SCOTTISH football is often decried for its predictability but just occasionally a result crops up for which no rational explanation can be made whatsoever. While the most recent meeting between Celtic and Morton, a quarter final tie in the William Hill Scottish Cup two seasons ago, conformed to type with a straightforward 3-0 home win, the same can hardly be said for the one before that, a rather remarkable little clash in the League Cup in the East End of Glasgow back in September 2013.
As the Greenock side prepare to make the return journey there this Saturday lunchtime, it seemed worth recalling a match where the form book was heaved out of the window as never before. Allan Moore’s Morton side might have run Partick Thistle a close second in the race for promotion a season earlier, but re-shaped with a raft of foreign signings, they had just one league win under their belt at this point, and would go onto win a futher five all season long, a campaign which would end with ignominious relegation, Moore being replaced by Kenny Shiels and the small matter of a 10-2 reverse to Hamilton Accies.
Neil Lennon’s Celtic, on the other hand, had won all but one of their domestic matches to this point, qualifying triumphantly for the Champions League against Shakhter Karagandy. They would lose one league match all season long, taking the title by a 29-point margin. Stung by previous failures in the cup competitions, the Northern Irishman named a side packed with quality – it included Virgil van Dijk, now £75m of prime Dutch central defender, Mikael Lustig, Scott Brown, Tom Rogic and Nir Bitton.
Only two survivors of the Morton squad that day will be back there this Saturday, goalkeeper Derek Gaston and full-back Mark Russell, and both of them were unused subs. But the match unfolded in pretty much the way Moore and his former Celtic assistant Mark McNally must have game planned it, with some well-organised defending, some assured goalkeeping by Nico Caraux, not to mention a strange lethargy in the Parkhead ranks and an inability to convert crosses seeing matters go into extra time. “It was quite strange actually,” recalls Gaston. “A few of the boys were celebrating the draw, thinking we were going to get a replay out of it. They had forgotten it was the League Cup and it obviously went to extra time!”
It was Morton’s substitute Archie Campbell who made the difference in the 97th minute. Counter attacking down the left, he cut inside Efe Ambrose, the Nigerian defender slipping and knocking the ball away with an outstretched arm just inside the box. Inadvertant or not, his arm had no business being there and referee Bobby Madden awarded the penalty. Dougie Imrie outwitted Lukasz Zaluska by smashing the penalty up the middle and Morton held on, even if it meant substitute Campbell was substituted himself for further defensive help in the form of Mark McLaughlin. “That was my first ever time in the matchday squad,” said Russell, only 17 at the time. “I went out and milked it with the rest of the fans, made sure I got myself on the telly.”
If that was a Morton team in poor form, the same can hardly be said this time around - they are unbeaten away since September. “I know it is possible to go to Celtic Park and get a result,” said Gaston.
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