Denis was absent as Celtic travelled to Love Street for the final League match of that season on Saturday, 18 April 1970, just three days after the epic victory over Leeds United at Hampden that saw the Hoops reach a second European Cup final. Billy McGann was between the posts for what was my first visit to Love Street and Vic Davidson kept the debut theme going by making his inaugural first-team appearance and scoring in a 3-2 win over the red-clad Saints, Celtic’s last competitive match before their date with destiny in Milan.
Denis was back at his regular post for the first clash between the sides the following campaign, played at Celtic Park on Saturday, 28 November 1970. Indeed, he was involved in the most notable moment of the match as Celtic won 3-0. The Glasgow Herald reminded its readers that Denis was not a bad outfield player either.
Connaghan, who kept goal competently, won one of the biggest cheers of the day when he ran well out of the penalty area to challenge [John] Hughes for the loose ball, which he dribbled round the big winger before side-stepping [Vic] Davidson and clearing his lines.
There was a huge amount at stake for the return fixture, which took place at Love Street on the evening of Tuesday, 27 April 1971. In their previous match, Celtic had secured a vital point at Pittodrie which finally tipped the title balance in their favour, whilst Saints required to beat the champions to avoid certain relegation, having given themselves a fighting chance with a weekend victory over Dundee United.
Despite another outstanding performance from Denis and a double from young forward Ally McLeod, the clubs shared the points in a 2-2 draw which sent St Mirren back into the Second Division, Scotland’s top goalscorer Harry Hood yet again on target. Celts then equalled Willie Maley’s 60-year-old record of six consecutive League titles 48 hours later by beating Ayr United at Hampden, although I personally maintain that they actually only secured the flag mathematically two days later as the Lisbon Lions roared for a last time against Clyde.
Whilst there would be no League meetings the following season, that autumn would prove to be the time when Denis’ much-vaunted dream move to Celtic would finally happen. The circumstances surrounding that transfer were covered in the first part of this article, however in the interests of continuity, I’ll drop the relevant text back in here before picking the story back up.
The month of October 1971 would be pivotal in Denis’ career, with the League Cup in the forefront. Second Division St Mirren were not given much chance against a Celtic side smarting from a shock home defeat to St Johnstone at the weekend and seeking to reach an eighth successive League Cup final, when the teams met at Hampden for the semi-final on Wednesday, 6 October 1971.
That task looked even more difficult when defender Hugh McLaughlin received a second booking just after the half-hour, but a brilliant display by Denis kept the Buddies in the match until Davie Hay – ironically himself a Paisley man – opened the scoring on the hour mark. Within three minutes, Harry Hood and Bobby Lennox had secured Celtic’s place in the final but no doubt Jock Stein had taken notice of Denis’ goalkeeping performance.
Continued on the next page…
