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Trivia
Doubles from youngsters Simon Lynch and Shaun Maloney again proved the gulf between the Old Firm and the rest of the Scottish Premier League.
Review
Hearts started brightly, despite having learned that their Uefa Cup hopes were now dead. Thomas Flogel screwed an effort wide of the post within a minute and his side had a penalty claim turned down after a clumsy challenge on Ricardo Fuller by Weighorst.
But Celtic went ahead with their first decent move of the game through teenager Lynch in the 12th minute. Lynch seized on Momo Sylla's pass to get away from Scott Severin and then clip the ball over onrushing goalkeeper Antti Niemi before making sure by heading into the empty net.
Celtic's defence were caught ball watching as Fuller ran onto Severin's punt down field and held off the challenge of Weighorst before firing low past Gould.
But the champions replied just three minutes before the break, with Lynch scoring his second of the game and third senior goal. Smith beat two men on the right and squared for the 19-year-old to tap the ball past Antti Niemi from close range.
Celtic increased their lead in glorious fashion in the 50th minute. Despite being just to the left of the box, Maloney curled an unstoppable right-foot free-kick past the helpless Niemi and into the top corner of the net.
Maloney grabbed his second in the 65th minute as Lynch pulled the ball back from the byline and the youngster hit a first-time shot past the flat-footed Niemi.
But Maloney blotted his copybook by striking a last-minute penalty against the post after arguing with Lynch over who should have had the chance to complete his hat-trick.
Teams
Hearts:-
Niemi; Maybury, Severin, Webster, Mahe; Flogel, Tomaschek (Hamill 59), Fulton (Wales 78), Simmons; Milne (Kirk 63), Fuller.
Subs not used:- McKenzie, McCann, Hamill, Wales, Kirk.
Goal:- Fuller 33.
Celtic:-
Gould; Weighorst, Kennedy, Boyd; Smith, McNamara, Healy, Sylla, Guppy; Lynch, Maloney.
Subs not used:- Douglas, Thompson, Petrov, Moravcik, McGovern.
Goals:- Lynch 12, 40, Maloney 50, 66.
Att:- 12,391
Ref:- J Rowbothom.
Articles
Pictures
Friday, 26 April, 2002, 14:55 GMT 15:55 UK
Young Celts gun down Hearts
Simon Lynch opens the scoring for Celtic
Simon Lynch scored twice for Celtic at Tynecastle
Heart of Midlothian 1-4 Celtic
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Doubles from youngsters Simon Lynch and Shaun Maloney again proved the gulf between the Old Firm and the rest of the Scottish Premier League.
Hearts still had hopes of qualifying for the Uefa Cup until Livingston defeated Dunfermline Athletic earlier in the day.
Yet runaway champions Celtic sent a reserve team out at Tynecastle and delivered Craig Levein's side a humiliating 4-1 defeat.
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill made 10 changes to his side as he rested his first-team players ahead of next weekend's Tennent's Scottish Cup final against major rivals Rangers.
Simon Lunch celebrates his opener with Sean Maloney
Simon Lynch celebrates with Sean Maloney
Youngsters Colin Healy, Maloney, Lynch, Jamie Smith and John Kennedy came into the side along with Dane Morten Wieghorst, who was starting his first SPL game since being struck down with Guillain-Barre Syndrome last season.
Jonathan Gould, Tom Boyd, Jackie McNamara and Steve Guppy provided extra experience as Celtic looked for the win that would take them to 100 points.
Levein made one change, with Steve Fulton coming in for Kevin McKenna.
Hearts started brightly, despite having learned that their Uefa Cup hopes were now dead.
Thomas Flogel screwed an effort wide of the post within a minute and his side had a penalty claim turned down after a clumsy challenge on Ricardo Fuller by Wieghorst.
But Celtic went ahead with their first decent move of the game through teenager Lynch in the 12th minute.
Lynch seized on Momo Sylla's pass to get away from Scott Severin and then clip the ball over onrushing goalkeeper Antti Niemi before making sure by heading into the empty net.
