As Jimmy Greaves once famously said of football, “It’s a funny old game” and few who attended the Hibs v Celtic match on Wednesday 4 September 1985 would be likely to disagree. The venue was Easter Road and the occasion was a Skol League Cup Quarter Final. Hibs went into the game having lost their four opening Premier League fixtures, a fact which saw them rooted to the bottom of the table, whilst Celtic were at the opposite end and in sparkling form. As that well worn football cliché so accurately sums up though, cup games are a different matter altogether and this clash merely proved Greavsie to be right.
In the first round of the competition, Hibs had easily swept aside Cowdenbeath in a 6-0 drubbing which saw striker Steve Cowan nab a hat trick. It was the kind of game that the experts would tell you is a foregone conclusion but bearing in mind the poor league form and the fact that many a banana skin had been slipped under Hibernian feet in the past there was some relief that the Blue Brazil were so easily disposed of.
The next round would provide what looked to be a much sterner test as it paired Hibs with fellow Premier League outfit Motherwell. On the night it was a carefree Hibs which took to the field of play and the men from Lanarkshire were soundly thrashed 6-1 with Cowan’s strike partner Gordon Durie scoring three. That result was at odds with those being achieved in the league but it served to bring Celtic to Edinburgh for the Quarter Final.
Just over 13,000 fans rolled up to Easter Road that night and those along to support the home team would be wondering which Hibs side would turn up. On paper it should have been no contest as Celtic were in the kind of form that saw opposing teams simply brushed aside and after just three minutes of this tie it looked as though Hibs would be their latest victims when a long range effort from Maurice Johnston took a wicked deflection and hurtled past Alan Rough to put the visitors one up. Even this early in the game, many might have thought Hibs would fold but whatever it was the Skol Cup competition did to the Hibs players; its effect was quickly evidenced as the home side roared back into the game.
Pat Bonnar in the Celtic goal was a mightily relieved man to see a snap shot from John Collins flash just past his left hand post but his joy was short lived as his side suffered a double blow when first Cowan headed home a Durie cross and then Durie himself found the net after Alan Sneddon picked him out with a fantastic cross into the box. The home support was in raptures but Celtic’s reputation for fighting football saw them level before the half time break when Davie Provan swept home a low shot after Paul McStay had found him ten yards from the Hibs goal. Worryingly, as the half time whistle sounded, John Collins limped off the pitch – a blow to Hibs as he had performed exceptionally well in the first 45 minutes.
After the interval, with Collins unable to resume and Colin Harris on in his place, Hibs took the game to Celtic and when McAdam slipped in his own penalty area it was Harris who nipped in to round Bonnar and tap the ball into an empty net to put the home side 3-2 up. The home fans were still cheering when, right from the kick off, Davie Provan dribbled his way down the right wing and swung over a cross which Maurice Johnston headed home off the underside of the crossbar. Unsurprisingly the home support was quickly muted as the visiting fans took over the role of cheering a goal.
The game then careered towards the end of the regulation 90 minutes with both sides going all out for the winner but neither succeeding in finding it. Extra time was then required and it started badly for Hibs as Celtic captain Roy Aitken went on a marauding run down the middle of the park and with Hibs defenders missing the chance to tackle him he slammed a low shot past Rough and into the net.
It all looked over for Hibs now but nobody told Gordon Durie that and it was his vicious strike that deflected off Danny McGrain to beat Bonnar and bring the game level once again. At this point both sides were anxious not to lose another and so it was no real surprise when the final whistle sounded with the game tied at 4-4 and heading for a penalty shoot out.
Younger fans may not be aware of what Easter Road looked like back then but where the Famous Five Stand now sits there was a covered enclosure which Hibs fans called the shed and where the ‘singers’ tended to congregate. It was at the goal in front of the shed that the shoot out took place and with the Hibs fans in good voice the first five penalties from each side saw three scored and two missed meaning the tie would be decided on sudden death spot kicks. Hibs were first to go and Steve Cowan stepped forward to slam home his kick and pile the pressure on the next man up for Celtic. That man was Pierce O’Leary who looked very nervous as he set the ball up on the spot. Those nerves clearly took their toll as the big Irishman ballooned his shot over the bar much to the obvious and very noisy delight of the home support. Against all the odds, Hibs were through and a much fancied Celtic out.
That season was a bit of a disaster for Hibs in terms of their league performance and they eventually finished third from bottom but the Cups brought some consolation as having disposed of Celtic, Hibs then dismissed Rangers in the Semi Final before going down to Aberdeen in the Final. In the Scottish Cup Aberdeen were again the side to halt the run, having knocked Hibs out in the Semi Final but not before Hibs had won a thrilling Easter Road Quarter Final 4-3 against ….. you guessed it, Celtic!
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Spot Kick Delight
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