Celtic look to cross off a fifth win

CELTIC have the weight of history behind them when they take on Hearts at Hampden tomorrow afternoon, having won all of the previous four Scottish semi-finals between the sides. Here, we take a brief look at the matches...

1912: Celtic 3 Hearts 0

(At Ibrox. Attendance: 43,000)

Scorers: McMenemy 2, Brown

The great pre-match debate was, who was the best inside-forward in the country? Hearts’ Bobby Walker had been brilliant in Scotland’s 1-1 draw with England a week earlier, while Jimmy McMenemy had not been at his best for Celtic all season. The latter empatically won the day, scoring Celtic’s first two goals before half-time, with John Brown wrapping it up in the second half.

1933: 1st match: Celtic 0 Hearts 0

(At Hampden. Attendance: 87,219)

Defences were on top, though both sets of forwards missed chances. As The Scotsman reported: “The full-backs were the most captivating players on view. Anderson, right-back for Hearts and McGonagle, left-back for Celtic, played themselves into the Scottish team. Anderson, with his close and clean tackling, upset all the wiles of the Parkhead left wing and was the hero of the Edinburgh side.”

2nd match: Celtic 2 Hearts 1

(At Hampden. Attendance: 63,756)

Scorers: McGrory, A. Thomson. White

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Hearts made two changes to their forward line for the replay, bringing in Howe and Smith, and Celtic had to survive an onslaught before the opportunism of Jimmy McGrory gave them the lead. Celtic could have added to A. Thomson’s second, but for the brilliance of Jack Harkness in the Hearts goal, before White pulled one back for Hearts.

1988: Celtic 2 Hearts 1

(At Hampden. Attendance: 66,466)

Scorers: McGhee, Walker. Whittaker

With three minutes to go, Hearts appeared to be heading into the final, Brian Whittaker’s lob having given them a second-half lead. But in those closing moments, Hearts goalkeeper Henry Smith dropped two crosses. Mark McGhee pounced on the first, then Andy Walker capitalised on the second to give Celtic a dramatic victory.

2005: Celtic 2-1 Hearts

(At Hampden. Attendance: 38,505)

Scorers: Sutton, Bellamy. Cesnauskis.

Slack marking at a corner by the Hearts defence allowed Chris Sutton to head Celtic in front after only three minutes. Craig Bellamy increased the lead early in the second half, his shot taking a deflection off Andy Webster to deceive goalkeeper Craig Gordon. Hearts rallied late in the game, Deividas Cesnaukas providing hope with a superb chip from a narrow angle, but Celtic held out.

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