Celtic add a touch of steel to pass first serious test

Ken Gallacher
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20 Oct 1997

This was billed as Celtic's first major test in the premier division, but the pre-match hype clearly did not reach the Hearts' players until the game had moved into the second half and, by that time, they were two goals behind the Parkhead team and slipping from the number one position they had held before kick-off.

Celtic, on the other hand, had recognised the need for a good, solid beginning to the game, as their coach, Wim Jansen, underlined afterwards when he pointed out: ''Our start to the game today was very good and we wanted that because we knew that Hearts had been beginning their last games very strongly and we wanted to combat that.'' Later, the Danish midfielder, Morten Wieghorst, echoed the manager's remarks when he stressed: ''We all knew that this was going to be an important game for the club because it is never easy to get a result at Tynecastle.

Everyone knew Hearts were on a high, so we knew we had to be at our best.'' Celtic, indeed, had to add a steely edge to their obvious flair to survive a second-half comeback by the Edinburgh side which saw them score and come desperately close to snatching an equaliser in the last minute when Jonathan Gould held a powerful header from Paul Ritchie on the goal line.

But before Hearts scored their first goal through Colin Cameron in 65 minutes, Celtic had enjoyed total supremacy with the two goals in a five-minute spell giving them all the confidence they could have asked for.

Marc Rieper scored first in 15 minutes, and Henrik Larsson scord the second.

From then until the Cameron strike, Hearts looked down and out.

Afterwards, manager Jim Jefferies was able to take some consolation from the manner in which his team finished the game, though still shaking his head over the careless defending which cost them the goals.

Said Jefferies: ''We had chances to clear the danger for both goals.

The first one came because Jim Hamilton, who was supposed to be picking up Marc Rieper at set pieces, lost him and that gave him the chance to get in his shot.

Having said that, we should not have given away the corner in the first place.

''At the second goal, our players lost concentration for just a minute.

The referee quite rightly allowed advantage when there was a foul committed in the build-up.

The Celtic lads continued to play on and Larsson scored but we hesitated, waiting for the whistle and we should not have done that.'' Once he had the post mortems on the goals over Jefferies moved on to more positive views on the match, as he pointed out: ''It was late in the game, after we scored, before we began to play the way we have been doing on the run which took us to the top of the table.

But I think we did enough in that spell to show that we don't have to be frightened by any of the other teams.

''This doesn't stop me from believing that we can still be challenging for the championship.

It has not altered my view of what Hearts are capable of achieving.'' Certainly there was a determination in the second half which must have pleased Jefferies - but it also must have pleased his opposite number, Jansen, that his players were able to match that in a game which always seemed to be on the point of boiling over as flying tackles brought a total of seven yellow cards from referee John Rowbotham.

The Hearts' players booked were Stefano Salvatori, Stephane Adam, and Gary Locke, while Celtic's guilty men were Craig Burley, Tom Boyd, Wieghorst, and Larsson.

Later, Jansen said: ''I knew from the very first game that a team playing in the Scottish League has to be physical sometimes.

It is a part of the approach.

But I was happy with all the aspects of our play today.

Alan Stubbs and Marc Rieper have a great understanding in defence and we are attacking well.

We made a lot of chances this afternoon.'' They did, and even during the last 25 minutes when Hearts were attempting to find a way through for an equaliser, Celtic had decent scoring opportunities which they wasted.

But the victory they had carved out in that devastating five-minute spell in the first half still went to them and allowed them to continue the run of form which has carried them into the Coca-Cola Cup final and to joint second place in the premier division.

The recognition that they might have to scrap a bit to stay there was recognised by Wieghorst, who insisted: ''I think there are times when you have to battle.

This was one of them.

There were a few times when it got a little bit heated but that is the way of the game sometimes.

There were too many players talking to the referee - and I was one of them.

I have to stop doing that.

''Playing with Craig Burley in midfield is something I enjoy.

He is a very good player, up and down the field all the time and we have a good relationship.'' The on field 'relationships' which spread throughout the team are the basis of the new-look Celtic which Jansen has fashioned.

These provide their strength and their resilience.

Ask Hearts.

Next games: Hearts v Dunfermline (h).

Celtic v St Johnstone (h).

Hearts ...........................

1 Celtic .............................

2

Taken from the Herald