Tonight seen Celtic's first home game of this term as The Bhoys took on a fresh faced Newcastle side in a near empty Parkhead.
Just home after the pre-season tour in America, this, the last warm up game before Motherwell on Sunday, proved to be a thrilling encounter full of the tricks we would expect in a friendly environment. It was also the first glimpse the Celtic faithful seen of new Bhoy Henri Camara, complete with new golden boots, (after a particular paper noticed his royal blue footwear) reminiscent of the famous pair Paolo DiCanio filled, and he proved to have similar flair to the Italian.
It was an encouraging first performance in the hoops by the Senegalese forward, which was mirrored by dazzling displays by Aiden McGeady at right midfield as well as Jackie McNamara, showing the class he posessed in keeping Rangers out last season. Not forgetting to mention of course Momo Sylla who showed a hint of skill and pace when he came on in the second half.
Celtic's shakey defence was called into question in the first half when the slackest of backpasses by Stan Varga allowed potential Celtic target Alan Shearer through on goal, only for David Marshall to pull off a fantastic sliding tackle to thwart him.
It appeared that Shearer's time at Newcastle may not long in ending after a row between the toon legend and manager Bobby Robson when he was taken off. Particularly with the arrival of Patrick Kluivert and the speed of Bellamy.
For me, one of the highlights of the night came from 18 year old McGeady as he dazzled the 20,000 strong capacity with great skill down the right hand side, before cutting in and letting rip with a stunning left footed 25 yard drive which was miraculously saved by Steve Harper who took over the gloves of Shay Given in tonights proceedings. McGeady continued to show the skill he has developed through his years with Celtic and showed that he his not just simply there to make up the numbers.
Despite Celtic's added pressure in the second half, it was Newcastle who took the lead through Craig Bellamy who managed to slip through McNamara's grip he had so tight in the first half. Immediately, Celtic came at Newcastle again, with Momo Sylla showing his pace and eagerness to chase lost causes. A fantastic weighted pass from Camara played Sylla onside and was extremely unfortunate not to find the net on this occasion, although he did with the resulting corner of Harper's save.
The ball whipped into the middle by Ross Wallace was met by the glancing head of Sylla to give us the equaliser, but despite Sylla's effort, this was to be Camara's night as his low drive was deflected off Toon defender Aaron Hughes and looped over Harper for his first goal in his first appearence.
The game showed vast amounts of promise for the likes of Camara after a tough year at Wolves, as well as showing McNamara isn't yet done and Aiden McGeady shining again before the first game of the season.
Celtic-Mad Man of the Match: Aiden McGeady