The next match was only three days away and it was against Bermuda YMCA. The boys did some light training before the match but oh! horror of horrors, three of them, Jinky, Ian Young and Frank McCarron, also spent too much time under the golden orb, went down with sunstroke and had to miss the match. The Boss was apparently fuming and, to put it precisely in Glaswegian, did a Benny! Oh! If only I had been there to see that!
Anyway, it meant that the team had to be re-jigged a bit and the eleven which eventually took the field was Ronnie, Tam, Willie O’Neill ( Pumper), Chopper, Cesar, Luggy, Charlie, Stevie, Joe, Bobby and Bertie.
There was a crowd of 3,000 for the contest and it took Celtic 17 minutes to break down the opposing defence, Joe making the breakthrough but after that the goals came thick and fast. By the interval, Bobby L had scored two more and Joe converted a penalty to make it 4-0.
After the break, Tam quickly got into the act to knock in number 5, Bobby got his hat-trick as he made it 6-0, then Tam made it 7-0 with a 20-yarder. Ten minutes from the end, John Cushley (Wilbur) who had come on for Cesar, stumbled on the bumpy pitch and had to come off with what looked like ligament damage.
On the following day, Wilbur was apparently limping quite badly and he was possibly going to be a passenger for the remainder of the trip. However, the general feeling among the party as they made their way to the airport and a flight north to the US would surely have been one of satisfaction. 17 goals in 2 games was a good start to any tour!
Here in Scotland, the fans were happy with what they were hearing from across the Atlantic….and they were even more delighted with the news that Celtic would play Manchester United in a pre-season friendly at Celtic Park on 6th August.