McGhee brightens the depression for Parkhead faithful

JAMES TRAYNOR

13 Mar 1989

Hearts 0, Celtic 1

THE people from Paradise came shuffling in, their faces long and sober.

They looked as though some dreadful fate was about to befall them and their club.

They may be right.

It appears more than likely Celtic's main striker, Frank McAvennie, will be tucking the sponsored footwear under an arm and heading back south.

Thousands will lament his departure, for he truly is a gifted scorer of goals.

The mood of the faithful was not helped by a colourless game at Tynecastle, where raw aggression was allowed to masquerade as some primitive form of football.

It was a mighty struggle, but only in a physical sense.

Again we looked to Paul McStay to sweep on to centre stage, even on a pitch which was not conducive to smooth play, and to stand, one foot on the ball, like some superior being and halt the crudeness.

The Celtic midfield player, however, appeared jaded, weary from his admirable and telling exertions at Hampden a few days previously.

Tommy Burns, himself a cultured performer, was at left back taking good care of John Colquhoun, and it was left to Peter Grant and Billy Stark to get the ball rolling for Celtic.

No player ever tries harder than Grant, and he scampered and harassed.

It was not a game for Stark, who found himself caught up in an untidy fracas and he never managed to make those unexpected intrusions into enemy territory which have made him a valuable servant.

The Celtic captain, Roy Aitken, playing alongside Mick McCarthy at the heart of the back four, bared his teeth, exhorted his team, and shook his fists.

Alas, the game continued to career and writhe wildly out of control.

There was no genuine method in the madness and referee Kenny Hope seemed powerless at times.

The manner in which the game was played ought to have been to Hearts' advantage.

They have been known to excel with the mud under their feet and their sleeves rolled up, but they did not do so this time.

Perhaps Bayern Munich were running around inside their heads.

The Tynecastle side were unable to bring to the fray their usual gusto, and there were times when their players were brushed aside with an alarming ease.

The defence had obvious trouble in dealing with the menace of Mark McGhee, whose plodding stride belied the true nature of the man.

He was sharp and robust.

No- one was able to relieve him of the ball without a struggle, and his resilience was illustrated perfectly nine minutes after the interval when he scored the only goal of the game.

McStay fired a corner from the right and the ball was played on to the opposite edge of the penalty box where the bustling McGhee took control.

He twisted, leaving Alan McLaren in his wake, and when the striker looked up he found he had a few inches of daylight.

The ball was clipped into Henry Smith's left-hand corner.

Hearts probably still feel aggrieved.

They had created chances and forced Pat Bonner to earn his bonus in spectacular fashion, but they could not stop themselves from sliding towards defeat.

They might well have been heading for West Germany this morning in a happier state of mind had Dave McPherson's prod sent the ball which hit the bar an inch lower, or Colquhoun's chip from the edge of the box not been plucked from the air by Bonner.

It was frustration which made Iain Ferguson use the wrong tone of voice to the referee, who produced a yellow card.

That was late in the game, far too late.

Mr Hope should have exerted his authority from the beginning, and considering some of the crudeness which he had allowed to pass uncensored, his determination to put the Hearts striker in his place was foolish.

It appeared as though the referee did not have a great idea of what was happening and he and his linesmen missed several off-the-ball incidents.

However, one of them, the far-side linesman, spotted an infringement of some sort in 77 minutes and a McStay goal, which had seemed perfectly legitimate, was disallowed.

Celtic's fans were furious and the linesman became the target of prolonged abuse.

He may also have been hit by something thrown from the crowd, and he required a line of policemen on the track behind him for protection.

It was a distasteful end to a miserable afternoon.

HEARTS -- Smith, McLaren, McKinlay, Levein, Berry, McPherson, Galloway, McKay, Colquhoun, Ferguson, Bannon.

Substitutes -- Robertson, Sandison.

CELTIC -- Bonner, Morris, Burns, Aitken, McCarthy, Grant, Stark, McStay, Walker, McGhee, Coyne.

Substitutes -- Rogan, Fulton.

Referee -- K J Hope (Clarkston).

Taken from the Herald