SUNSHINE BHOYS REAP THE BENEFITS
Celtic rely on unsung heroes in a show of strength
RONNY DEILA relied on the full reach of his Celtic squad as two of the lesser lights of his reign struck superb goals in a show of title strength from the champions.
On a return to domestic action following a winter break, Adam Matthews and Liam Henderson put their early-season woes behind them by scoring either side of the interval to beat managerless Hamilton.
More than the display itself, which was efficient enough, it was Deila being able to dig deep into resources rarely influential thus far in the campaign to secure victory against this season’s surprise side that could be ominous for Aberdeen.
Matthews, who missed much of the first three months of the Deila era, admitted last week that he has not been anywhere near fully fit for 18 months due to a host of injury concerns.
And 18-year-old Henderson had made only one start last year for the Norwegian when he fielded a team of reserves at Inverness at a time of European qualification.
The pair’s interventions yesterday were encouraging if Deila is faced with trying to replace Kris Commons.
Last year’s star turn threw his boots into the crowd as a gesture interpreted as a farewell to the Celtic fans, with former boss Neil Lennon primed to take him to Bolton.
The home fans in a record crowd of 6,007 wasted little time i n reminding Celtic of their humbling at Parkhead last October but the 1-0 chants were drowned out by a diligent effort from the visitors.
Scott Brown was kitted out for Wimbledon rather than winter as the short-sleeves look was complemented by a headband, designed to protect the gash sustained in friendly action in Gran Canaria.
Darian MacKinnon reminded him that he was back in competitive football with an early barging match and an exchange of pleasantries as the pair marked midfield territory.
And relations were no friendlier with Accies’ battering-ram Mikael Antoine-Curier in the dying minutes after a cynical foul by the Celtic skipper l ed to the two being dragged apart from an eyeballing confrontation by team-mates.
Rino Gattuso, who has thrown his credentials at the Hamilton board to replace Alex Neil as manager, would have loved it.
The sun was out for kick-off but that is where the similarities ended with winter-break travels and Commons was one of four Celtic starters to don gloves to adjust to the climate change.
He is unlikely to find Lancashire presenting him with cosier conditions than Lanarkshire this winter if he is allowed to move, but he did warm to the task of trying to leave on a high note.
His Celtic career began four years ago in sparkling fashion, with a debut goal six minutes into a League Cup semi-final at Hampden against Aberdeen.
Here, he flashed a near-post header into side netting, saw a deflected dig from 20 yards sail over and offered the assist for Matthews.
But he was wayward with a couple of other efforts and his outing ended with his 79th-minute substitution for Stefan Scepovic.
Caretaker coach Martin Canning restored himself to the Accies starting line-up and almost scored the opener before Craig Gordon rode to the rescue.
Jason Denayer tried to hoist a header over the crossbar as an Accies corner caused chaos, with Canning in full flight, but Gordon sprung into action to spare the Belgian defender own-goal agony.
Antoine-Curier pounced on the rebound but Gordon produced a stunning point-blank block.
That laid the foundations for Celtic to turn their edge in possession into plundering a first-half goal.
Leigh Griffiths, playing through the middle, had not seen much of the ball but offered a vital touch to ease Celtic into a 33rd-minute lead.
He helped play on to Commons, who spied the overlapping gallop of Matthews as an outlet of opportunity.
The ball sat up perfectly for Matthews to take in his stride and the Welshman smacked an unstoppable right-foot shot high past the despairing dive of Hamilton goalkeeper Michael McGovern.
Griffiths tried to top that strike with clever control then a lob from the 18-yard line. Celtic fans at the opposite end believed briefly that the lead had been doubled. In fact, Griffiths had merely come very close to only a third Premiership goal.
If Matthews has been quiet for Deila, then Henderson was almost unheard of. Yet he got his reward for good application with a game against Kilmarnock to start 2015 and followed that up with a stunning goal at New Douglas Park.
Matthews was involved in the creative work this time, delivering a deep ball for Emilio Izaguirre to win at the far post. He picked out Henderson, who could not have struck his low, left-foot, first-time shot any sweeter.
Accies now had a mountain to climb and little Dougie Imrie tried to
take the first step to scaling that comeback height, but Gordon was a match for his disguised near-post dig. Then Imrie sprang the offside trap, only to fire a free header wide.
Goal hero Henderson was hurt trying to put McGovern off making a routine catch and that, after much hobbling around, did for his day as Callum McGregor replaced him.
With Louis Longridge and Eamonn Brophy on to add young and fresh legs, Accies were not for buckling but the destination of the points was something of a formality after Henderson’s quality work.
Brophy twice saw daylight in front of goal but Virgil van Dijk then Denayer stood firm.