Celtic 2, Motherwell 0

January 2005

Saturday, January 22

11.30pm Ricky's report of the Celtic game is now available. Terry Butcher's post-match reaction was as follows: "I hope Rangers and Celtic clear off out of Scotland. With all due respect, all Celtic and Rangers can do is win these games and I have been in that position before when I played 20 years ago. The gap between Rangers and Celtic was minimal but now it's just massive because clubs like ours are having to play young players and give them a chance. Years ago Motherwell came here with players like John Spencer and spent a fair bit of money and the gap was small but now it's just huge. It certainly was flat and once Celtic went to 2-0 that was the end of the game but we did keep going. It was a flat atmosphere which is what we set out to do to. We tried to make something by stopping Celtic from getting into their stride because they are awesome. If they win a Sky contract and Celtic and Rangers leave then the interest would carry on here as it would give other clubs the chance to compete. But they have outgrown the SPL as games like today are very difficult for us and harder to watch. You would like to come here and stand toe to toe but we don't have the players to do that." 6.15pm Today's result: Celtic 2, Motherwell 0. We went down to a 2-0 defeat in a poor game at Parkhead this afternoon. Although we looked a lot more organised defensively than we have in recent weeks and never looked like being on the end of a trashing, we offered nothing upfront and two stupid mistakes led to the Celtic goals. Scott Leitch missed out through suspension, but Jim Paterson returned to bolster our makeshift midfield, with Clarkson and McDonald continuing in attack. Although Celtic had the majority of the possession in the first half, Gordon Marshall had few saves of any note. However all our good early defensive work was undone on the half hour mark when Quinn (I think) needlessly gave away the ball in midfield, and Sutton sent Petrov away through the middle. Gordon Marshall got a hand to his shot but couldn't keep it out, and that was about the only action in a drab first half. It was more of the same in the second half, with Motherwell restricting Celtic to very few opportunities while only occasionally managing to break forward. When the second goal came in 56 mins it once again was not as a result of fantastic play from the home side, but sadly was down to yet another individual error. This time it was Scott McDonald who lost possession, and with most of the defence out of position Sutton found himself with a clear run on goal, and he slotted past Marshall to make it 2-0 and kill the game off as a contest. There then followed a flurry of substitutions but no further goalmouth action. Although this was a much better showing defensively, we cannot escape the fact that Celtic could have played today without a goalkeeper, and that stupid individual errors are still costing us dear. Ah well, at least Killie lost so we stay in 6th place, and with a home game coming up next week hopefully we can get our season back on track with a decent performance before the League Cup semi final. Team (4-4-2): Marshall, Quinn, Craigan, Partridge, Hammell, Paterson (Fitzpatrick 69), Corrigan, McBride, Foran (Wright 84), Clarkson (Fagan 69), McDonald. Subs not used: Corr, Kinniburgh, Higgins, Keogh. Booked: none. Attendance: 58,438. Terry Butcher's attempt to bring Jim Hamilton to Fir Park has fallen through. However, if you thought THAT was a lucky escape, apparently we have offered Gerry Britton training facilities and could sign him on a short-term deal. No, seriously. Click here to view the story on the Official Partick Thistle FC website.