A Minute’s Worth of Football Not Good Enough

By: Matt | April 12th, 2009

Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink continued to exercise his recent good form by putting Celtic ahead in the first minute at Tynecastle with a shot from the edge of the box. Andy Hinkel also continued his good run in the first minute, delivered a good low cross to the big Dutchman who’s first time volley beat the Hearts keeper. However, Celtic could not keep the lead, as in the 32nd minute Hearts equalized the game when Bruno Aguiar put a freekick past Artur Boruc. Celtic applied some late pressure to Hearts, but could not find the equalizer and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. The draw allowed Rangers to come within one point of Celtic in the SPL standings after their victory over Motherwell. With one game left before the infamous SPL Split, the league is most certainly up for grabs. Make the jump to see my thoughts on the match, the SPL, and life in general…

-I must first give credit to Hearts, and then take it right back. The Fightin’ Mad Vlad’s played a first half that is rarely seen by a SPL opponent against Celtic. They…*gasp* attacked! I guess their game plan was made easier when Celtic scored a first minute goal, but for neutral fans, the game is a lot more bearable when Celtic’s opponent just doesn’t sit back and try and absorb the pressure. Of course, it seemed like Hearts went to the usual SPL game plan against Celtic in the second half in just absorbing the pressure and hoping for a draw. I understand the gulf between the top of the SPL and the rest of the league, but it must be depressing for home fans of any side to see their squad trying to escape with a draw at home.
-I have been interested to see what Willo Flood would be able to do, but have been skeptical to actually give him a spot in the starting XI just because prior to yesterday, things were going pretty well. Celtic was playing well and didn’t need tinkering with. Of course, this means that Gordon Strachan is going to tinker with the line up, but to be fair it was out of necessity. Scott Brown will start his 3 game ban soon and WGS has to find a formation that will be able to replace the likely SPL Player of the Year. Cross Flood’s name off that list. The former Dundee United man looked lost and out of place yesterday. Personally, I want Marc Crosas in the midfield the rest of the year, with Paul Hartley as his partner while Brown is suspended.
-Finally, a little other SPL chat since the SPL main page here at the Offside seems to be taking a sabbatical. Both the races for the SPL title and the final two European spots should be good ones. Many people talk about how stupid the split is, but for the neutral fan it will create exciting, meaningful matches every week. Of course, for the fans of these teams, it’s going to be a stressful month or so. However, with of the top six teams facing each other one more time, both the title race and the race for third and fourth (thank Christ they’ve taken the Europe spot from the Scottish Cup runner up) should be exciting.

Have a Happy Easter, a blessed Passover, or have a happy Sunday to Atheists!

TAL