Testimonial for Neville Southall
Before the match, Kanchelskis was introduced to the crowd & got a great reception. (The chant was "An-drei Kan-chel-skis" as in 'we are the champions' (footy version, not Queen's version)).
Neville was presented at 7.40, then got to parade in at kick off time too, and he waved the FA Cup around. Nev's daughter was official mascot, but she sulked and would not kick the ball in the warm up, so some ball boys helped out.
Aproximately 22,000 people had turned up to watch the match of which about 8,000 were Celtic supporters...It was a strange atmosphere..Celtic were allocated the whole of the Bullens Road Stand Upper and Lower and the Main Stand was completely empty as renovations are in place. (Upper Balcony was open).
You have to hand it to the Celtic Supporters, they are complete nutters..They sang, cheered, chanted, and made the whole side a mass of green and white (with a bit of orange). They gave Fergie quite a bit of stick which prompted a good response from the Everton supporters...and as a response to this excellent atmosphere the match was pretty competitive.
Everton's team was: Southall, Holmes, Short, Unsworth, Hinchliffe, Samways, Horne, Parkinson, Limpar, Ferguson, Rideout. Sub: Grant (for Samways)
In brief...both teams tried to play neat football, Everton having the upper hand in the first half. Everton looked by far the better side, especially when they spread it out to the wide (left) man, but with no other wing Celtic compensated and there was a stalemate. Just wait for Kanchelskis, and watch those holes yawn in the middle!
Rideout had the Everton fan's shouting goal very early when he slammed the ball into the crossbar and down but it turned out it hadn't gone over the line. Fergie tried and ambitious overhead kick off target. Limpar looked the 'man most likely to'. Anders was on fire, particularly in the first half. His confidence is obviously in orbit, he looked extremely comfortable on the ball. It will take a while to get used to the new haircut though. Samways pushed the ball round intelligently. Celtic pushed the ball around neatly in nice triangles.
Everton went ahead eventually when a good 20 yard-ish shot from Samways rebounded to Limpar and he reacted swiftly to direct his bullet shot past Bonner in the goal. 10 mins later further pressure got a corner on Hinchy's favourite side, and he delivered a perfect far post looper for Dunc to fulfill Celtic's worst nightmare. He tried very hard to resist the temptation, but had to raise his arms and head to the sky in pagan triumph when he reached the centre circle.
Half time; cue one Rod Stewart, cockney Celt, sang a couple of songs, the backing vocals drowned him out, though!?!
Second half Everton sat back a bit and allowed Celtic to come at them a lot more, this gave Nev a chance to do his bit and he pulled off at least 3 tremendous saves...applauded by the generous Celtic fans. Samways came off with a groin pull to be replaced by Grant. Granty tried to be neat but could do with a bit more 'divil'..he has the talent he needs to allow himself to dominate more.
A few minutes later Celtic pulled a goal back from a penalty after Grant brought someone down (he'd been left a bit exposed). Nev's stage was set... but John Collins (or was it Andy Walker?) sent him the wrong way. The worst of it was it was Celtic's first attack of the half.
Celtic were very unfriendly towards Ferguson, but Evertonians loved him.. not a good recipe for a friendly. Everton in turn were very unhappy about Celtic singing 'Yool never walk alone'. But the Celtic fans say this song was theirs since th dawn of time, and that other lot stole it!
The equaliser came shortly afterwards from a deflected shot by John Collins from the edge of the box. The Green Paddock went potty, and Everton got back to more serious work. No more jogging around.
Everton went on to create a half dozen chances (mostly free kicks & corners) and defended a few more Celtic breaks. Nev and Bonner pulled off two excellent saves. Limpar nearly scored a 30 yard blinder in the last few minutes, as both teams tried for the winner...Celtic and Everton supporters by now singing 'There's only One Neville Southall'
Celtic took applause from both sets of fans, then Nev did, and made a short speech
Southall: Good job he was playing :-) At least 3 brilliant saves, did himself justice and staked his case that, though it may have been his testimonial, he has a good while left yet. The highlight was his finger-tip save from a Piere van der ?(Dutch name) free kick.
Holmes: San thought he had a decent game. Wouldn't let anyone down if he had to deputise for Barrett (that's if he signs a new contract) Saw a lot of the ball but couldn't do as much with it as he would have liked.
Short: Looked as though he is still feeling his feet in the formation Everton play. Didn't look as good as Watto, but that's understandable. Only 'got lost' once when he ventured forward and then seemed to amble back in a very non-direct route despite Celtic attacking.
Unsworth: Typical Unsy. Tackled hard, ran well, misplaced a couple of clearances tho'
Hinchcliffe: Showed some signs of those crossfield passes to Kanchelskis that will loom large this season. Had a lot of free-kick opportunities which didn't threaten the goal. Some of the second half corners were less than text book stuff, however.
Samways: Looked keen, played neatly, was missed when he went off, but is there room for him in midfield with Kanchelskis and Limpar?
Parkinson: Tackled extremely well, played reasonably well .
Horne: San felt the game passed him by a bit, but Steve (San's hubby) thought he was brilliant in the first half.
Limpar: Very involved and creative in the first half, didn't gt the ball as much in the second which meant when he got it he tried to make up by having it for a long time. One excellent run from the sideline into the middle with a long shot heading for the corner, bringing an excellent save from Bonner being a highlight.
Fergie: Still getting fit, but looked sharper. Handled his stick well. Enjoyed his goal; it was good to see our Andy loop in corners for Dunc to score with the ole text book far-post nod-in.
Rideout: Worked hard. He looked to have an extra instinct for the ball all over the field.
Grant: Needs to work out more; despite his obvious talent, he is easily dispossessed and seems reluctant to go in hard - hopefully this will be overcome with confidence.
Compiled from Toffeenet contributions by: