celts shine in pre-season opener

Gregor Kyle
THERE were few signs of close-season rust as Celtic made an impressive start to their pre-season campaign in Claus Lundekvam’s Testimonial match at St Mary’s Stadium, with Gordon Strachan’s men winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Chris Killen and Barry Robson.

A sizeable Celtic support were treated to an entertaining and well-paced first half where Killen opened the scoring after a lovely build-up involving Aiden McGeady and Scott McDonald.

The Scottish champions looked particularly impressive in possession against a busy and determined young Southampton side and after the interval the players maintained the pace, with Robson hammering home a penalty after substitute Samaras had been felled in the box.

The match was of course a tribute to retiring Saints’ captain, Lundekvam, with the Norwegian centre-back actually paying to have the St Mary’s pitch relayed to ensure that his former manager could bring his Celtic side south for the match.

And although St Mary’s was not at capacity, the players and fans in attendance ensured that this was a night to remember, with both sides welcoming Lundekvam and his family with a guard of honour.

After this ‘friendly’ start the game kicked off at a fairly frantic pace with Southampton looking bright and busy and David McGoldrick, Adam Lallana and Morgan Schneiderlin looking particularly impressive.

When Celtic were in possession though, their class immediately showed and with McGeady picking up exactly where he left off last season, they began to prise openings in the home defence.

The early chances fell Killen, but the striker appeared to be lacking in a little confidence as he struck one at the keeper and sent another high and wide, but Celtic maintained their momentum and continued to look particularly solid at the back, with Stephen McManus in outstanding form.

Then, in the 26th minute of the match their work paid off with Killen finishing off a lovely passing move involving McGeady and McDonald. It perhaps helped that Killen had little time to think about the chance and when the ball arrived, he struck instinctively past Kelvin Davis and into the bottom corner.

Other chances followed for the busy Robson and the equally energetic McDonald, with Robson forcing a great save from Davis. Even though Celtic had to look sharp at the back on occasion as Southampton countered, they were now in full control of the match.

Rather surprisingly, the pace did not dip in the second half and even despite Celtic making a wave of changes, they continued to look confident and determined to impress.

Among the substitutes was Koki Mizuno and the Japanese midfielder showed glimpses of genuine quality, as did full-back Paul Caddis who shone on the right hand side of midfield.

Mizuno even had a hand in Celtic’s second goal, releasing new Bhoy Georgios Samaras with a clever turn and pass and sending the Greek striker tearing toward goal where he was crudely felled by a desperate challenge.

The spot kick duties then fell to Robson, who rifled the ball emphatically past Davis and into the top corner.

With the contest now decided it was time for the Saints’ legends to enjoy a last hurrah, with Matt Le Tissier entering the fray and Lundekvam coming on as a late substitute.

From a Celtic perspective though, this was an immensely enjoyable start to pre-season and although you can’t read too much into such encounters, the early signs look particularly promising.

Claus Lundekvam Testimonial Match
Friday, July 18, 2008
St Mary’s Stadium

SOUTHAMPTON… 0
CELTIC… 2
(Killen 26, Robson 67)

WEBSITE MAN OF THE MATCH: Stephen McManus

SOUTHAMPTON (4-5-1) Davis; James, Thomas (Svensson 46), Perry (Lundekvam 80), Surman; Wright-Phillips, Gillett (Le Tissier 75), Schneiderlin (Wotton 63), Holmes (Mills 55), Lallana (Kaland 68); McGoldrick (Euell 63).
Subs: Bialkowski, Racine.
CELTIC (4-4-2) M Brown (Fox 78); Hinkel, Caldwell (O’Dea 46), McManus (Balde 78), Naylor (Wilson 46); Robson (Caddis 71), Hartley, S Brown (Donati 46), McGeady (Mizuno 62); Killen (Sheridan 46), McDonald (Samaras 46).
Subs: McGowan.