| Match Pictures | Matches: 2009 – 1996 | 1995-96 Pictures | 1st Leg |
Trivia
- Andy Walker missed a penalty.
- On the same day Celtic lost 2-1 to Motherwell in a Reserve League match at Fir Park. The Motherwell team was Woods, Ritchie, Krivokapic (Craigan 55), Denham, Ferguson, Williamson (Essandoh 67), Rae, Trialist, McMillan, Henry, Burns. Sub McCulloch. The Celtic team was Bonner, Morrison, Smith, Mackay, McQuilken, Carberry, Boyle (Wilson 46), Gray, Dalglish, Falconer, O'Neil. Sub Kerr (gk). The Motherwell scorers were McMillan 37, Henry 49. The Celtic scorer was Gray 30.
Review
Teams
CELTIC (4-4-2):
G Marshall R Vata, T Boyd, J Hughes, T McKinlay S Donnelly (sub: C Hay, 56min), P Grant, P McStay, B McLaughlin A Thom (sub: S Gray, 75), P van Hooijdonk (sub: A Walker, 61).
DINAMO BATUMI (3-5-2):
N Tagonidze Z Mindadze, M Makharadze, G Shekiladze V Shanidze, B Phutkaradze (sub: A Glonti, 60), R Torgashuili, A Kantidze (sub: D Makharadze, 45), A Mujiri T Tegushi, D Ujmajuridze.
Referee: G Orrason (Iceland).
Att: 31,969
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Articles
Celtic youngsters draw inspiration from Thom –
Football
Times, The (London, England)
September 29, 1995
Author: Kevin McCarra
Celtic 4 – Dinamo Batumi 0 (Celtic win 7-2 on agg).
THE comfort with which Celtic completed a 7-2 aggregate victory over Dinamo Batumi in this Cup Winners' Cup first-round tie was reflected in the Glasgow crowd's willingness to treat a missed penalty by one of the substitutes, Walker, in the 76th minute, as an amiable eccentricity. In any case, he did score in the last minute.
The trouncing of an inadequate Georgian side was no great feat, but it did strengthen the conviction that a programme of vigorous change is under way at Celtic.
This was an occasion for the management to introduce supporters to the future and demonstrate that it may be appetising. The midfield player, John Collins, on the verge of a move to either Blackburn Rovers or Middlesbrough, could not even find a place on the bench.
Anyone who thought that detaching Collins from the squad would leave the team shorn of invention was rapidly disabused of the notion. Of course, Celtic, already ahead from the away leg, were relaxed enough to frolic, but the swiftness with which they danced through to claim two early goals and so kill the tie demonstrated laudable efficiency.
Collins's replacement, the tiny winger Brian McLaughlin, is in the process of discovering accuracy. The nature of his failings had previously been disconcerting. Here, it seemed, was a man with the rare gift of beating an opponent, who produced consternation when asked to carry out the simpler task of making a pass or placing a cross.
On Saturday, though, in scoring his first two goals for the club, against Heart of Midlothian, he was far more telling. He remained pertinent last night, although his part in the first of Andreas Thom's goals in the opening exchanges was a mere cameo. With a piece of guile, after 19 minutes, he invited a foul on the left and McKinlay dropped the free kick on to the unmarked Thom, who placed a firm downward header into the corner of the net.
McLaughlin was to be more flamboyant in setting up the German's next goal two minutes later. This time, the winger slipped away from two markers and swung a punishing ball to the near post for Thom to angle a header across and past Togonidze. If McLaughlin's eruption into significance came as a pleasant surprise, the intelligent restlessness of the scorer's running is a quality Celtic have already come to depend upon after his Pounds 2.2 million transfer from Bayer Leverkusen.
Younger talents have begun to coalesce around Thom and one of them was to add a spectacular third goal a minute into the second half. Donnelly, now prospering in a new role on the right, used that position only as a launching pad and came inside to take Van Hooijdonk's lay-off and thrash a 25-yarder in off the underside of the bar.
Batumi lacked the technique to interfere with Celtic's plans to any significant extent and, with barely an hour gone, it was time for the Celtic manager, Tommy Burns, to stop fretting about the match. Celtic had the rare experience, in European football, of feeling free to conserve energy. Tomorrow they play Rangers.
CELTIC (4-4-2): G Marshall R Vata, T Boyd, J Hughes, T McKinlay S Donnelly (sub: C Hay, 56min), P Grant, P McStay, B McLaughlin A Thom (sub: S Gray, 75), P van Hooijdonk (sub: A Walker, 61).
DINAMO BATUMI (3-5-2): N Tagonidze Z Mindadze, M Makharadze, G Shekiladze V Shanidze, B Phutkaradze (sub: A Glonti, 60), R Torgashuili, A Kantidze (sub: D Makharadze, 45), A Mujiri T Tegushi, D Ujmajuridze.
Referee: G Orrason (Iceland).
Att: 31,969