Celtic -V- Inverness CT - Report

Inverness not in the mood to spoil the party

Celtic strolled to an easy victory as Inverness wilted under pressure in the second half. Goals from Gary Hooper, Joe Ledley, Hooper again and substitute Georgios Samaras had Celtic cruising and their fans dancing before Aaron Doran at last scored a goal, but it was only a consolation as Celtic swept to their 44th League title.

Inverness had only offered token resistance to the Celtic juggernaut as they brushed past us with ease and quite frankly the scoreline flattered us as the Hoops went into party mode. The only thing to brighten up this thumping was the score from Perth later in the day as St Johnstone and County served up a 2-2 draw which means that neither club gained more than one point on our tally.

The second half was a far cry from the first half as we mopped up Celtic's advances fairly comfortably before the break. Once Hooper started the goal spree, Inverness were cut open time and time again and the withdrawal of Gary Warren left gaps at the back which Celtic exploited with pace and precision. This game was always likely to be a tough assignment, and so it proved as Celtic's greater resources gradually took control of the game and the result is no surprise, although Butcher may be a tad annoyed at the manner in which we handed the initiative to the Hoops. However you can't take anything away from Celtic who were always on course to win the SPL, just a matter of when and Inverness need to knuckle down and get on with the next four games which will be more of a level playing field.

21st Apr 2013	Scottish Premier League	Celtic Park, Glasgow
Celtic	4 - Hooper (61, 73), Ledley (66), Samaras (88)
	TEAM: Forster, Lustig (McCourt 84), Ambrose, Wilson, Mulgrew, Forrest (Izaguirre 46), Wanyama, Ledley, Commons, Hooper, Stokes (Samaras 68)
	SUBS: Zaluska, Rogic, Watt, Kayal
	Booked: Wanyama (79)
	Sent Off: none
Inverness C.T.	1 - Doran (90)
	TEAM: Reguero, Raven, Warren (Devine 50), Meekings, G.Shinnie, Tudur-Jones, Draper, Doran, Foran, A.Shinnie (Taylor 63), McKay
	SUBS:Mathieson, Hogg, Ross, Sutherland, Polworth
	Booked: Devine (80)
	Sent Off: none
Referee	Kevin Clancy
Attendance	55000