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Four its a grand old ‘B’ Team to see!

 

Ross County 0-4 Celtic Continuity Collective 

The team bus pulled into Dingwall and after a busy couple of weeks and a tough schedule ahead, including 2 games in a row up North like ( copyright Ralph), oor Brendan heard the calls for Squad rotation and made 8 changes to the side that had played with The Rangers during Sundays Semi Final win.

 

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Hearing the selection news…some fans  immediately feared it was too much of a gamble.. but Brendan had faith in his squad and formation.

Time would duly tell. …. Sooner that we thought.

Within 2 minutes it looked like he knew his stuff as Patrick Roberts had danced his way into the area and curled his shot into the bottom of the net for the lead. This young fresh Celtic side were playing a nice pass and move game and whenever County attacked, Gordon was on form to stop them from nullifying the Roberts opener.

Roberts goal however would be the only one in the first 45 as the rest of the  half saw Celtic  try and play their way to the second goal and at the other end County pressed without ever resorting to dirty tactics.  Ex Celt Michael Gardyne should have scored when leaving Gamboa for dead with a nice drop of the shoulder but his subsequent shot went wide of Gordons left hand post.

The same XI started the second half  and came out in a positive manner. Armstrong forced a corner within the first minute and Henderson won a free kick and also forced a save within the next 2 minutes as Celtic pressed for the second. It was all then went rather huff and puff with Celts either going for one pass too many or the pass being too short to be effective inside the box.

County continued to try their best and duly forced Gordon into a great save after Celtic failed to clear. Up the other end Roberts, Armstong and Izzy tried to make something happen but it just wasnt happening and while it was still only 1-0, some Celtic fans had that fear of a leveller arriving in the Highlands.

Thankfully, it would all end happily but there was at least 1 heart in mouth moment before the final whistle.

Just after 70 odd minutes, Craig Gordon was either getting bored or frisky as he suddenly ran 25 yards and leapt high into Liam Boyce rather than stay on his line and let his defenders deal with any attacking  issues. Thankfully Gordon only saw yellow from the ref, despite Chris Suttons doubts. Thankfully after that, County then seemed to run out of gas and finally Stuart  Armstrong killed off any hopes that County held when he scored the second with 10 minutes remaining. Armstong’s calm placement into the keeper right hand corner was very much like the 5th goal against the The Rangers.

The rest of the game saw a rejuvenated Celtic seek more goals and after Scott Sinclair badly missed a One on One, our forward duly made up for the miss by putting the ball away for the third goal on 92 minutes.  Then to large cheers from the excellent Celtic fans in attendance,  Moussa Demebele got his first away goal in the League when slotting home the 4th to cap a great Patrick Roberts run. The ref then blew the whistle on a very rewarding evening indeed.

 

Goals courtesy of the brilliant @CelticGoals on Twitter

 

 

 

 

BBC Stats below:

 

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Ratings

Gordon – 7

Great saves in first half to  deny Boyce and helped ease Izzys fears when grasping an attempt to chest a cross ball when Gordon had already moved to cover elsewhere. Another great  save within 10 minutes when Celtic defence all over the place and shot driven hard on our keeper goal. Called into action again after a proper old Stramash at another County corner and eventually forced the ball away from another corner which came to nothing.

And THEN…Just when you thought Gordon is getting back to being very dependable, the Keeper did an absolutely mental run out to try and knee a ball clear but only succeeded to jump into Liam Boyces back. We know the manager would like you outside your comfort zone, Craig, but time and a place mate eh?

Izzy – 7

Up and down the park with some nice passing in the opponents area but also some poor crossing in first half. Pushed on a lot more in second half and used his body strength and running well to try and create chances. Played a great 1-2 with Sinclair when sending a 60 yard pass up the field into to path of the Celtic forward who won a corner for his efforts. Will hope for some more game time on this showing but will have to bide his time.