The home crowd finally had something to celebrate in the 33rd minute.
Celtic's defence were caught ball watching as Fuller ran onto Severin's punt down field and held off the challenge of Wieghorst before firing low past Gould.
Hearts' Robert Tomaschek challenges Colin Healy
Colin Healy (right) was given a rare start
But the champions replied just three minutes before the break, with Lynch scoring his second of the game and third senior goal.
Smith beat two men on the right and squared for the 19-year-old to tap the ball past Antti Niemi from close range.
The champions increased their lead in glorious fashion in the 50th minute.
Despite being just to the left of the box, Maloney curled an unstoppable right-foot free-kick past the helpless Niemi and into the top corner of the net.
Maloney grabbed his second in the 65th minute as Lynch pulled the ball back from the byline and the youngster hit a first-time shot past the flat-footed Niemi.
But Maloney blotted his copybook by striking a last-minute penalty against the post after arguing with Lynch over who should have had the chance to complete his hat-trick.
The Herald
Lynch and Maloney take centre stage for Celtic Hearts swept aside as Parkhead youngsters star
Rob Robertson at Tynecastle
29 Apr 2002 ON this showing, if Celtic ever do decide to quit Scottish football then they could always leave behind their under-21 team and a few experienced reserves to compete in the Scottish Premier League. Such a suggestion may sound like sacrilege, but when you consider a bunch of youngsters peppered with a mix of fringe players and veterans managed to easily beat Hearts, then the idea may not be so condescending. As the young Celtic players left Tynecastle last night – their club having reached the 100-point mark for the season – justifiably proud of the way they had played, a piece of immaturity by Shaun Maloney brought the game to an amusing and slightly embarrassing end. The Celtic bench had signalled that Simon Lynch take the penalty awarded to Celtic in the last minute to give him his first hat trick for the club in what was his first game for around 18 months. However, Maloney, who had scored a hat trick for Celtic earlier this season, was having none of it. Despite the fact even people in the main stand could see and hear John Robertson, the Celtic assistant coach, asking Maloney to give the ball to Lynch to take the penalty, he refused so to do. Lynch tried to get the ball off him then walked away from the scene as the squabbling for the ball by the youngsters gave everybody a good laugh. After that little spat Maloney was always going to miss the spot-kick, which he did when he struck a post. ''Tommy Boyd should have taken control of the incident as captain, but never did,'' said Martin O'Neill, the Celtic manager, with a wry grin on his face. ''Some of the backroom staff wanted Simon (Lynch) to take it because Shaun had scored a hat trick already but I just kept well out of it.'' Lynch said afterwards he was not going to fall out with Maloney over things. ''He got the ball before me and I couldn't wrestle it off him,'' joked Lynch, who is the son of former Celtic defender Andy. ''We are still good friends.'' The fact that inexperienced youngsters like Lynch and John Kennedy, a defender, both making their first starts of the season, didn't look out of place shows the strength in depth that Celtic now have. Lynch has finally overcome a serious pelvic injury, while 18-year-old Kennedy, a younger version of Mick McCarthy in style, managed to nullify the more experienced Thomas Flogel and Ricardo Fuller fairly easily. However, the pair also represent the age-old problem Old Firm youngsters have. On the one hand they are seduced into signing on with the big club but then have to kick their heels to wait for their opportunity to come. To be fair to the bunch of them yesterday which also included Jamie Smith and Colin Healy, who has returned from Coventry on loan, they certainly showed their manager their long-term potential. They won't get into the cup final squad but more importantly, they would have done their own confidence the power of good. Lynch's two goals were both excellent pieces of finishing, as were the two from Shaun Maloney, who at 19, can't be lumped in with the rest of the youngsters O'Neill put out at Tynecastle as he is a veritable veteran with two first team starts this season. From a Hearts point of view, to try as best they could and still come up short against a makeshift Celtic team is embarrassing in the extreme. OK, they may well have been deflated after they realised their chances of making the UEFA Cup had gone