By ALAN PATTULLO at HAMPDEN PARK
Published on Monday 30 January 2012 01:03
THE dark blue shirts might have prompted flashbacks to a certain day at the same venue in 2010, but Celtic ensured there was no repeat of that grim afternoon against another set of First Division opponents.
Jay Fulton’s goalscoring performance for Falkirk was another blast from the past. His strike, a sweetly-executed left-foot shot of which his father, Steve, would have been proud, drew his side level just before half-time.
Perhaps Falkirk’s chief regret following a highly-creditable performance is that they could not remain on level terms for longer than 11 minutes after the re-start.
This was a day when Celtic flirted with ignominy. It was all nervy enough to bring our the worst in Neil Lennon, who exchanged words with Alex Smith, Falkirk’s veteran assistant manager, on the sidelines, after Anthony Stokes had put Celtic 2-1 ahead with a free-kick. “These things happen,” said Lennon later. “They were contesting every decision. I had a few words with him.”
It was as revealing as it was unedifying, though the pair did shake hands in amiable enough fashion at the end. Celtic were given a run for their money here by Falkirk, who cursed a combination of bad luck and poor finishing. Their manager, Steven Pressley, will wish to throw erratic officiating into the mix, too, although Celtic suffered from this as well. Fulton scored once and could have had another at the start of the second-half, blazing over after good work by Kallum Higginbotham. Pressley had watched the first-half unfold from his position at the edge of the technical area. Like a clucking mother hen, he proudly watched over his brood.
At no point did he cluck more loudly than when the teams came off at half-time. Pressley had been infuriated by the decision of Euan Norris to award Celtic a penalty midway through the first-half, and let the referee know it. By the time the teams re-emerged after the interval Pressley was in a position to clap his players on to the park, having taken a seat in the stand.
This, we learned later, came at the invitation of Norris, who considered the manager’s outburst to be over the top. He spent the second-half writing notes down to his coaching staff on the bench below.
Celtic mis-directed passes and looked generally out of sorts at the start. Falkirk, meanwhile, began where they left off at Hampden in the Scottish Cup final of 2009, when they nearly succeeded in passing Rangers off the park. Their possession play was often a joy to behold here again. Indeed, it was they rather than Celtic who excelled in this department in the initial stages.
Falirk boasted the livelier players, and in Higginbotham had the outstanding performer on the field. Mark Millar directed his side’s play, often via long, accurate balls out to the Falkirk right. Rather than be cowed by the open spaces of Hampden, the First Division team revelled in the opportunity to stretch the play.
They did, though, survive some close calls before Scott Brown put Celtic ahead from the spot after 27 minutes. The same player had already hit the post with a drive. Although the ball did eventually end up in the net, Gary Hooper was penalised for offside.
It was the first of a series of calls which infuriated both managers. The striker, television pictures proved, had been very much onside. Pressley wasn’t outraged by this, naturally. But he was driven to rage by the referee’s award of a penalty to Celtic, after Falkirk skipper Darren Dods had tangled with Thomas Rogne as they duelled to get on the end of a Charlie Mulgrew corner kick.
Pressley’s gripe was that Falkirk would not have gained from a similar incident at the other end, but Norris did have a good view of what was a clumsy-looking challenge on Dods’ part. He was booked and then watched on as Brown made no mistake from the spot, with the Celtic skipper having promoted himself to the role of penalty-taker.
Dods redeemed himself with an important block from Stokes just minutes later. Just five minutes before half-time, Falkirk grabbed the goal their play deserved. It stemmed from the self-belief of David Weatherston, who beat Cha Du Ri in a race for the ball. Higginbotham then took over, driving towards the box before releasing Fulton with a perfectly-weighted pass. The midfielder took advantage of the space left by the out-of-position Emilio Izaguirre and nervelessly beat the on-rushing Fraser Forster with a low shot into the corner.
The Falkirk youngsters had excelled. Given Rangers’ present financial struggles, the sight of Murray Wallace, a rangy, ball-playing centre-half, strolling around Hampden must have been an extra reason for anguish. Falkirk are loooking forward to pocketing £300,000 for the player, courtesy, most probably, of Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Ibrox side let him go, fearing that he would not bulk-up enough to make the grade. Judging by yesterday’s peformance, he has all the attributes required – including physique. He was, though, fallible, letting in James Forrest on the stroke of half-time. Fortunately for Wallace his goalkeeper pulled off a fine save. Rogne also missed badly at the far post following a Brown free-kick.
Going in all-square at the interval was the least Falkirk deserved. But in order to prosper, they needed to hold what they had for longer than they managed. Farid El Alagui failed to make an impact where he hoped – in the Celtic box. But the striker did contribute to a significant moment in the game. He was penalised for climbing on Victor Wanyama and though the offence seemed fairly innocuous, the punishment was severe.
Stokes managed to curl the ball over the Falkirk wall from the free-kick, and saw it land in the corner of the net - just out of the diving Michael McGovern’s reach. Rogne had already hit the bar after a good old-fashioned Hampden stramash in the box, so Falkirk had been living on the edge even before Stokes’ strike.
Celtic had to rely on a fine double-save by Forster to preserve the lead. The ’keeper blocked a Dods effort before then spreading himself to prevent Stewart Murdoch from taking advantage of the rebound.
The prospect of extra time was extinguished four minutes from the end when Hooper nipped past Wallace. His cross from the bye-line was then bundled into the empty net by Stokes. Celtic had created plenty of chances but it still felt harsh on Falkirk.
FALKIRK manager Steven Pressley found himself watching the second half of yesterday’s Scottish Communities League Cup from the stand, after remonstrating with referee Euan Norris at the end of the first half.
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