Lustig – 5

Stand in Skipper and stand in centre half and not one of his best night. Lustic had a poor misreading in first half to gift Boyce a chance and was a little slow defending set pieces. Fell early in second half to allow County through on goal but thankfully Woods then fell over an invisible brick when advancing on Gordon.

Erik – 6

Yet another different Centre partner in Lustig, will probably now be asking “Hey Brendan  who needs a settled pairing eh?” Cleared well on occasion and also almost replicated “THAT” goal from the semi but first chance went wide from a Henderson cross in first half and then Erik had a bad miss from a 59 minute corner in the second 45.

Gamboa – 6

Got forward to help Roberts when possible and not much to do defence wise bar a good tackle on 90 minute mark. Sadly was sold a total dummy by Gardyne who should have scored when sending  a County chance wide. Folk will probably moan he didnt convince but new guy deserves some more chances before final judgement is made.

Armstrong – 8

Main midfielder in first half as well as the driving force in the second. Lucky to escape a booking for ending a Burke run but didnt let his enthusiasm drop and kept going throughout the game. Deservedly got his goal on 83 minutes after a smooth finsh from a nice pass from Roberts. He, Brendan and Broony will all be happy with this encouraging shift.

McGregor – 6

Industrious in cover and the tackle in first half  and linked the defence, midfield and forward lines well. Second half saw him fade out main action in having to try and close down more as Celtic looked to protect their lead

Henderson – 6

The Heir to Bitton? Some great running and good passing from the Bhoy who Brendan is apparently a fan off. During the first half, Henderson played a lovely ball for Christie who had his shot saved as well as one for SuperLeigh. Also sent in a decent cross where Erik saw his header attempt go wide. At the other end, Liam did well to block a Burke shot near the end of the first 45. Positive early in second half but  replaced for Sinclair on 62 minutes to ensure Celtic class and energy levels were high enough to see out the game

Roberts – 7.5

A great run and goal in the 2nd minute and tried to make things happen throughout the game . To be fair some of those runs went down dead ends at time but Roberts never gave up and got his rewards by setting up  2 of the other 3 goals. Unselfishly played a lovely ball to Stuart Armstrong to slide the ball home for Celtic’s second and then had a lovely dribble inside the box to present Dembele with his chance at the 4th. Will have given Brendan a pleasant but difficult decision to make come Pittodrie, Roberts or Forrest to start?

Christie – 5

Forced a great save from Scott Fox in first half but most of the time the ball seemed to run away from him. Subbed for Dembele on  57 mins.

 

Griffiths – 5

A frustrating night for our talisman.Had a decent shot in first half which went wide of keepers left hand side. That  was followed up with a great shot from right hand side which Fox did well to put out for a corner. Wrongly booked for challenging the keeper for the ball as Referee claimed Leigh had fouled when nothing in it. Had a header early on in second half from a good move but sadly the cross had no power behind it for the striker to utilise. Was subbed to protect himself and the side for Bitton on 68 minutes .

 

Subs

Dembele – 6

Struggled to get into the game after coming on  but eventually made quite an impression. Had one opportunity  on goal but Fox saved with his feet down to his left and then had a header saved. Just as everyone thought it would be a blank slate for Moussa, he  slotted home the 4th goal after a great touchline run from Roberts

Sinclair – 7

Came on and immediately tried to help kill of the game straight away with a good run that eventually won a free kick for the Hoops. Nice interplay with Izzy and also McGregor at times and also did well in trying to bring Dembele into the game. The eager and impressive Sinclairs game then had a perfect ying-yang ending. First of all Sinclair did a Sebo when sent clear on goal but he sent the ball wide from 12 yards with only the keeper to beat but then Sinclair clinically slammed the ball home for Celtics third in injury time, a goal which he clearly enjoyed and will have him ready for more up at Aberdeen on Saturday.

