CRAIG McLEISH sportingly praised Celtic after Martin O’Neill’s men had overwhelmed his St Mirren side 6-2 following a sensational scoring spree in a remarkable Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden yesterday.
The Paisley club’s interim manager didn’t look for excuses after the roof had caved in on his team in the first period of extra-time.
The Hoops’ Premier Sports League Cup conquerors in December had responded well to trailing to goals from Daizen Maeda and Anthony Ralston at the interval.
ONE DOWN, FIVE TO GO…Daizen Maeda celebrates Celtic’s first goal inside a minute in the rollercoaster Scottish Cup semi-final against St Mirren.
Mikael Mandron pulled one back with a header shortly after the turnaround and the striker fired in the equaliser in the opening minute of stoppage-time to force the game into an additional half-hour.
Celtic then blitzed their opponents with a devastating four-goals-in-six-minutes spree to book their place in the Cup Final against Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline at the same venue on Saturday May 23.
McLeish was clearly disappointed to miss out on the big day, but took nothing away from O’Neill’s team when he said: “Celtic’s quality, the substitutions they bring on, the quality they can add to it, ultimately, they blew us away in that first spell of extra-time.”
The caretaker boss, who took over from Stephen Robinson last month after the Irishman quit for Aberdeen, was forced into an early change of goalkeeper which led to the debut of 17-year-old Grant Tamosevicius.
IN WITH A SHOUT…Craig McLeish encourages his St Mirren players.
With regular No.1 Shamal George injured, back-up Ryan Mullen lasted only 16 minutes before coming off with a thigh issue.
It left the teenage rookie to face the champions. McLeish, speaking to the Daily Mail continued: “Our young ones have to be ready to step in when they’re required.
“Other than that period and extra-time, I thought he equipped himself very well.
“I’m so proud of the group with how they went about large parts of the game. To lose a goal in the manner we did right at the start, to then lose a goalkeeper early on.
“I thought we reacted well to that. We settled after the first 15-20 minutes or so. Losing the goal on half-time was an absolute hammer blow for us.
“We had to regroup at half-time. I thought our second-half performance was excellent. We made some changes towards the end of the game to get back into it.
HAMPDEN HOORAYS…Benjamin Nygren and Kelechi Iheanacho celebrate with the fans as Celtic put the seal on their 6-2 triumph over the gallant Paisley club.
“We brought some more attacking players on the pitch. We changed shape. That allowed us to take it to extra-time and we were hoping to continue that momentum.”
McLeish added: “I think if in the 90 minutes, if there’s an extra 5-10 minutes, we were the team in the ascendancy at that point.
“The risk to make those changes and get back into the game probably then catches out in extra-time. We’re then a little bit open because we’ve got some more attack-minded players on the pitch.”
Thankfully, Celtic took full advantage with a double from Kelechi Iheanacho and singles from Luke McCowan and Benjamin Nygren to ensure a return to Hampden next month as the Hoops pursue their 43rd Scottish Cup.
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