WING AND A SLAYER
Forrest puts his injury nightmares behind him to fire Celts into the final
Angeball has been all about Celtic’s new flying wingers so far this season.
But yesterday at Hampden, one of their old ones popped up to remind the Hoops gaffer that he can still play his part as well.
With Celtic huffing and puffing against St Johnstone in this Premier Sports Cup semi-final, James Forrest came off the bench to try and make the difference.
And as he’s done so often in his Parkhead career, the 30- year- old produced a big moment by blasting Ange Postecoglou’s side in to next month’s final.
Up until now, it’s been wide men Liel Abada and Jota who have grabbed the headlines for Celtic.
But Forrest proved he’s still capable of making a name for himself, after injury problems plagued his start under the new Aussie gaffer.
His 74th-minute strike was enough to see off the Perth men and move Celtic one step closer to silverware.
For Callum Davidson’s side, their incredible cup run has finally came to an end – but not without a fight.
They battled until the bitter end but, ultimately, Forrest’s goal was the clincher – and Postecoglou is now 90 minutes away from a trophy
Pre-match, it was difficult to decide who would feel more comfortable at Hampden, given St Johnstone’s double Cup success last term. Naturally, you’d
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think it would suit Celtic with their experience and know-how of winning at the national stadium.
But the Perth club’s historic feat last season meant Davidson’s team arrived in Glasgow with no fear and certainly not fazed by the occasion.
Of course, they did it last term with Covid restrictions meaning there were no fans to see them shine.
This time, their small, blue band of travelling supporters were swamped by 35,000 decked out in green and white.
That made the task of reaching the final even bigger. But two things you can never question about this Saints side are their work-rate and resilience.
In the first half here, Celtic – whose players all wore ‘10’ on their shorts in memory of Bertie Auld – dominated possession as you’d expect.
But after a couple of early scares, Saints settled down and made this a proper contest.
Postecoglou had clearly targeted the right side of St Johnstone’s defence, with Portuguese ace Jota seeing plenty of the ball.
His dribble and cut-back just a few minutes in to tee-up David Turnbull in the box should have resulted in the opening goal.
But the midfielder got his finish all wrong, nonchalantly side-footing his effort high and wide.
He’s been in terrific form of late. But once James Brown on that side of
Saints’ back three– and Shaun Rooney ahead of him at wing-back – got in sync with each other to double up, he was less effective.
On the right flank, Abada was seeing comparatively little action up against Callum Booth.
Another Israeli, Nir Bitton, was pulling the strings in the middle of the park for Celtic and was influential.
But he picked up a needless booking for a nasty late tackle on Chris Kane.
The St Johnstone striker had started the match right up front against Celtic’s two centre-backs.
But as Postecoglou’s side started to dictate, it looked like Davidson got his frontman to drop off to get in and around Bitton.
That at least disrupted his rhythm and it seemed to get Saints a bit more joy. They almost broke the deadlock in peculiar fashion after a bombscare moment for keeper Joe Hart.
The Englishman – back at Hampden for the first time since Leigh Griffiths stuck two memorable free-kicks past him for Scotland in 2017 – almost endured another nightmare when he took forever to clear a Stephen Welsh back pass.
The lightning- quick Michael O’Halloran chased him down and Hart’s clearance off the wide man ricocheted just past his own post.
By that stage, St Johnstone had eased their way into the tie. Celtic enjoyed more of the ball and territory but, when they got within shooting distance, they were met by a blue wall.
Abada had a golden chance inside the box but Craig Bryson produced a stunning block to divert it for a corner.
At the other end, Davidson’s side weren’t getting many touches within 18 yards of Hart’s goal.
But from distance, Bryson rifled a shot that stung the keeper’s palms then Kane shot wide from 25 yards.
St Johnstone’s cause wasn’t helped when David Wotherspoon limped off with a knee injury after the break.
Celtic applied pressure, desperate for that first goal, but they weren’t testing Zander Clark.
The threat of danger man Kyogo Furuhashi was being nullified by Saints’ brilliantly-drilled back three.
And you could sense the Japanese forward’s frustration when he was booked for a scuffle with Bryson after being tripped by Jamie McCart.
Celtic needed a spark and maybe it came from the fans’ tribute to Auld and the Lisbon Lions in 67 minutes.
Soon after that, they were in front.
Clark’s poor clearance proved costly as Jota pulled it down and drove into the box. His cross was only partially cleared by McCart and sub Forrest was on hand to bury the chance.
It was a fantastic set up and finish but a cheap goal to concede after all Saints’ hard graft up to that point.
And while Clark was in dreamland last season, as Saints’ Hampden hero, he’ll have had nightmares last night about his part in the goal.
It was end-to- end in the last 15 minutes, with Celts trying to kill the game and Saints hunting a leveller.
Jota should have put it to bed after a Forrest run while O’Halloran should have done better on the break.
But Postecoglou’s side held on to set up a final clash on December 19 with the winners of today’s semi between Rangers and Hibs.