Pre-match
I was not in the travelling party which made the journey over to East End Park, so I have no idea where they stopped for the pre-match meal. However, I do know the boys would have been in good humour as they were 6-3 up from the first leg and would have been looking forward to the away match. And, just to make things even more pleasurable, the Pars ground was a very atmospheric arena, one which all of us enjoyed playing in.
The Teams
Dunfermline: Martin, W Callaghan, Lunn, Paton, Delaney, T Callaghan, Edwards, Flaming, Hunter, Ferguson, Robertson. Sub: Maxwell
Celtic: Simpson, Gemmell, O’Neill, Murdoch, McNeill, Clark, Johnstone, Chalmers, McBride, Auld, Hughes. Sub: Lennox
The Play
Considering that Celtic were 6-3 up from the first leg, a crowd of 20,000 was pretty impressive.
It is always hard for a manager of the beaten side to decide what to do in that particular situation. Does he try to encourage his team to play silky soccer to pull back the deficit – thus possibly leaving opportunities for the opposition to score even more – or does he go down the more physical route, pushing his players to upset the rhythm of the opponents and try for the occasional breakaway.
From the press reports of the match, it seems that the Pars went for the latter policy and adopted a very physical approach. Much to the credit of our guys, they held their cool and moved the ball around to add to their goals tally, with 2 in the first half and another after the interval.
32 minutes
Cross by Jinky, Cesar heads home. 1-0 Celtic
42 minutes
Fine swerving shot by Stevie. 2-0 Celtic.
54 minutes
An error in handling by keeper Martin allowed Stevie a chance and he made no mistake. 3-0 Celtic
70 minutes
Fleming pulled one back.
Dunfermline 1 Celtic 3 (Aggregate 4-9)
Headline and Comment
Few journalists had given Dunfermline much of a chance beforehand and headlines the following day were none too dramatic. This one probably summed up the situation most neatly ;
Celts Play It Real Cool
This clinical comment in one of the evening papers also summed up the situation quite succinctly –
‘The simple truth of last night’s match was that Dunfermline could not give Celtic 3 goals of a start and hope to have any chance of winning. In fact most teams would find it hard starting on level terms’.
Other Results
Rangers 3 Ayr United 0 Aggregate 4-1
Aberdeen 3 Morton 0 Aggregate 4-3
Airdrie 5 Montrose 1 Aggregate 8-4
Closure
After weeks of speculation and rumour, it was announced that Glasgow’s Locarno Club in Sauchiehall Street is to close.
For many years between the wars, the Locarno Club was one of the city’s ‘night spots’.
Increased costs caused by revaluation of properties and the Selective Employment Tax are causing serious concern among other city clubs.
Listed as being in no danger are the Piccadilly Club, the Royal Scottish Automobile Club and the Conservative Club.
Cover-up
Italian actress Sophia Loren said in Rome that she would never wear a mini-skirt because it destroyed a woman’s strongest weapon – ‘feminine mystique’.
To show her disdain for the mini-skirt, she told reporters she would go to New York next month wearing a long overcoat reaching to her ankles; a skirt below her knees; and a pair of boots.
Lost
A Glasgow firm of plumbers had been called out to search for a £1000 diamond. They were summoned by a Glasgow widow who lost the stone from her engagement-ring.
They searched all the drains in the house – she lives in the south side of the city – but the stone is still missing and a £75 reward has been offered for its recovery.