CELTIC defeated Motherwell 3-0 in the 2011 Scottish Cup Final. Although The Celtic Star wasn’t around back then, David Potter, the esteemed Celtic historian certainly was and we’ve got his match report from that final for you today. Here goes…
The Scottish Cup! 35 times winners between 1892 and 2011! Twice more than Rangers! Not without cause is this trophy (the oldest in the world) looked upon as Celtic’s favourite. The weather at Hampden was less than totally pleasant and no-one could sing about “Hampden In The Sun”, but this triumph will be ranked among Celtic’s better ones. The goals were good – in fact there should have been more – and the play of Celtic in the second half in particular was a sight to behold.
Celtic’s relationship with their fans is second to none in the world, and I mean the world. The supporters doing the huddle showed exactly what Celtic mean to so many people, and of course, in world terms, there is nothing to shake me from my conviction that Celtic have the biggest fan base on earth. We must think of ourselves and our aspirations in those terms.
The game itself started poorly with nothing really happening (apart from four bookings) in the first 30 minutes, but then we had Ki’s wonder strike followed by Gunnell’s shot for Motherwell which would have made a grand equalizer. Still 1-0 at half-time, but then Celtic upped a gear in the second half with Brown and Ki taking more of a grip in midfield, and two more goals followed from Mark Wilson’s deflected shot and Charlie Mulgrew’s rocket of a free-kick.
Ki has never been my favourite, but how well he played! Scott Brown too was relentlessly influential. Commons has played better games than yesterday’s Scottish Cup Final, and supporters’ opinion about Georgios Samaras remains divided and polarised. Yet he is a trier, and Celtic fans love a trier. His ball control occasionally lets him down, but he will never give up. The defence was reliable and firm, and an effort must surely be made to secure our Geordie goalkeeper who was seldom troubled and dealt splendidly with whatever came his way.
It was a fine occasion, and I would even go out of my way to praise Callum Murray the referee who might well have sent off Majstorovic and Craigen, had he decided to follow the letter of the law, both for deliberate handball. But it was the Scottish Cup Final, and sanity prevailed.
The whole occasion and atmosphere was of the highest order. Frankly, money could not buy a day like that, and I would not have missed it for the world. It has been my pleasure to have watched 18 of our 35 Scottish Cup triumphs (some of them on the telly, but the rest in the flesh). It is my intention to be at a good few more yet before any cloggs get popped. You see, that sight of green and white ribbons on silverware – I can’t get enough of that (as the lyrics of a well-known song would have it!)
We can now enjoy our summer holidays!
David Potter (May 2011)
LAST NIGHT The Celtic Star Podcast – A Celtic State of Mind won prestigious The Podcast of the Year Award at the Football Blog Awards in London.
The latest podcast is out this morning – it’s part 2 of the brilliant interview with Celtic’s SLO John Paul Taylor where he selects the games and the soundtracks of his own personal Celtic journey. Loved his memories of the 4-2 game in the first part of his interview. Here’s the latest instalment from the UK’s Football podcast of the year…
Listen to “John Paul Taylor with A Celtic State of Mind (Part 2/3)” on Spreaker.
