Celtic ended the season on a positive note following a 2-1 victory at Tynecastle on Sunday. Goals form Robbie Keane and an absolute peach from Zheng Zhi made it 8 league wins out of 8 for the Neil Lennon managed Bhoys.

With really nothing to play for there was an edge to this game with tackles flying on from both sides with Celtic’s Brown and Hertz Kingston having their own personal duel on who could foul the other the most. Celtic started putting the foot on the ball and took the lead through that man Keane. A through ball from McGeady should really have been cut out by the Hertz defence but instead it found its way through to Keano and you know the rest. Big celebrations from the Tallaght man as he raced from one end of the field to salute his adoring Celtic supporters.

Celtic were now in control and had a great chance to go 2-0 ahead but due to dreadful play from Fortune the chance was missed. Nice interplay had Celtic in a 3v1 position. With two Celts outside him all Fortune had to do was p0lay the simplest of passes leading on a free run in on goal but he inexplicably dithered on the ball, a play symptomatic of his season.

The home side made this error look even worse when a few minutes later they equalised from a set play. The ball was cleverly cut across to Zaliuskas whose fine first time effort gave Zaluska no chance although questions should be asked why he was allowed to run unmarked inside the penalty area.

The second period continued at a good pace and the Bhoys thought they’d taken the lead from an expertly placed Braafheid free kick. Unfortunately for those of us of a Celtic persuasion the referee clearly had his hand raised to display an indirect free-kick was awarded, something those in Green & White really should have noted.

Celtic took the lead just on the hour mark and what a strike it was. Zhi, who has been no more than a periphery player all season, played a lovely reverse ball to Keane loitering inside the Hertz penalty area. The midfielder continued his run and as the ball dropped down form on high he took a lovely touch before turning sharply and firing a fantastic effort high into the Hertz net much to the delight of the Bhoys support standing behind the goal.

Chances were at a premium in the remaining half hour with Zhi almost getting a second only for his shot to be blocked with the home sides nearest chance being a header that looped well over the bar.

One of the more entertaining moments was an Aiden McGeady cameo that saw the entertainer twist and turn two Hertz players so much over a twenty second spell that both men required assistance to free their boots from the turf having submerged 24 inches!

And so the final whistle was blown much to Neil Lennon and the supports delight. The Irishman has done a great job as interim manager cutting a potential Rangers deficit of 10 points plus two games in hand to a final 6 point gap. Lenny’s success has shown the dithering of the board has proved so costly once more by retaining the clearly out of his depth Mowbray, which denied Celtic any chance of the championship as his replacement in early January would have seen Celtic in with a very good shout of winning the SPL.

With the season officially over attention now turns to who will become the next Celtic manager. Neil Lennon has clearly done his chances no harm at all considering he has managed to turn around a baldy beaten bunch of players into a group who although limited (bar the odd exceptions) are now fighting for each other. The issue clearly is over Lenny’s lack of experience and whether the board are willing to take the risk after Mowbray doing so badly.

The safe money is over an experienced campaigner getting the role with Lenny asked to provide support as one of the assistant manager BUT with a clear path to the job in a few years time………..

The next few weeks will be very interesting.

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