Dundee Football Club Season 1961-1962
Championship season
Game Ten.
Saturday 4th November 1961
Celtic’s Challenge is Held
Dundee 2, Celtic 1.
The Scottish League spotlight is again on Dens Park today. Dundee have a three-point lead in the championship stakes and Celts are joint third. But the Parkhead side is handicapped by injuries to top international centre-half Billy McNeill and left-half Billy Price.
Gordon Smith is back on the right wing for Dundee.
It’s a grey, wintry day. The weather is dry though, and it loos like being the biggest crowd of the season.
Dundee --- Liney, Hamilton, Cox, Seith, Ure, Wishart, Smith, Penman, Cousin,
Gilzean, Robertson.
Celtic --- Haffey, McKay, Kennedy, Crerand, McNamee, Clark, Chalmers, Jackson, Hughes, Divers, Carroll.
Referee --- W. J. Mullen - Cardenden.
The atmosphere’s electric as Dundee kick off downhill.
Gordon Smith is quickly in action. He beats Kennedy and his short cross reaches Cousin. But Clark clears for a corner.
Bobby Carroll tries to force a passage down the left but Hamilton dispossesses him.
Fellow "cap" Ian Ure is less successful. Hughes rounds him, but the shot goes wide.
Play sweeps downhill, Gilzean has a solo run, but he has to shoot from long range. The ball goes wide and that’s Cousin’s fate when he is forced to meet a ball first time.
Man Led Away
Three minutes gone and the police make an arrest. A man is led to the pavilion from behind the visitor’s goal.
There are let-off’s at both ends. Ure passes back to Liney and Robertson’s back hook is stopped by a wall of Celts. Dundee looks the more dangerous side and their pressure is rewarded in the eighth minute.
It’s a lovely goal, well taken by left-half WISHART. Standing on the edge of the penalty box, he takes his time and picks his spot in the right-hand corner of the net.
Celtic fall back on their goal, mesmerised by the Dark Blues play. Wishart-Cousin-Gilzean-Cousin-Wishart-Seith goes the ball. The right half’s shot goes over the bar.
Egged on by their fans, Celtic fight back. Chalmers beats Cox and crosses. Liney misses the ball and Hughes just can’t manage to connect.
Under Pressure
The crowd looks to be on the 20,000mark. Dundee’s polished confident play keeps the Celts defence under pressure, with the home forwards shooting on sight.
Pat Crerand tries to open up the Celts play, but his cross-field pass is gobbled up by Hamilton.
Ure, after a shaky start, is getting the measure of Hughes. The big centre does get in a good shot, but Liney saves magnificently. He dives full length to palm round the post.
But Celtic draw level in the 21st minute. CARROLL beats Hamilton, beats him by sheer speed and is off goalwards. He shoots from 15 yards and doesn’t give Liney a chance of stopping his fierce drive.
It’s Dundee who are hanging on by their teeth now. Celts rain in a barrage of shots on the home goal, but the Dark Blues weather the storm. A Jackson shot is cleared on the line. Hughes beats Ure, but wastes time by going for the wing instead of for goal. Cox tackles and clears.
Pat Crerand is having an off-on day. One minute he’s playing like the great player he is, the next he’s being beaten easily in the air.
Haffey Laid Out
Cousin lays Haffey out with a shot. Frank, who stops the point-blank shot with his face, needs the trainer’s attention.
He isn’t the only one who needs attention. Seconds later a fan is carried off on a stretcher from behind the Celts goal.
Dundee are recovering from that unexpected upset. Cousin passes to Seith. Bobby pushes the ball onto Penman, and Haffey pulls out a great save. Then Seith comes near with a shot. Now Wishart has a go at goal. Robertson shoots high.
Dundee’s play must be delighting the most cynical fan. Cousin gives Gilzean a chance. It looks a goal, but somehow Haffey dives sideways to stop an awkwardly placed header
Celtic get in their share of the attacks, but they lack Dundee’s polish and cohesion.
Half time --- Dundee 1, Celtic 1.
Reflections --- Another thriller. If all games were like this clubs wouldn’t be worried by falling gates. Dundee have the look of champions, but Celts are always potentially dangerous. A draw’s a fair score, with perhaps Dundee a shade unlucky not to be ahead. Wishart is standing head and shoulders over the Scottish caps. Seith is grand too.
Second Half
Steve Chalmers is giving Cox an anxious time and it isn’t surprising that Celtic are forcing the pace on the right. Ure has the middle sewn up.
The lights are on. Celtic playing strongly, almost force a goal. Hughes within yards of goal side-passes to get clear of Ure. His inside man is immediately tackled by Seith.
Dundee restart more slowly. Seith has a long upfield pass snapped up by Gilzean but the inside man is flagged offside. Smith rounds Kennedy but Haffey saves his left-foot shot.
Celtic are on top and it’s only good work by Pat Liney which keeps Dundee level.
Cousin is stopped by McNamee and Wishart shoots over the bar. But these are interludes in the Celtic high-pressure attack.
There’s a big gap in the Dens defence and Johnny Divers leaps into it. But his shot goes wide.
Dundee’s failing at this stage is that they lack men up front when the vital moment comes. Too often only three men are attacking while the others hare up from defence.
But they overcome it in the 59th minute. Cousin chips in a cross and GILZEAN rises to it to head past Haffey.
Diving Save
Celtic unlucky to be trailing, are all out for the equaliser. There’s a melee in front of Dundee’s goal, and Liney dives at the feet of a Celt. The ball shoots over the bar. The Celt is pivot to McNamee, up to help his forwards.
Play swings from end to end. Gilzean nets, but Mr Mullen says he brought the ball under control with his forearm.
The Dark Blues recover their poise and get on top again. With so much at stake, play is getting robust, with infringements becoming more numerous. Robertson beats Kennedy, but the referee doesn’t apply the advantage rule after the winger is fouled.
Haffey saves magnificently when the free kick lands in his goalmouth.
Celtic get a free kick just outside the penalty box. The kick is a dangerous one. The Dundee goal is full of green and white jerseys, but Ure bursts out from them to clear.
Gordon Smith is a vital link between the home defence and attack. He starts off innumerable dangerous moves.
Great Chance
Dundee miss a golden opportunity of putting the issue beyond a doubt seven minutes from the end. Clark slips and falls and Cousin leaps over his spread-eagled body and makes for the goal. But Cousin stumbles and pulls up, giving the Celtic defence a chance to recover.
Celtic are all out for that goal, but somehow the Dundee defence keeps them out.
Robertson races away for Dundee, but McNamee, a very strong player, tackles him and clears. Cousin has a grand run down the left wing and Haffey saves magnificently.
Final --- Dundee 2, Celtic 1.
Summing up --- There wasn’t a failure in either side. It was a rip-roaring 90 minutes – a footballing treat worthy of the Scottish League champions.
Dundee had the polished, confident look of champions and their poise was only shaken in that post-interval spell.
But Celtic’s fighting qualities – and straightforward play – made the strong challengers, almost their equals. Celtic’s best were Haffey, Crerand, Chalmers, Hughes and Carroll. Seith, Hamilton, Wishart, Smith and Gilzean were tops for Dundee.
Attendance --- 24,500