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Trivia
- The squad flew out to Dublin on the 8/7/00. The game was played at the Carlisle Ground, Bray kicking off at 18:00. It was billed as the NTL Challenge Match. Both clubs were sponsored by cable and media company NTL
- Chris Sutton and Chelsea were locked in a duel over a financial pay-off that Sutton thought he was due from Chelsea. The conflict was delaying Sutton’s signing for Celtic. On the day of the game the issue was resolved and Sutton headed north for his medical and to sign his contract.
- Neil Lennon was told by Leicester City that there was no way he would be allowed to leave to join O’Neill at Celtic.
Review
Rain, sleet, hail, thunder and lightning – July in Dublin. A hatrick for Tommy Johnson laid down his marker for the coming season as the Celts started the new season in wining ways. The game also showed how inept Rafael actually was. And there was the big chubby streaker evading the Gardai… for a bit anyway.
Teams
Bray Wanderers:
Wood (Young, 58) (Fyffe, 84), Gifford (K Ryan, 74), Farrell (Dodd, 74), Lynch, Doohan, Gormley, O'Connor (Smyth, 58), G O'Brien (Long, 58), C O'Brien (Fox, 63), Byrne (J Ryan, 63), Keogh.
Non Used Subs: O'Connell, Dutton
Goals: O'Brien (10), Byrne (39)
Celtic:
Gould (Kerr, 58), Boyd (Kennedy, 69), Mahe (Crainey, 69), McNamara, Rafael, Stubbs, Lambert, Petta (McCann, 46), Berkovic, Petrov (Fotheringham, 69), Johnson.
Non Used Subs: Goodwin
Goals: Johnson (12, 38, 72)
Referee: Paul McKeown (Dublin)
Attendance: 6,500
Articles
- Match Report (see below)
Pictures
Articles
Bray Wanderers 2 Celtic 3 By Ian Rodgers, PA Sport
Celtic striker Tommy Johnson made an early bid to reserve a place alongside Chris Sutton with a hat-trick against Irish club Bray as the Bhoys got their friendly campaign off to a winning start.
With Sutton's £6million signature merely a formality, Johnson struck three times in the 3-2 victory to ensure that his name will be firmly in the mind of new manager Martin O'Neill at the start of the season.
Last season's CIS League Cup hero took just 12 minutes to remind new manager Martin O'Neill of his abilities when he equalised with an excellent strike.
Then he saw Bray goalkeeper Trevor Wood stray off his line before floating the ball over his head.
The former Aston Villa man wrapped up his three-goal haul with a strike from the edge of the area with 18 minutes left.
But the Irish First Division champions were not prepared to play gooseberries in the party among Celtic fans to celebrate the arrival of O'Neill.
After just 10 minutes, the Parkhead support inside the Carlisle showgrounds was silenced when Brazilian Rafael misjudged Stephen Gifford's long ball to allow Kieran O'Brien to drive past Jonathan Gould.
Only two minutes later, though, Eyal Berkovic played a great ball to Johnson inside the area and the striker drilled goalwards.
His effort was blocked by Jody Lynch, but the ball fell to Johnson's feet and he fired home a face-saving equaliser.
Four minutes later, Johnson had the chance to add a second with his free-kick following a foul on Stilian Petrov – but it was comfortably saved by Trevor Wood.
The home side were not going to lie down, though, and O'Brien lofted a great ball into the area from where Barry O'Connor fired over the bar.
The crowd were further entertained by the arrival of a streaker halfway through the first half, sparking a chase which resulted in a fine rugby tackle by security.
However, the unscheduled break helped Celtic who gradually began to find some rhythm with Jackie McNamara enjoying some space on the right in tandem with Tom Boyd.
Berkovic was stroking some neat balls around the field, while forgotten man Bobby Petta attempted to prove his worth to the new boss with one or two runs down the left.
With seven minutes of the first half remaining, McNamara and Berkovic combined before the Israeli played the ball to Johnson.
The forward looked up once before floating the ball over the head of Wood for his second of the game.
But just one minute later the Irish team were back in the game when Glen O'Brien intercepted a Berkovic pass.
The Bray midfielder found Jason Byrne on the edge of the area, and he turned Rafael and fired the equaliser under Gould.
