There was a crowd of 27,000 inside Dens Park on 4^th September for the final – and crucial – sectional League Cup match. For this vital game, Jock Stein had done a little bit of tinkering with the forward line, which read Chalmers, Divers, McBride, Lennox and Hughes. From their results so far, the teams would appear to have been well-matched but Celtic got off to the perfect start;-

11 minutes – Hughes played the ball to Chalmers, he sent a perfect pass into the path of Divers, who slotted it into the corner of the net. 1-0

31 minutes – a wonderful effort by Hughes, who collected the ball in midfield, cleverly beat Hamilton, then made his way through a posse of Dundee players before lashing the ball home from 20 yards. 2-0

42 minutes – Penman pulls one back. 2-1

85 minutes – McBride does his usual; right place, right time. 3-1.

 The headline writers went to town (pics by kind permission of Daily Record);

CHEERS! A SUPER SOLO BY BIG HUGHES

HOT HUGHES…..RED HOT CELTS

Celtic’s 3-1 win over Dundee at Dens Park was not important simply because it carried them through to the League Cup quarter-finals……it proved that the Parkhead men have started to show the soccer authority that they have looked for so long’.

And those words probably are an accurate assessment of Celtic’s season thus far. Two defeats in the first three matches but then a steadying of the ship and some good wins which cemented the club’s position in the quarter-finals of the League Cup. The final table read ;-

Over at Ibrox, on the same afternoon, Rangers beat Aberdeen 4-0, a result which also put the Light Blues into the quarter-finals.

Back at Celtic Park, the reserves were once again in action, watched by another impressive crowd. It was really amazing for all of us involved at that time. As a regular in a reserve team, you are used to a small crowd of die-hard fans up in the stands or on the terracing, not numbers in five figures.

It was great, though, and a slightly different side ran out to face Dundee in our own final match of the League Cup sectional games. It consisted of Kennedy, Craig, McCarron, Cattenach, Cushley, Brogan, Johnstone, Inacio, di Sousa, Sweeney and Taylor.

For excitement, it probably did not come up to the standard of the previous match but a 3-1 win over a good Dundee side was excellent and the management were happy with what they had seen.

And as we came out into the forecourt after the match, the enthusiasm of the fans was amazing. Not only had they seen their reserve side – now boosted with some talented Brazilians – qualify for the quarter-final stages of the Reserve League Cup but news had come through from Dundee that the first team had also done the same. Outside the front door, the atmosphere was fantastic, with everyone coming out – player or employee – getting a cheer. I kept wondering what it would be like if we actually won something?

Well, maybe in the future

However, for fans of popular music, the biggest news of the week-end came from Down Under;-

The singer P J Proby was rugby-tackled by a youth during wild scenes at his show at Festival Hall, Brisbane. The trouble began when Proby slit his peacock-blue trousers – as he did during an earlier tour of Britain. The split was only in the knee but it sent many of the 3,500 watching teenagers into a frenzy. One girl grabbed Proby and tried to kiss him while another youth floored him with a rugby tackle.

The Season So Far