Bonner's penalty saves put Celtic in semi-finals

james traynor

31 Aug 1989

Hearts 2, Celtic 2

(After extra time)

(Celtic won 3-1 on penalties)

IT WAS a foul night on which to be out and for alarmingly long periods at Tynecastle it appeared as though Celtic had left much of their imagination and enthusiasm indoors.

They were deep into the game before they realised that entry to the Skol Cup semi-finals demanded greater exertions.

By the time reality had dawned Hearts were a goal in front and playing as though their need for glory was greater.

Pat Bonner's alacrity and agility were all that stood between Celtic and defeat in regulation time.

They had staggered perilously close to the exit and it was their Polish international striker, Jacki Dziekanowski, who pulled them back when he scored in 64 minutes.

The tie careered into extra time and Andy Walker put Celtic in front after 100 minutes of football.

Now it was the Tynecastle side who were confronted by defeat.

They rose to the challenge in admirable style and were able to ward off failure in the final seconds of overtime when John Robertson scored a scrappy, but none the less vital goal.

Thus the quarter-final would have to be decided on penalties.

Ten players were singled out to shoulder the hopes of each club while the rest of the players stood around gnawing on the inside of their lips and running hands through their hair.

Davie McPherson took the first penalty, Roy Aitken equalised, and disaster was then visited upon Hearts.

Alan McLaren and John Colquhoun saw their kicks saved by Bonner, and Robertson's rebounded off a post while Peter Grant and Tommy Coyne thumped theirs into the net.

Finally it was all over.

"Sudden death is too dramatic and I don't agree with it," said Celtic manager Billy McNeill.

"I can well imagine how Hearts must feel."

It was only after they had equalised Scott Crabbe's goal scored in 20 minutes that Celtic found a semblance of rhythm in a match punctuated by hacking tackles.

Inevitably action was taken by the referee, who put seven names -- Whittaker, Mackay and McLaren of Hearts and Celtic's Burns, Aitken, Grant, and Dziekanowski -- into his bad book.

At one stage, when Hearts had assumed everyone was ready to play ball again at the start of extra time, it looked as though anarchy was about to reign as players jostled and pushed one another.

McNeill was on the pitch, apparently giving instructions, but it seemed to the opposition as though this was a ploy designed to buy time for Paul McStay who was off having treatment.

A police officer strolled over and had a word with McNeill after order had been restored.

Nevertheless the Celtic dugout became an area of wild animation 10 minutes into extra time when Walker, who had been sent on to take the place of Hewitt midway through the second half, stole in at the far post and touched Galloway's searching cross from the right into the net.

The Parkhead side were in front and they seemed capable of holding their slender advantage even though their opponents continued to slog up and down the heavy, stamina-sapping surface.

No god would refuse reward for such endeavour and Hearts equalised through Robertson, a substitute for Crabbe.

The Edinburgh side will be entitled to feel aggrieved when they reflect on an evening which started full of promise and ended in depression.

In the first half they created enough opportunities to put the match beyond doubt.

Celtic, however, remain the only top-division team able to handle the fervour of these maroon-shirted dervishes.

This was the Glasgow's side's seventh successive triumph over Hearts, but they have rarely flirted so long with the spectre of defeat.

They go into this morning's semi-final draw with Rangers, Aberdeen, and Dunfermline but they can consider themselves fortunate.

Inspiration and creativity must be with them against their next cup opponents.

Any bets it won't be Rangers?

Even the precautionary move of putting the kick-off back half-an-hour to 8 o'clock had been made and the ball started rolling eleven minutes late because many of the 25,218 ticket holders were still on the wrong side of the turnstiles.

The stragglers were still shuffling in when the tie eventually did get underway and they missed Bonner perform the first of his miraculous saves, plucking the ball from the head of Musemic and then falling on a shot by Crabbe.

These efforts were mere samples of Hearts' intent and after Aitken had illegaly checked the progress of Bannon, Crabbe stepped forward.

His 20-yard free kick thundered into the net, although the ball might have taken a slight deflection.

Hearts protected this lead until Dziekanowski struck.

Coyne's clipped ball across the face of the goal sat up begging to be touched into the net and the Polish international striker obliged.

It became clear then that the tie would go to extra time and Walker and then Robertson made sure the drama would continue with the penalty shootout.