after Livingston's win against Dunfermline, but to be so outplayed in front of their own supporters will do little for next season's advanced ticket sales. The key area yesterday was in the middle of the park, where the Hearts midfield did not function and Celtic's decision to play Momo Sylla in the hole behind the front two of Lynch and Maloney left them tactically confused to start with. Indeed, it was Sylla who caused confusion in the Hearts defence for the first Celtic goal, as he managed to head flick the ball onto Lynch who had caught the home sides back four square. Shrugging off Scott Severin as if he was not there, the Montreal-born player calmly lobbed the ball over Antti Niemi, ran in behind the Hearts keeper, before heading the ball into the empty net. Hearts did get back into things on the half-hour mark when Fuller outpaced Morten Wieghorst to shoot home, although the Hearts striker looked well offside when he started his run. On another day Celtic's protests would have been stronger but with nothing at stake they let things go. They probably realised they were in the driving seat, and despite the goal against them continued to dominate. It was no surprise when, four minutes before half-time, Smith ghosted in past three defenders before playing in Lynch for the easiest of tap-ins. In the second half, Maloney showed that it is not just Lubo Moravcik who can curl free-kicks into the top corner when he did just that with 50 minutes on the clock. Then 15 minutes later, Maloney scored again with a left-foot shot into a corner of the net. From then on in it was a simple case of how many Celtic would score, with Maloney's last-minute spat with Lynch over the penalty adding to the entertainment. Afterwards Craig Levein, the Tynecastle manager, savaged his team, claiming that certain players, who he did not name, but who were out of contract at the end of the season, had ''just chucked it'' when his side went 3-1 down. ''They will be leaving the club, and with performances like that they have speeded their departure.'' The Hearts official conceded that even a ''reserve'' Celtic team had beaten them easily which is a scenario that would worry any SPL manager and sadly shows the gulf between the Old Firm and the other teams in Scottish football.
Hearts v Celtic
28th April 2002
SPL
Report – Football 365
http://www.100megsfree3.com/celticcrazy/rep2/28apr2002.html
Simon Lynch and Shaun Maloney showed Martin O'Neill they could save him a fortune in the transfer market by taking the club to 100 points with two goals apiece at Tynecastle.
The teenage duo made a big impact by notching impressive doubles s Celtic saw off Hearts 4-1.
Their exploits overshadowed the fact Ricardo Fuller ended his goalscoring drought by netting his first since January 5 – and Maloney missed a last-minute spot-kick.
Hearts looked lifeless after Livingston pipped them to the last Uefa Cup place before kick-off, but the fact that a vastly inexperienced Celtic side including Lynch, Maloney, Jamie Smith, Colin Healy and John Kennedy out-played Hearts said a lot for the state of the Scottish game.
When the game got under way it was veterans Tom Boyd and Morten Wieghorst who looked vulnerable – Steve Fulton played a hopeful ball in the air which Boyd misjudged to let Thomas Flogel in, but he shot wide.
Celtic were fortunate not to concede a penalty four minutes later when a challenge from Wieghorst brought Fuller down in the box, but referee John Rowbotham turned away.
Celtic went ahead with their first decent move of the game. Lynch seized on Momo Sylla's pass to get away from Scott Severin and clip the ball over Antti Niemi before making sure by heading into the empty net.
The home crowd finally had something to celebrate in the 33rd minute when they were on level terms.
The Celtic defence were caught ball watching as Fuller ran onto Severin's punt down field and held off the challenge of Wieghorst before firing low past Gould.
The champions replied three minutes before the break with Lynch scoring his second of the game.
Smith beat two men on the right and squared for the 19-year-old to tap the ball past Niemi from close range.
The champions increased their lead in glorious fashion in the 50th minute, Maloney curling an unstoppable right-foot free-kick into the top corner.
Maloney scored his second in the 65th minute, firing in a first-time shot past the flat-footed Niemi.
Maloney had the chance to grab his third in the final minute of the game after Guppy was brought down by Maybury. After arguing with Lynch over who was going to take the kick and claim a hat-trick, Maloney fired his shot against the upright.