1 S Andersen (15)
Celtic 2 Cadete (73), Hay (89)
Celtic's penchant for living dangerously continues to sustain their challenge to Rangers for the Premier Division title.
Last night, with their aspirations looking to have come to rest on a cold, wet and blustery night in Kirkcaldy, Celtic contrived to score twice in the closing stages of a match in which they had rarely offered a tangible threat.
The goals from Jorge Cadete and Chris Hay mean that Rangers' lead over their Old Firm rivals has now been reduced to eight points with the same number of games played.
The late arrival of two season-saving goals also leave Raith Rovers at the bottom of the table after a game which had at one stage promised to see them rise above Kilmarnock.
Raith manager Iain Munro refused to comment on the referee's performance, but believed that Celtic's winning goal had been started by a free kick which Paul McStay had taken 15 yards from the place where Raith had committed their breach of the rules.
Celtic's captain said: "I was told by the referee to take the free kick from where I stood because too much time had been lost through time wasting."
The defensive frailty which has been readily acknowledged within Celtic Park this season took only 15 minutes to manifest itself once again and allow Raith the game's opening goal. Danny Lennon put a pass inside Stuart Gray, which exposed his shortcomings in the full-back role, and found Kevin Twaddle.
The wide player, who had scored the winning goal at Kilmarnock last Saturday, reached the byeline before touching the ball back for Soren Andersen to beat the goalkeeper with a low shot which went under Stewart Kerr's body.
The lead had been given to the home side after Morten Wieghorst had missed an opportunity to score first for Celtic and give the game a change of emphasis.
Pierre van Hooijdonk, who had brought Harry Redknapp, West Ham's manager, to Stark's Park, had put the Dane in behind Raith's defence with an intelligent reverse pass, but the finish was not as precise as the one delivered by his fellow-countryman at the other end.
Wieghorst tried to chip the ball over the goalkeeper, but the attempt failed miserably.
It was a game that proved to be an unqualified misery for Wieghorst, since he was taken off injured and replaced by McStay after 38 minutes.
Twaddle came closest to scoring the game's second goal when he accepted another pass from Lennon, outstripped the Celtic defence and forced Kerr to make a save which kept the outcome of the came in doubt.
Hay and Tosh McKinlay came on in place of Simon Donnelly and Gray respectively after 58 minutes as Celtic signalled their understanding of time running out.
There were only 17 minutes left when Cadete set up a stirring finish by finally breaking free of his markers to score an equalising goal. McKinlay's corner kick was deflected over the heads of his fellow defenders by Andy Millen. Cadete pounced on the loose ball and headed past Scot Thomson from six yards.
Hay, whose only other league goal of the season, against Motherwell last month, had been insufficient to save Celtic from defeat, knew better luck in the final minute of the game when he got on to the end of a header from van Hooijdonk and scored with a shot from close range.
- Manager Interview
Tommy Burns:
"We gave them a bit of stick at half- time and told them we needed courage to get the win.
"The pitch here doesn't lend itself to good football but our will to win was the most pleasing thing for me.
"I never gave up hope. I think the will to win was there for all to see in these guys and was really pleasing for me to watch.
"Obviously the longer the game goes on when you're a goal behind the worse it becomes, but I have to give great credit to my players for keeping going and making me very happy indeed."
"Chris is more than capable of showing the degree of control he showed at his goal and I was pleased for him."
Raith boss Iain Munro was obviously annoyed by ref Alan Freeland's decisions.
He said: "I've nothing to say about the referee. But it was hard to lose the way we did and that's all I'll say.
"However, if we show that same spirit for the rest of the season, we'll be okay