Bitton – 5

On for Griffiths to help kill off County’s dreams of an equaliser as well as save Griffiths getting a second yellow. Kept it steady whilst also having a lovely reverse pass to start a counter attack after the free kick from that Craig Gordon Karate Kid Jump.

 

Manager – 7

A 4-0 win, a clean sheet and lots of rest for key men before big games against nearest rivals in main competitions. No-One can argue with that now even if some may say the scoreline was flattering.  Admittedly there were a few scares here and there during the game  but with 8 changes and our young bucks getting vital experience as well as our stars getting vital rest, it was a great night indeed.

Brendan placed his trust in his squad and his tactics and in return the 3 points are heading to Paradise. Looking ahead, the Manager and his team would have learnt that some of the bench-warmers  need more development  and some may deserve more game time (Or a mixture of both – Ed). The Griffiths conundrum persists of course but I’m sure Brendan and his team will look to find the appropriate solution. While the results are going this well, there wont be much cause for complaint from anyone  really.

On a fine evening, the only question remaining is “Was the absent Scott Brown allowed out for a kebab?”

 

Fans – 9

Great singing throughout by the away fans in Dingwall and bravo for a fantastic night backing the Bhoyish bhoys

 

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jimmybee
7 years ago

Can’t argue with that.
Gamboa is a speed machine, more suited to wing back than full back,but with game time will come good. Izzy was izzy great strength and skill but final ball let him down. Lustig never a centre back maybe should have given OConnell a game but maybe that was too much. Eric little lapses and why we get punished in Europe.
Some stupid mistakes too many times in open play, that need to get cut out.But well done everyone. HH

BondiBrian
7 years ago

Ralph any chance getting the Celtic goals on E tims becoming a regular feature?

HAIL HAIL N aw that!

7 years ago
Reply to  BondiBrian

Touch wood, difference was that I managed to do this report right after the game from the house.

I will try but its hard to access twitter from work etc

Half_Fool
7 years ago

Great result! Particularly by the managers selections in these circumstances.

Desi, usually I agree with you but tut fuckin tut – there is no The Rangers. There is “tribute rangers”, “sevco”, “zombies”, “comedy club”, “establishment team” maybe; never give that lot any respect – not even Capitalization – the original goat meddlers were not worthy of respect, never find those tax dodging, water stealing, uni-browed, too stupid to admit your team died without paying their dues neanderthal naffs.

BondiBrian
7 years ago
Reply to  Half_Fool

BOOM gon yersell Half_Fool!!!!

Devoy45
7 years ago

Good stuff Desi. I thought 8 was too many changes but it all came good in a touch venue.
Gordon, my god, he can clatter them! We always looked like conceding a goal or two. The clean sheet flattered us. I though we were also a bit light weight. We needed more muscle in there.
Poor refereeing. MIBs did all they could for the Staggies, as usual.
Sinclair? That man can play. A real game changer. It all came good and Brendan’s subs were perfectly timed. Good job Bhoys and great thanks to our away support. You guys go the extra mile.Were proud of the job you do for us.
Versus the Sheep:
Gordon
Lustig/Sviatchenko/Simunovic/Tierney
Brown/Armstrong
Roberts/Rogic/Sinclair
Dembele
No predictions but we should be too strong for them, stronger than Hamilton at least!

Devoy45
7 years ago

Sorry! “tough venue”

Monti
7 years ago

IN BRENDAN WE TRUST!!!

mike
7 years ago

Never read your header on purpose Desi. so that i could put my thoughts down unadulterated.
Gordon- 8.
Gamboa 5.
Lustig 5.
Sviat 6.
Izzy 6.
Armstrong 7.
McGregor 5.
Roberts 7.
Griff. 6.
Hendo. 6.
Christie 5.
Biton. 7.
Dembele 7.
Sinclair 7.
Now lets look at yours.

Monti
7 years ago
Reply to  mike

” let’s look at yours “?
Oh aye….look at what may i ask?

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