Celtic 3 Hearts 0

Sep 12 2010 Gordon Waddell, Sunday Mail

THEY came to honour Jock Stein - and left with a moment of magic that would have brought a smile to the big man's face.

Paddy McCourt's injury-time clincher was good enough to grace any Celtic game in any era as boss Neil Lennon kept his 100 per cent SPL record intact.

The sub's strike was a shaft of light in a bizarre game that could have seen Celtic win by seven or eight.

Yet the Hoops rode their luck at crucial times through the inadequacy of ref Willie Collum and linesman Francis Andrews.

First-half goals from James Forrest and Shaun Maloney had more than a hint of offside about them.

And raging Jambos boss Jim Jefferies was sent to the stand for his protests after the opener.

But there was no debate about the third - and McCourt reckons every goal he scores has to be that special if he wants to see a starting spot.

The enigmatic Irishman said: "I always try to do something special and, with the competition here just now, you feel you have to.

"There are four or five strikers who think they should be playing every week and three or four wingers.

"So I can only try to produce a bit of magic with James and Shaun starting at the moment.

"This was my first goal at Celtic Park and I'm sure I'll sit down later and have a wee think about that.

"Given the occasion, it makes it all the better. Everyone knows what Mr Stein did for this club so to mark this day with a goal was great."

The fans marked the day with a joy about them as well. The Green Brigade held up silhouettes of Stein but for the first half-hour it must have felt like they were watching a shadow of the big man's side.

Lennon gave Anthony Stokes a debut, benching Georgios Samaras from the side that had squeaked past Motherwell a fortnight ago, but the early chances fell to Hearts.

They came so close in 19 minutes when Fraser Forster spilled Kevin Kyle's header down from David Templeton's corner, then recovered just in time to stop Eggert Jonsson bundling home.

The big Geordie was almost done 30 seconds later by an audacious 40-yard chip from Ryan Stevenson but Forster backpedalled just enough to get the tip over.

The Jambos came even closer eight minutes later when Suso Santana shot off the post after a nice move involving Kyle and Stevenson.

It goes in? The tide turns.

Within 30 seconds, though, the dam burst at the other end. Maloney released Daryl Murphy with 40 yards to run before a poor touch at the edge of the box forced the Irishman to pass rather than shoot.

Darren Barr should have cleared Murphy's centre at the back post but Forrest stole in to slip the ball home for the opener.

The drama wasn't finished though. Jefferies went bananas, claiming linesman Andrews had given Murphy a two-yard start on his run.

And it was a protest that earned the Hearts gaffer a seat in the directors' box for the last hour.

You could visibly see the weight lift from Celts' shoulders and they duly doubled their lead before the break. However, the Hoops should have been four up.

Forrest blew a three-on-none break, trying to feed an offside Maloney when he should have drilled home himself. Stokes also had a dream chance to get off the mark, hitting Marian Kello's legs when he was clean through on the keeper.

In between those chances, though, Maloney got the job done - and again Hearts were the architects of their own demise by holding a ridiculously high line.

The little forward took off from the same distance Murphy had, rounded Kello then got enough on his finish to squeeze it past Jonsson's lunge on the line.

The game wasn't finished - but it should have been after the break.

Murphy blew a one-on-one with Kello, lacking the guile to stop the keeper swallowing the ball at his feet. And Maloney wanted to walk the ball home from four yards after Jonsson had missed Forrest's cut back.

Celtic then downed tools and were lucky not to give Hearts a road back when Templeton was felled by Emilio Izaguirre just inside the box. Whistler Collum looked like he was going to blow then changed his mind, sending the Jambos bench apoplectic again.

Both sides started ringing the changes and one of the subs - Hoops striker Samaras - was at the centre of the next offside controversy.

The big Greek burst clear to net from Maloney's feed, only for Tommy Johnston's flag to send the Hoops dugout and the rest of the stadium into a fury.

Samaras had a hatful of chances to kill the game in his 20 minutes on the park, driving his manager nuts as he failed to finish off great passes from Maloney then McCourt.

It was left to the Northern Irishman to put the full stop on things himself and he did it with such a flourish.

McCourt weaved past Barr and Ismael Bouzid brilliantly before dinking a class finish over a demoralised Kello.

Taken from the Daily Record