Danny Dawson would make nine appearances for Celtic the next season, 1934/35, beginning with a second visit to Tynecastle, on Saturday, 18 August 1934, Jimmy Delaney making his debut in the Hoops for what would prove to be a truly wonderful career. The bad-tempered game, with trouble on and off the field amongst the 39,000 crowd, finished goalless, thanks mainly to Joe Kennaway, who once again defied the Gorgie strikeforce. Joe had suffered a bad eye injury in the first half, yet still refused to be beaten. Geatons deputised for the Canadian in goals, whilst he received stitches on the sidelines, just as he had done for John Thomson, three years earlier, following that dreadful incident at Ibrox.
Danny would reappear in the side at the end of September, a 2-1 defeat by Albion Rovers at Cliftonhill seeing the Celts drop to twelfth place in the League, Bobby Hogg again missing a penalty in that game. He would then be absent for the next three months until a Christmas Day outing against Queens’ Park at Celtic Park, the Hoops winning 4-1 to climb back up to a more respectable second in the table. Jimmy Delaney, with a brace, Johnny Crum and Jimmy McGrory the men on target in front of 20,000.
McGrory would better that four days later, with a hat-trick, as Celts won the return fixture with Hearts by 4-2, Crum having opened the scoring early on. Danny again retained his place for the next match, on New Year’s Day 1935, as Rangers won 2-1 in the top of the table clash at Ibrox before 83,000 fans. This was the day that Peter McGonagle administered his own brand of justice on Rangers centre-forward, Jimmy Smith, following a series of shall-we-say robust challenges on Joe Kennaway. Peter was sent off in the 75th minute, marking the beginning of the end of his long and distinguished Celtic career. Charlie Napier had retired injured before the interval, the nine-man Celts somehow clawing a late goal back through George Paterson but the home side’s earlier two-goal salvo enough for the win.
Dawson and Celtic enjoyed a 1-0 victory at Muirton Park, Perth the following Saturday, 5 January 1935. A Jimmy McGrory header on the hour was enough to hand St Johnstone their first home defeat of the season and keep the Hoops in contention for a first League title in nine years. Seven days later, the Celtic supporters would look forward to welcoming two of their own back to Parkhead, where Hamilton Academical were the visitors. As it transpired, former skipper, Jimmy McStay would not be fit enough to play, although he would recover to lead his men all the way to the Scottish Cup Final that season, ensuring that there would be Hoops at Hampden, albeit in the red-and-white colours of Accies.
In goal for the Douglas Park outfit on Saturday, 12 January 1935 was Peter Shevlin. Another former St Roch’s man, he had kept goal for Celtic as they won the Scottish Cup at Hampden in 1925, the Hoops beating Dundee 2-1 thanks to a last-minute Jimmy McGrory strike, in a game forever remembered for Patsy Gallacher’s ‘somersault’ equaliser, before winning a Championship medal the following season, the last time Celtic had won the title to this point. Peter would return to the national stadium with the Bhoys for the 1926 final, however, on this occasion, he would be widely blamed for the two goals which took the cup to Paisley.
When he followed that performance by shipping three at Glebe Park, Brechin, in another Scottish Cup tie the following February, the fat lady had begun to gargle in terms of his Celtic career, despite his forwards racking up six in response to progress. Willie Maley would turn to Shevlin’s deputy, teenage Fifer John Thomson, for the next match, and that would pretty much be that. It would be The Prince who would wear the Celtic goalkeeper’s jersey for their third successive Scottish Cup final in April 1927, John defying his local side as Celts beat Second Division East Fife 3-1. Peter would leave Parkhead for South Shields that summer, spending time in Dublin as Shelbourne’s player/manager, before returning to Scotland to sign for Hamilton Academical in April 1933.
