CIS Cup Wednesday November 10th

Rangers 2

Celtic 1
after extra time

0:1 Hartson 66
1:1 Rso 85
2:1 Arvaladze 100 subs 0:1 Hartson 46

Att: 47,298

MIB: Stuart Dougal

Celtic:
Marshall McNamara Balde Varga Valgaeren Agathe Petrov Lennon Thompson Juninho Hartson
subs
Beattie for Petrov 90
McGeady for Beattie 105

This was the start of the nightmare before Christmas. A weary Celtic side, bereft of Sutton and fielding borderline fit Balde and Valgaeren, succumbed to an Orc onslaught after extra time. It was real 'bah humbug' stuff as the Sieve's pantomime season started early.

Celtic criminally shot themselves in the foot against a shower of cloggers that at times looked more akin to the rear end of a panto horse, than SPL contenders. Setting out their stall early, the Orcs have learned from other SPL minnows. and went for the straight 'kick them off the park' routine, that seems to pass for the tactical norm these days.

The primary recipient of the Orcs' attentions was Juninho. Infinitely gifted he may be, but he is small and he was tossed around the park like a rag in the mouth of Rottweillers. Vet in charge, Dougall, seemed intent on ignoring his plight.

Surviving the first 45 was a feat in itself, as the Orcs had the lion's share of possession and were giving Valgaeren a roasting down our left flank. The tactical nous of OFM was lost on me at this point, having witnessed similar footballing violations in European competition during the course of the last few seasons. A solitary Hartson header was a brief consolation. In fact it nearly put Celtic one up against the run of play.

The second 45 was a more comfortable affair with Prso being booked for diving and Varga hitting a shot off the bar. Mere preliminaries to the main event. On the 65 minute mark Hartson eventually headed into the net and the Orcs looked shell shocked. Celtic had survived their best and should have been cruising.

Then it all went wrong. Camara was brought on for the ailing Juninho and our shape was lost. With five minutes to go Thommo lost the plot and allowed Novo and Namouchi to combine to set up Rab C Rso for a tap in equaliser. All was not lost, but at the death Camara fluffed yet another gilt-edged chance to win the game.

Cue extra time and Beattie on for Petrov. The bustling youngster made an immediate impact and saw Boumsong clear off the line after he had skelped Vignal and Klot. Disaster then struck as the Sieve were posted missing and the Orcs grabbed a second.

The loss of Beattie and the late introduction of an excellent McGeady did little to restore order. It was a sad and unnecessary exit from the CIS Cup, against a poor Ibrox horde. OFM needs to sort things out his stall before our next encounter in the league.