Celts ko'd at the Masters

Celtic were knocked out of the British Masters after losing 2-1 to Tranmere.

After a goal-less first half Stewart Barlow put Tranmere in front three minutes into the second half but Celtic equalised almost straight away through Andy Walker but with penalties looming Tranmere striker Ian Muir lobbed the ball over Stewart Kerr to knock Celtic out.

There was certainly a competitive/nasty element to the match with Andy Walker and Kenny Irons warned in the first half after squaring up to each other.

The first half was hardly an advert for the beautiful game reviving memories of Wattenancio with two teams determined to give nothing away with Stewart Kerr pulling off a few impressive stops.

At the end of the match there was a bit of a stramash as Tranmere prevented Celtic taking a free kick to run down the clock with Darren Jackson and Chic Charnley leading the protests to referee John Underhill.

The earlier quarter-finals had turned out to be goalfests with former Motherwell striker Don Goodman bagging a hat-trick for Wolves in the 6-1 win over Leicester.

Tranmere will play Wolves in the semi-final but with Celtic ko'd it's just another old boys kickaround.

Celtic team: Stewart Kerr, Tom Boyd, Mark McNally, Alan Stubbs, Brian McLaughlin, Chic Charnley, Darren Jackson, Tommy Johnson, Andy Walker.

Bhoys World Cup hopes stay alive

Celtic fans Shay Given and Damien Duff are still on course for a place at the World Cup Finals after last night's nervous 2-1 win over Cyprus.


Skipper Robbie Keane's 83rd minute header won the points for Giovanni Trappatoni's side after Aiden McGeady had appeared as a 66th minute substitute.

It was a difficult surface for McGeady to make an impact on but after making a habit of losing points to late goals last night's win was especially welcome.

Kevin Doyle had given Ireland the lead in the fifth minute but it was no surprise when Cyprus equalised on the half hour when left-back Elia sent an unstoppable shot past Given.

For reasons best known to themselves the home side barely posed any threat after the break but Ireland toiled to create chances and it looked like two precious qualification points may be slipping by.

Caleb Folan replaced Doyle with fifteen minutes left to play as a more direct route was employed with wingers Duff and McGeady getting little joy from the flanks.

With time running out the Cypriot keeper Sofronis Avgousti took a kamikaze type run off his line leaving Keane with an open goal to head Duff's cross into the net for his 40th international goal.

The points keep Ireland in second place in the group ahead of their October 10 clash with group leaders Italy at Croke Park.

Great article on former Celtic youth team keeper Shay Given.

Stubbs joins Masters squad

Local bhoy Alan Stubbs will join the Celtic squad for tonight's bid to win the British Masters alongwith Tommy Johnson.

It's the first time that Stubbs has played in the Masters while Johnson has been in the side a couple of times for the Scottish event.

Skipper Tom Boyd leads a strong side into the Liverpool event after victory at the Scottish Masters in July.

Celtic face Tranmere in the quarter-finals of the knock out event which hasn't quite provided the organisers high profile names with Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United all missing out.

Bolton, QPR and Barnsley have earned their place in the event with the Barnsley squad including former Celts Jim Dobbin and Wayne Biggins.

As a Manchester City player Biggins is a former winner of the Masters while Leicester, who are in tonight's competition, won the Tenerife Masters in December beating the hoops in the final.

The event kicks off on Sky at 7pm.

Kerr prepares for Masters bid

The Celtic Old Bhoys head to Liverpool on Sunday looking to win the British Masters for the first time.

After seeing off Rangers, Hearts and Dundee United the old hoops find themselves in the British final which must have turned into a marketing nightmare.

Think Merseyside and you get Tranmere, think London and it's QPR, think Manc and it's Bolton!

TRANMERE

No doubt the organisers would have been looking for Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United to join the hoops but it's not such a funny old game when you end up with Tranmere, QPR and Bolton Wanderers.

Celtic face Tranmere in the quarter finals with former Hoops keeper Stewart Kerr looking forward to a reunion with an edge.

Any outsider looking in may think that it's a jolly for the old boys on show but with an indoor arena under the lights of Sky TV things get intense and very competitive.

Kerr said: "Obviously it's different to play in these events from watching on telly. The standard is quite high, over the years younger players are getting involved and it's definitely a hard shift.

"When I watched it on telly I never realised how wide the goals are, that was quite a surprise.

FORGIVING

"It's a good format and hard work. The surface isn't the most forgiving, goalkeepers are heavily involved, the goals are quite big and the organisers are wanting to see plenty of goals flying in.

"The secret is just to keep the ball, we really found that out in the Scottish event, when we were keeping the ball our luck started to change.

"The Scottish Masters was very enjoyable, after a bad start it turned out well and now we're looking forward to the British event and going on to win that.

"There is no form in these events especially with this stage being a straight knock out. In the Scottish Masters we lost our first game 3-1 against Dundee United but beat them in the final."

ATTRACTION

The social side of the event is a big attraction with players from different eras getting together to exchange stories and catch up with each other.

The Celtic side that won the Scottish event covered a few playing eras dating back to Andy Walker and Mark McNally from the troubled early 90s to the excitement created by Pierre van Hooijdonk with Tom Boyd a constant through to the trophy winning days on the naughties.

Kerr's Celtic career covered the good, the bad, the painful and the memorable with the stories certain to flow when they meet up again in Liverpool.

"It's great to meet up with folk that you haven't seen in years," the keeper said. "You quickly go back into team-mates mode.

"There's a few square-ups when you're playing as usual but afterwards they are quickly forgotten about. It's great to get competitive again.

"Everyone just switches back into their playing mode, there is always pressure on you to win at Celtic and the supporters are there to see you win."

Kerr on Artur Boruc

Kerr video from Scottish Masters