Celts do everything apart from win the game

I will say this from the start. We did not deserve to lose this match.

Celtic did everything in this match except score a goal. It was a typical Cup-Tie between two teams that like to play the ball on the deck and an open game ensued and if it had not been so profligate in front of goal we could easily have won this tie 4-2.

Hearts started the more brightly in the game and settled quickly but our tactic of giving the ball to the on-fire McGeady to run at the Hearts defence was working well. The final ball was sometimes lacking although this could be attributed more to the lack of movement into space of JVOH as opposed to the wingers ability.

After the opening stages Celtic settled into the game well with the midfield supporting the play well and Donati's sublime reverse pass nearly carved space for McDonald but his shot was closed down.

Hearts looked dangerous on the break however with Michael Stewart carving open our defence on more than one occasion only for Driver to fire weakly wide.

The major turning point in the match came with the forced substitution of Naylor due to illness. With no full backs available on the bench WGS was forced to nullify the excellent Paul Hartley by putting him into the left back berth.

This had little effect on our attacking play with the impressive Brown having more and more influence of the game, although his attempts to take on the entire Hearts defence rather than lay the ball off were frustrating to say the least. Again this could be contributed to the lacklustre JVOH making no attempt to pull the defence.

One of the best moments of the match was when Skoosh chased a runner fully 60 yards to nip in with a great sliding tackle only to run 60 yards back up the field and lay the ball off. Not content with that energy defying sprint he took a return pass, shimmied past the Hearts full back and put in an excellent cross that Sno somehow managed to put over the bar. Quite what a defensive midfielder was doing in the box during a breakaway attack is beyond me.

After a few more chances were missed Hearts broke up the pitch with Andy Driver and after defying physics by appearing to keep the ball in play (although the view of the vital touch was obscured by the linesman) he hit the byeline and cut the ball back for Velicka to slot it home.

With 13 minutes left to play Celtic must have felt they had a chance to get themselves back in the game and as they piled on the pressure a slack pass from Sno allowed Hearts to break and get the ball to Velicka. A simple touch to his left had Stephen McManus turning his back on the ball and the substitute fired a rocket that Boruc couldn't deal with.

That was that, and to say the team or the Manager didn't deserve the reaction they got from the fans at full time was an understatement.

Yours in Celtic

Clydebuilt