On this day in 1988, Celtic beat Hearts 2-1 in a semi-final of the Scottish Cup at Hampden in front of a crowd of 65,886.
For most of the match, it had been an uncomfortable time for every Celtic fan present.
Oh! they had watched their side dominate the play and they had also been very impressed – and entertained – by the quality of football displayed but the horrifying truth was that with three minutes to the end of the contest, Celtic were one-down to a Hearts goal scored in the 60th minute by an ex-Celt, Brian Whittaker.
Then the real drama began.
In the 87th minute, a corner by Tommy Burns was curled right into the penalty area, Hearts keeper Henry Smith dropped it at the feet of Roy Aitken, he squared it to Mark McGhee and the striker drove it home for the equaliser.
The Hearts players seemed to panic, the Celtic guys sensed it, went for the kill and got it as the game moved into injury time.
Another cross, another piece of hesitation by Smith, McGhee nodded the ball forward and Andy Walker blasted it home.
Jim Craig
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