Gretna 0-3 Celtic: Summit in sight for Celtic, end in sight for Gretna

Gretna 0

Celtic 3
McDonald (42)
V of Hes'link (70)
Samaras (88)

Top spot within reach for champions, but 3,500 crowd a blow to bottom side

CELTIC will travel to Ibrox next Saturday with the SPL summit within reach after their first-choice strikers rediscovered their scoring touch yesterday. Scott McDonald's first goal in six games set Gordon Strachan's men on their way to the victory over Gretna which was imperative to their hopes of winning a third consecutive title.

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and substitute Georgios Samaras completed a satisfactory day for Strachan, even if the performance of his team still left much to be desired in terms of flair and fluency. They now have a superior goal difference to Rangers, however, and would leapfrog their great rivals at the top of the table with a win in the second Old Firm fixture of the campaign. For Gretna, simply playing yesterday was a victory of sorts in their desperate quest to remain a going concern. The attendance of just over 3,500 on a cold Easter Sunday in Livingston made for a surreal atmosphere and provided less of a boost to the Borders club's finances than their administrator would have hoped.

Despite the unravelling of their club off the pitch, however, there was a collective level of spirit and organisation from the Gretna players which could only be admired in the circumstances. They were tenacious in the tackle and had an energy and focus which quickly dispelled any notions this would be a straightforward afternoon's work for the champions. Celtic's dominance would presumably have satisfied Strachan, but much of their work was laboured and lacking a cutting edge.

Stephen McManus looped a header over the crossbar after Gretna goalkeeper Greg Fleming had unconvincingly punched out a Shunsuke Nakamura corner but the Gretna defence generally looked comfortable, with right-back Kyle Naughton performing well in subduing the threat of Aiden McGeady.

More than 20 minutes had passed before Fleming's goal came under serious threat. He was relieved to see his captain Paul Murray painfully block a powerful shot from Scott Brown whose follow-up header from close range was cleared off the line by the same player. Fleming, the only Scot in the Gretna line-up, then made a terrific save when he leapt to his right to keep out a stinging shot from McGeady who had finally managed to elude Naughton and cut in from the left to carve out the opportunity for himself. Gretna were only able to make sporadic progress towards Artur Boruc's goal, but the Celtic goalkeeper should have been called into the action in the 32nd minute.

Ben Wilkinson, son of former Leeds manager Howard who was in attendance, made progress to get behind the Celtic defence and cut the ball back into the path of Brendan McGill.

The Irish midfielder, however, was betrayed by a lack of composure as he failed to connect cleanly with the ball and the opportunity to give his team a shock lead was lost. Amid increasing anxiety being felt by their supporters, Brown yet again allowed his frustration to get the better of him as he picked up a booking for a needless foul on Ryan Baldacchino. It triggers a three-match suspension for Brown which will include sitting out the Old Firm showdown at Celtic Park on 16 April.

When Fleming punched away a long range shot from the largely anonymous Barry Robson, it seemed likely Gretna would reach half-time on level terms but they were undone by a goal straight out of the route one coaching manual just three minutes before the interval.

Boruc's long clearance reached the edge of the Gretna penalty area where it was flicked on by Vennegoor of Hesselink into the path of his strike partner McDonald. The little Australian eagerly seized on the opportunity to end his recent barren spell and gave Fleming no chance with a powerfully struck right foot shot from around six yards.

Vennegoor of Hesselink should have doubled Celtic's lead on the stroke of half-time, instead sending a free header from Nakamura's free-kick wide from close range, and some Gretna pressure in the opening exchanges of the second half hinted that the miss might prove costly. McGill drilled a low shot narrowly wide of Boruc's left-hand post after Lee Naylor's sloppy play had allowed a Baldacchino cross to reach him, then Nicky Deverdics passed up Gretna's best chance of the game when he completely miscued in front of an open goal after being set up by McGill.

Celtic heeded the warning and re-established their superiority in the closing 30 minutes of the contest. Fleming made a terrific save to deny McDonald's shot from the edge of the penalty area before Strachan decided to replace the striker with Samaras.

Any prospect of a Gretna recovery was eliminated in the 70th minute when Vennegoor of Hesselink headed in McGeady's fine cross from the left from close range. It was far from the most effective or eye-catching performance of McGeady's season, but he provided another good delivery from the left with two minutes remaining which allowed Samaras to flick the ball in off the underside of Fleming's crossbar and put some gloss on the final scoreline.

Man of the match
Kyle Naughton (Gretna)
The energy, tenacity and awareness of Gretna's on-loan Sheffield United defender was impressive to witness and suggests he probably has a far rosier future ahead of him than the club he is playing for.