Muggleton comes to the rescue

23 May 1994

CELTIC won a penalty shoot-out against Hearts by 4-2 in the Hamilton Cup in Canada yesterday with goalkeeper Carl Muggleton saving two spot kicks after the teams had drawn 1-1 in normal time.

A superb strike by substitute Justin Whittle put Celtic ahead after 75 minutes when he beat Hearts keeper Gary O'Connor, who was making his first-team debut for the Edinburgh side, with a rocket shot from 25 yards.

Kevin Thomas levelled matters 10 minutes from time to force the match into penalties.

The first half had been even although Hearts had looked to be the more creative of the two teams.

Alan Johnston, using the space well, searched for Maurice Johnston each time he had the ball.

But the former Celtic man was booed at every touch.

Nevertheless, he was not afraid to have a go at goal but on each occasion Muggleton was equal to the challenge.

Johnston eventually was substituted with 20 minutes of the match remaining.

Celtic took control in the second half as Hearts appeared to pay for their searing, early pace.

Playing conditions were not conducive to good football.

The temperature nudged the 30 centigrade mark and was obviously much hotter on the artificial turf.

This appeared to leave the players breathless.

Also, passes that might have been made on grass failed to reach their intended destinations.

Although the promoters had been hoping for a crowd of 14,000, their wishes were not answered.

In fact, the attendance was 5855 although they clearly were an enthusiastic lot.

Celtic will be without John Collins and Simon Donnelly for the final match a week today.

The players have been called up by Scotland coach Craig Brown for the match against Holland in Utrecht on Friday.

Taken from the Herald