In fairness Aidan had a poor first half by his standards as the whole side struggled to match the pace and drive of the compact Falkirk team. Falkirk had the lions share and with Gow and Moutinho pushed up on Telfer and Naylor, the defence were toiling and chances went abegging for their centre forward Stokes. In fact, Stokes had more possession than he could have dreamed of as Calwell was found out of position on more than one occasion - he even gifted it to him on the edge of the box at one point as he tried his trademark run out from the back routines.

Celtic did settle, with only Miller, Lennon and Nakamura rising above the average. The only real Celtic chance of the first half fell to Miller as he brilliantly took down a Naylor long ball and hooked a left foot shot over the keeper to find it bounce back off the bar. Falkirk could be the happier at half time but they never took their chances and it was no wonder they are the leagues lowest scorers.

It was clear Celtic had to up the tempo second half or leave with nothing and this was clear with the transformation of McGeady. Either a rocket up the arse or the threat of Maloney urged Aidso to look for the ball and take on his man more often. Zurawski was another that looked a little more lively as well, making good runs and drawing out the centre halves.
However, with a little more possession and territory, it was still unclear where the goal would come from. Stachan made some sensible substations, bringing on Sno for the ineffective Graveson and Maloney for the tiring Nakamura. This gave Celtic extra pace on both flanks to hopefully exploit a mistake from Falkirk late on.

It was however a good pass into McGeady from Maloney that led to the winner. McGeady jinked inside and took advantage of the defenders backing off, to hit a crisp drive low into the corner. It was mighty relief for everyone as it really looked as if the Bairns might have held on for a perhaps deserved draw.

Boruc – 7 not a great deal to do other than the goal line clearance first half
Naylor  7– got caught for position early on but recovered well and was solid
Telfer  6– nervy start but again recovered to be nothing more than comfortable
McManus  8 – worked very hard all day and hopefully injury is just a knock
Calwell  6 – Needs to cut errors out and got caught for position too many times-this will get punished against stronger opposition
Lennon  8 – SOLID
Graveson 6 – looked quite sluggish. Fitness may have been a factor
Nakamura 7 – best player first half then just drifted….
McGeady 8 – anonymous first half, but than god Stachan didn’t pull him as his trick at the byeline second half was sublime. Oh aye, and he won the match!
Miller 8 – ran all day and unlucky not to score first half

Zurawski 7 – made some good runs but never really in the game
Subs:
Maloney  – nice touches and passes-can’t wait for his full return
Sno – did ok

Beattie – on for a few minutes

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