O'Neill made a switch at the break with Petta replaced by Ryan McCann for the second period as the manager gauged the depth of at least some of his inherited youth policy.
But the entertainment waned as both sides appeared to settle for the draw.
Gould left the field 12 minutes into the second half for Stewart Kerr, who was drawn into immediate action when a poor Alan Stubbs back pass was intercepted by Keith Long.
But the Celts' goalkeeper reacted quickly to clear the danger.
Berkovic was unfortunate when his drive after a surging run was blocked by Gifford.
O'Neill then threw three youngsters – Stephen Crainey, Mark Fotheringham and John Kennedy – into the game.
Then in the 72nd minute, Johnson completed his hat-trick when he drove home after Berkovic found the Geordie on the edge of the box.
Johnson hat-trick is timely reminder to new Celtic manager
The Scotsman 10/07/2000
Ian Rodgers In Bray
Bray Wanderers 2 O'Brien (10) Byrne (39)
Celtic 3 Johnson (12, 38, 72)
CELTIC striker Tommy Johnson made an early bid to reserve a place alongside Chris Sutton with a hat-trick against Irish club Bray as the Parkhead side got their friendly campaign off to a winning start.
With Sutton's pounds 6 million signature merely a formality, Johnson struck three times in the 3-2 victory to ensure that his name will be firmly in the mind of new manager Martin O'Neill at the start of the season.
Last season's CIS League Cup hero took just 12 minutes to remind O'Neill of his abilities when he equalised with an excellent strike.
Then, seven minutes before the interval, he saw Bray goalkeeper Trevor Wood stray off his line before floating the ball over his head.
The former Aston Villa man wrapped up his three-goal haul with a strike from the edge of the area with 18 minutes left.
But the Irish First Division champions were not prepared to fall over and lie down as the travelling Celtic fans prepared to celebrate O'Neill's first victory with the Scots.
After just ten minutes, the Parkhead support inside the Carlisle showgrounds was silenced when Brazilian Rafael misjudged Stephen Gifford's long ball to allow Kieran O'Brien to drive past the goalkeeper Jonathan Gould.
Only two minutes later, however, Eyal Berkovic played a great ball to Johnson inside the area and the striker shot instantly goalwards.
His effort was blocked by Jody Lynch, but the ball fell to Johnson's feet again and he fired home a face-saving equaliser.
Four minutes later, Johnson had the chance to add a second with his free-kick following a foul on Stilian Petrov – but it was comfortably saved by Trevor Wood.
The home side were not going to capitulate, however, and O'Brien lofted a great ball into the area from where Barry O'Connor fired over the bar.
The crowd were further entertained by the arrival of a streaker halfway through the first half, sparking a chase which resulted in a fine rugby tackle by security.
However, the unscheduled break helped Celtic, who gradually began to find some rhythm with Jackie McNamara enjoying some space on the right in tandem with his captain, Tom Boyd.
Berkovic was stroking some neat balls around the field, while forgotten man Bobby Petta attempted to prove his worth to the new manager with one or two runs down the left.
With seven minutes of the first half remaining, McNamara and Berkovic combined before the Israeli played the ball to Johnson.
The forward looked up once before floating the ball over the head of Wood for his second of the game.
Just one minute later the Irish team were back in the game when Glen O'Brien intercepted a Berkovic pass. The Bray midfielder found Jason Byrne on the edge of the area, and he turned Rafael and fired the equaliser under Gould.
O'Neill made a switch at the break with Petta replaced by Ryan McCann for the second period as the manager gauged the depth of at least some of his inherited youth policy.
But the entertainment waned as both sides appeared to settle for the draw.
Gould left the field 12 minutes into the second half for Stewart Kerr, who was drawn into immediate action when a poor Alan Stubbs back pass was intercepted by Keith Long.
But the Celtic goalkeeper reacted quickly to clear the danger.
Berkovic was unfortunate again when his drive after a surging run was blocked by Gifford.
O'Neill then threw three youngsters – Stephen Crainey, Mark Fotheringham and John Kennedy – into the game as he took the chance to experiment.
Then, in the 72nd minute, Johnson completed his hat-trick, when he drove home after Berkovic found the striker on the edge of the box.