MARTIN O’NEILL, at the age of 74 years and one week, looked almost as shattered as his players after Celtic’s 4-2 Scottish Cup penalty-kick shoot-out triumph at Ibrox.
Following a no-holds-barred encounter and a gruelling test of character, the Hoops kept their nerve at the conclusion of a goalless two hours of energy-sapping action.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Auston Trusty, Reo Hatate and Tomas Cvancara made no mistake with their immaculate spot-kicks while James Tavernier clipped the bar with the home side’s first attempt.
The pressure mounted on Danny Rohl’s outfit when Djeidi Gassama ballooned his effort wildly over the bar to open the way for the on-loan Czech Republic international striker to stroke his 12-yard drive beyond Jack Butland to clinch passage to the semi-final.
MAKING A POINT…Martin O’Neill has his say from the touchline.
Celtic will now play their Premier Sports League Cup Final conquerors St Mirren in the last four at Hampden next month.
At the climax of a snarling, often bad-tempered contest, O’Neill breathlessly observed: “I find it hard to describe.
“The only thing I can think about is that the players in the dressing room, they are absolutely and utterly out on their feet.
“Which is not surprising, really. We’ve had four away games in 10 days and we’ve travelled to Germany. We had to play last Sunday, as well, then we had to go up to Aberdeen and back, so four games in 10 days.
“But the character in the side shone through magnificently and I thought that was the main point to take away from it.
“The character, the blocks they put in, the defending on the edge of the penalty box and it’s a credit to the players, it really is.”
CZECH, MATE…Tomas Cvancara celebrates the winning penalty-kick.
Reflecting on the drama of the spot-kick showdown, O’Neill, speaking to Celtic TV, added: “It’s harrowing, it’s really harrowing.
“You’ve gone the full distance and you know it’s in the lap of the gods at the end of it all.
“Our players took the penalties brilliantly, took the advantage, Alex scores early on for us and it sets the tone.”
There is not the intriguing possibility of O’Neill locking horns with his protege Neil Lennon in the competition’s showpiece occasion at Hampden on May 23.
The Hoops icon guided his Dunfermline side to a 3-0 runaway triumph over holders Aberdeen on Saturday night and now take on Falkirk in their last-four game.
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