| Match Pictures | Matches: 1958 – 1959 | 1958-59 Pictures |
Trivia
- Bertie Peacock was out with 'flu so Eric Smith moved across to the left with Billy McNeill coming into the right half spot. This was a young team with only Mocan and Evans as veterans. This was a debut game for part-timer and soldier Malcolm Slater.
- Queen of the South were bottom of the League and struggling, but the league was generally so tight that survival was a possibility with Clyde, Third Lanark and Raith Rovers all having challenging seasons.
- The reserves beat QotS reserves 5-1 with a team of Fallon, Donnelly, Kennedy, Crerand Jack, Clark, Higgins, Tully, Lochhead, Wilson, Byrne. The junior 'combined reserves' played Alloa and the team for this was Alec Burns; John Curran, John Kurila; Roy Paton, Gribben, Andy Murphy; Charlie Gallacher, John Campbell, Jim Conway, "Junior", Tommy Mackle.
Review
A frosty day with icy conditions underfoot and a light covering of snow on the pitch. Frank Haffey twisted his ankle during the game but carried on. This was a day for hoofing rather than fancy footwork which would cause the player to end up on his rear. As such the Celtic play and forwards suffered. Bertie Auld scored an individual goal when he cut infield and hit a hard shot from the edge of the penalty area. Oakes' corner was then headed home past Haffey and Mochan by Garrett on 34 minutes. 1-1 at half time.
Just two minutes after half time the defense were caught out when King was left unmarked and Oakes' accurate cross was met and headed home with Haffey losing his footing. Celtic's equaliser came from a lofted cross from Auld which Colrain hit on the volley.
At the end of January with a loss, a win and two draws, Celtic remained in ninth place in the table. Motherwell continued to improve with a young team and people were saying that the league title would go to either Rangers of Motherwell with the other contenders deciding which way it went.
| Team | P | W | L | D | F | A | Pts |
| Rangers | 21 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 63 | 33 | 31 |
| Motherwell | 21 | 11 | 2 | 8 | 61 | 32 | 30 |
| Airdrie | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 47 | 39 | 28 |
| Hearts | 20 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 62 | 36 | 27 |
| Dundee | 21 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 39 | 30 | 26 |
| Hibernian | 22 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 53 | 47 | 25 |
| PartickThistle | 22 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 38 | 30 | 24 |
| Kilmarnock | 22 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 32 | 32 | 22 |
| Celtic | 20 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 47 | 36 | 21 |
| StirlingAlbion | 22 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 37 | 46 | 20 |
Teams
Queen of the South:
W Smith; Sharpe, Greenock; Patterson, A Smith, O'Hara; Oakes, Knox, Garrett, Ewing, King.
Scorers: Garrett (34), King (47)
Celtic:
Haffey; MacKay, Mochan; McNeill, Evans, Smith; Slater, Jackson, Colrain, Divers, Auld.
Scorers: Auld (16), Colrain (65)
Referee: J Mackie (East Kilbride)
Attendance: 7,500
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)