Coronation Cup 17th May 1953
The gusty wind did make conditions difficult for the players but in the match at Hampden, where Celtic faced Manchester United, both teams rose to the challenge and it turned out to be an excellent contest, played before a crowd of 73,000.
Celtic fielded the same eleven which had beaten Arsenal and once again could thank their half-back line – Bobby Evans, Jock Stein and John McPhail – for inspiring the side to victory. But everyone played well. Bertie Peacock harried United’s captain Johnny Carey the whole match, never allowing him to use his tactical brain; Neilly Mochan made life difficult for centre-half Allenby Chilton, frequently moving away from the middle, thus dragging him out of position; and Charlie Tully gave his opponent something of a roasting. It was Tully’s fine play and good pass that gave Peacock the chance to open the scoring in the 34th minute. His powerful drive from just inside the box gave keeper Jack Crompton no chance.
Manchester United opened the second half with the wind in their favour and fully expected to come into the contest as they had against Rangers. After only eight minutes, however, Tully controlled an Alex Rollo pass and sent a long ball into the path of Neilly Mochan, who placed a right-foot shot into the corner of the net. United certainly had their chances, a miss right in front of goal by inside-left Pearson and a penalty claim against Rollo; on the other hand, Celtic might have gone further ahead when Bobby Collins only managed to hit the cross-bar from six yards.
Manchester United did pull one back through Jack Rowley 13 minutes from the end and came at Celtic from then to the finish. Cool play, though, by Mike Haughney and Jock Stein kept them at bay and Celtic were through to the final. Happy as the Celtic support was, the sight of Charlie Tully limping towards the dressing-room gave them cause for concern.
PHOTO CHARLIE TULLY
Celtic 2 Manchester United 1
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Over at Ibrox, an excellent attendance of 45,000 was rather disappointed by the lacklustre display of Newcastle, who made a fairly lifeless contribution to the match. On a dusty and bare pitch, in the strong swirling wind, Hibs gave a nice display of teamwork, combining good passing with strong shooting. Newcastle, on the other hand, were dainty but not direct and their efforts were never sustained.
Future Lisbon Lion Ronnie Simpson was unfortunate to lose the first goal in 16 minutes when an Eddie Turnbull shot was deflected past him by centre-half Frank Brennan; and he was not at fault, either, in 33 minutes, when Lawrie Reilly knocked in a cross-cum-shot, again by Turnbull, which was heading past the post.
Two further goals, by Bobby Johnstone in 54 minutes and Turnbull in 62, wrapped up the match for Hibs, leaving their fans happy but rather confused at the lack of zest in the English team’s play.
Hibs 4 Newcastle United 0
Jim Craig
Jim Craig Celtic Supporter's Club 