‘Lubo thought the same as I whispered sweet nothings in his ear,’ Niall J

Seven months after Celtic’s 3-2 Pittodrie defeat on 16t August 1998, covered earlier on The Celtic Star, I and the Celtic support returned to Aberdeen and this time came away with a far more comfortable victory.

15 March 1999 saw Celtic head to the North East and this time head home with a thumping 5-1 victory in the bag. Revenge and justice is best served, not so much cold, as in the warm winds of spring.

Not that there are ever actually warm winds in Aberdeen. I’m sure those on the way to Pittodrie will testify to just that. Brrrr!

Willie Young was once more the referee but as Jock Stein said ‘If you’re good enough the referee doesn’t matter,’ Not that I’m casting any aspersions on Mr Young as a referee of course, but that man was suspect, possibly, allegedly (does that cover us Ed?)

Aberdeen had a quite beautifully miserable night as Mark Viduka and Henrik Larsson set about a Dons thumping double-act.

Both players claimed a brace of goals despite some useful possession for Aberdeen, who in the end struggled to contain a Celtic side that looked as if it could easily have scored more.

The win placed in-form Hoops 10 points behind Premier League leaders the original Rangers, but the Bhoys still had it all to do to catch our Glasgow rivals and it was eventually to prove too big a bridge to cross.

Marko or indeed Mark Viduka, the Australian who went dramatically Awol after joining the club in December, never looked more at home as he put away goals on 27 and 47 minutes.

That double took him to an impressive four goals in two starts for Celtic, since having to get his head straight, after the stress he endured by signing the biggest contract of his career at the biggest club he’d played for to date. If only we’d seen the signs of what was to come!

Mark Viduka was quoted post-match as saying: “The support I’m getting is great.”

At the time we bought that bluster.

Genuine hero and legend in the making Henrik Larsson grabbed two of his own in under five minutes – on 70 and 73 minutes – to bury the home side. No more Blinker own goals and no more hideously missed penalties in this encounter. Larsson’s double moved his tally for the season to 36 goals and unsurprisingly Celtic’s and Scotland’s top scorer.

Things were not made any easier for Aberdeen as substitute Nigel Pepper got himself sent off with a rash challenge on Regi Blinker after just six minutes on the field, with less than a quarter of the match to go.

Aberdeen struck a Robbie Winters late consolation goal through a lazy Celtic defence, but the Bhoys had still not finished and put in a fifth in the last minute of regulation time through Craig Burley, a goal much deserved for his overall impact on Celtic’s attacking influence all match.

It was also an evening where I got to meet a bemused and somewhat overawed Lubo Moravcik sitting two rows behind me amongst the Celtic support. Looking back I wish I’d been a little more sober on away trips. I’m fairly sure Lubo thought the same as I whispered sweet nothings in his ear. Still he did at least smile politely.

Celtic lined up on the day;

Celtic: Gould, Boyd, McNamara, Larsson, Burley, Lambert, McKinlay, Blinker, Riseth, Mjallby, Viduka. Subs: Brattbakk, Healy, Burchill, Keogh, Corr

The highlights are a wonderful trip down memory lane. A Viduka-Larsson front two may have been short lived but it could have been something special.

Niall J

Other Pittodrie Memories from Niall J…

Thankfully Pittodrie is a far happier hunting ground for Celtic these days.

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About Author

As a Bellshill Bhoy I was taken to my first Celtic game in the summer of 1987. It was Billy McNeill’s return to Celtic Park as manager and Celtic lost 5-1 to Arsenal . I thought I was a jinx, I think my Grandfather might have thought the same. It was the finest gift anyone ever gave me when he walked me through Parkhead's gates.

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