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Brits in Action….but Another Sport
Brian London, of Blackpool, the former British and Empire Heavyweight champion, sensationally blasted the American Roger Rischer of California into defeat in 50 seconds, including two counts, in a scheduled 10-round fight at Liverpool Stadium last night.
ABA Featherweight champion Ken Buchanan made an impressive professional debut when beating Brian Tonks of Swindon in the 2nd round at the National Sporting Club, London, last night.
The Killing Zone
An Indian Defence Ministry spokesman said yesterday that 3,599 Pakistanis and 997 Indians had been killed between 5th August and 18th September. He claimed 443 Pakistanis had been taken prisoner.
India had lost about 100 tanks, while 391 Pakistani tanks were out of action. 64 Pakistani planes had been destroyed for the loss of 23 Indian planes.
Peace!
The Indo-Pakistani war officially comes to an end after United Nations call for a cease-fire. Unfortunately, as so often happens at a time like that, sporadic firing still echoed along the border for some days.
Celtic v Raith Rovers
After all the chat and discussion of the previous day, the Celtic team which eventually ran out at Parkhead on that night of 22nd September 1965 was,
Kennedy, Young, Gemmell, Murdoch, Cushley, Clark, Johnstone, Lennox, Chalmers, Hughes, Auld.
John Cushley gets a rare start ©Daily Record
The attendance was a miserly 9,000 but to be honest, that was to be expected. If your team is 8-1 up from the first leg – played away from home – you would think that the home match would be another one-sided tie and people like to see a contest. In actual fact, this particular match did not quite turn out that way.
John Cushley got a rare start due to Billy McNeill’s injury, and the Boss would have expected “Wilbur” to slot in seamlessly. In the Raith Rovers side, as in the first leg, ex-Celtic great Bobby Evans was at centre-half, where he used his vast experience to organize the defence.
Frankly, Celtic had little to fear from the visitors but the Hoops did have their reputations to defend and did not want to slip up. Unfortunately, right from the start, they took things easily and obviously expected the goals to come . They did not!
By the interval, the game was still goalless. Celtic had definitely dominated the proceedings but made few chances and Raith had grown in confidence as the minutes ticked by. As the players left the field at half-time, the crowd did not exactly boo them but they did not show much enthusiasm for their efforts either.
Half-Time Blast?
I cannot imagine Jock Stein being too enamoured by the first half showing either but I would not think that he would have given the players a rollicking at the interval. He would have made sure they knew he was displeased with the performance but then gone into encouragement mode, suggesting some changes in approach while also making the players aware that he expected more from them.
A Better Second Half
The great Bobby Evans (5th from left-back row) in unfamiliar livery!
Whatever was said in the dressing room, it was a Celtic side with a different approach which started the second half and the rewards soon came, leading to this headline in one of the dailies;
CELTS’ 3-GOALS-IN-A-HURRY ENDS RAITH FIGHT
49 minutes: John Hughes went on a run, took the ball to the byeline and cut it back into the path of Bobby Murdoch, who fired it home.
50 minutes: Bertie Auld let fly with a 30-yarder, which hit the post and then went into the net.
53 minutes: A jinking run by Jimmy Johnstone, a cross into the middle and Auld volleyed his second.
83 minutes: A dazzling run through the Raith defence by Hughes ended in a pass to Stevie Chalmers, who prodded it home.
That was more like it. The lads put on a much better show in the second period and the Boss would have been pleased by the change in approach. Everyone had a much better second half than a first one and new boy John Kennedy, although he did not have much to do, dealt with everything competently.
For my own part, I must admit to being disappointed. I had thought that, since the team was 8-1 up from the first leg, the Boss would have taken the opportunity to give more than one new guy a try-out. So, it was back to the reserves with a two-fold approach, play well and keep asking!
Result: Celtic 4 Raith Rovers 0 Aggregate 12-1
Results in the Other Quarter-finals
Ayr United 2 Kilmarnock 2 Aggregate 2-4
Hibs 11 Alloa Athletic 2 Aggregate 13-2
Rangers 4 Airdrie 0 Aggregate 9-1
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