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Trivia
The match was played at Ibrox due to renovation of the national stadium at Hampden Park.
Paul McStay would be out of contract at the end of the season but was increasingly injured and missed this game recoving from a groin strain. He would retire at the end of the season.
MacKay and Peter Grant were suspended.
In the absence of Paul McStay and Peter Grant, Paolo di Canio was made captain for the game and continued for McClair's Testimonial and the league game against Aberdeen.
Brian O'Neil was out on loan to Nottingham Forest. Van Hooijdonk had already been sold to them earlier.
It was Tommy Johnson's second game and his first goal for the Club.
A fake dossier purporting to show how Celtic would bid to bring Kevin Keegan to Celtic Park to take over from Tommy Burns for the next season was splurged by The Daily Record.
Review
Tricky opposition in Alex Totten's Falkirk but we still went into this game as favourites and should have finished it off. Jonathon Northcroft's review below for Scotland on Sunday says a lot.
Tommy Burns and his team were coming under increasing pressure to deliver and so far failing, having come off the back of 7 poor results in the preceding games. Burns himself was under enormous pressure.
Paulo di Canio played an inspired game and new bhoy Tommy Johnson got the goal but it took 65 minutes to trouble the Falkirk keeper. Stubbs was taken to hospital with a head knock. From what should have been a second goal for Johnson, Falkirk broke up field and levelled the game.
Teams
Celtic (4-4-2):
Kerr, Boyd, McKinlay, Annoni, Stubbs (McNamara, 50), O'Donnell, Di Canio, Hannah, Johnson, Thom, Cadete.
Subs not used: Donnelly, McLaughlin.
Scorers: Johnson (66) 1-0;
Falkirk (4-4-2): Nelson, McGowan, Seaton, Oliver, James, Gray, McAllister, MacKenzie (Craig 73), Crabbe (Fellner 73), Hagen, McGrillen.
Yellow cards: McKinlay, Stubbs (Celtic); Nelson, Gray, McAllister (Falkirk).
Scorers: James (82) 1-1.
Referee: Willie Young (Clarkston).
Attendance: 45,261.
Stats
| Celtic |
Falkirk |
|
| Fouls Committed | 13 | 14 |
| Corners | 11 | 1 |
| On Target shots | 9 | 2 |
| Offside | 3 | 4 |
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Articles
Jonathon Northcroft, Scotland on Sunday
Celtic 1 Falkirk 1
OF all the people, in all the venues, Celtic had to run into Falkirk. The First Division side were hungry, unbending and fulsome in their endeavour, offering Tommy Burns no haven by carving this draw. Had Burns' men possessed any of these virtues, they would have won, but instead must return to Ibrox for a replay on April 23.
Celtic's ability was superior, their legs faster, the physique and fitness stronger and indeed it was difficult to see how they might surrender after earning a lead. But where there is a will, there is a way. Deep among the embers of the game, Falkirk produced a simple move and their first really telling chance. Kevin James headed it in and left the townsfolk who bedecked the Copland Road end preparing for another trip.
"Cometh the day, cometh the man," Alex Totten says, misquoting a trifle, "and that was Kevin James today." Two weeks ago Totten rushed through a deal which will keep James at Brockville for another two years. "He's only 21 and I think he's proved why I did that. He was magnificent in defence and, when they scored the goal and I pushed him forward, he was magnificent in attack." (2009; Kevin James is still playing currently for St Johnstone.)
Totten went on to talk about further bites at cherries and still being up for it but his words about James were the most true. The 6' 7" centre-back had been omnipresent in denying Paolo di Canio, Andreas Thom and Tommy Johnson on the occasions their craft took them through. Along with Andy Gray, who calmed down after being over-elaborate, and a resurgent Craig Nelson, James ensured the Falkirk defence was always stout at its heart. "The greatest sight for a manager is 11 guys giving everything they've got and that's what I had today," added Totten.
Burns, short and sad in the press conference, said: "We'll be back on Wednesday week and we'll get the job done then." However it is difficult to see what will stop the drifting of his team. This was not a bad performance by any means, but it was another bad result. The experience of Paul McStay and Peter Grant will be welcomed back above all else for the replay.
While Celtic gathered in their customary pre-match huddle, the Falkirk players linked arms and walked towards the supporters. The gesture was repeated at the end. It was both touching and defiant, although the townsfolk were hardly in need of exhortation. Some 9,500 were there, in colours and in voice, yet from among them the local man Kevin McAllister was able to pick out and wave to some pals. That moment summed up what this tie was about: "an institution taking on a community", The Scotsman's Hugh Keevins had written in the match programme, and he got it dead right.
The Celtic ranks were loud and emotive too. After all the signals and stories of recent weeks here at last they could pore over something unambiguous: a game of football with definite stakes. But it offered little refuge. Initially their team threatened to swallow Falkirk in a gulf. The opening minutes were all sclaffs and hacks by the First Division side, headlong running in midfield and desperate double cover on Di Canio.
But with the shape produced by Paul McGrillen and McAllister wide they soon stretched Celtic and indeed scored. It was disallowed for offside on Scott Crabbe but the striker who had rolled the ball into an empty net tasted momentary sweetness for the first time in a while. The presence of several like him in the Falkirk ranks, players who used to enjoy greater fame, was what made them so dangerous.
Thom, straight through on Nelson, toed the ball wide and then Jorge Cadete missed a cleaner chance with his head. As the shadows lengthened Celtic pounded away on the front foot, often finding incision possible but running into the multi-storey James.
At the other end there was a curdling moment when Alan Stubbs was stretchered off motionless with a head injury. He was being treated in hospital for concussion last night.
Celtic's goal was a triumph of persistence. Cadete, clean through on goal, struck a shot against Nelson which lobbed back and required some work from Di Canio to pick his way to a dangerous position again. His centre was jabbed at goal by Cadete and Nelson saved again. At the third bite Johnson was present to knock it in.
Only a truly accident-prone side could have failed from Celtic's position. If there is always a wrong way of dealing with conflict then Celtic can always be relied upon to find it. The equaliser came in an absent-minded period when, with the addition of two substitutes, Falkirk were allowed to inch back.
One of the replacements, the Austrian Gerhard Fellner, was apparently once a downhill skier. The other, Albert Craig, is a more familiar sort and here proved his career still has decisive moments left. His long pass sent Jamie McGowan down the right, who, in front of the corner flag, bent a great cross away from Stewart Kerr. James, up above Celtic defenders like a periscope, nodded it home.
So Falkirk live to fight again. Celtic, as ever, also remain in conflict.
- Tommy Johnson
"Getting the goal was fantastic but I'm just so disappointed we couldn't get the win.
"When I scored I just remember Paolo was jinking around a lot and then it fell perfectly to me a yard out, I'm just glad I didn't shank it."
"Tosh McKinlay played me in and I was happy with my touch but the keeper came out and made a great save.
"I was still recovering from that when they went up the park and scored and broke my heart a bit."
"We had chances to score and kill the game off and we didn't do it."
"The fans were unbelievable, I've never heard anything like it when they were singing my name. It's just made me determined to give them the Cup in the end."
- Tommy Burns, Manager post match.
"We lost a sloppy goal and the pass that let McGowan in should have been cut off."
"The result was desperately disappointing because we had the chances to go on and win."
"We will take it on the chin though, and come back to Ibrox next week and get the job done."