Celtic started off their pre-season with a trip down under, to face Aussie outfit Brisbane Roar. And despite all the talk being about Celtic’s new signing Marc Antoine Fortune and Aussie Scott McDonald being handed the captaincy, it was forgotten man Chris Killen that stole the show as Celtic ran out 3-0 winners, and to make matters worse for the Aussies – Killen is a Kiwi. And the victory gave new manager Tony Mowbray his first piece of silverware as they lifted the Translink Cup.

Over 30,000 fans – most wearing the green and white of Celtic – packed into the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane to see Celtic face local side Brisbane Roar in their first match of pre-season and they were not to be disappointed.

Brisbane started the match the brighter of the two, as Celtic struggled to shake off the cobwebs and just two minutes into the game an Aussie counter attack gave Robbie Kruse a great chance to score, one on one with Celtic keeper Artur Boruc, but the Polish international saved smartly. And two minutes after that Boruc was again called into action, denying Sergio van Dijk’s powerful strike from a tight angle with an acrobatic save. Kruse again had a chance to open th scoring for Brisbane just ten minutes into the game, when he latched onto a poor pass from Glenn Loovens, but his left footed shot was saved again by Artur Boruc.

After 15 minutes, Celtic began to work their way back into the match and tested keeper Liam Reddy, first of all through Paddy McCourt with a low shot, before Shaun Maloney was denied from close range also. Six minutes before the break and Celtic broke the deadlock, Lee Naylor curled in a cross from the left and Killen powered home a header from close range. Three minutes later and Killen doubled his tally and gave Celtic a 2-0 lead finishing well from a Maloney pass.

However Roar could have pulled a goal back just on half time as Luke DeVere charged forward, his shot had Boruc scrambling to palm it away to safety.

There was a raft of changes for Celtic at half time as Georgios Samaras, Koki Mizuno, Aiden McGeadyand new signing Lukasz Zaluska all came on. Off went Killen, Maloney, Boruc and McCourt.

And Koki Mizuno made his mark just five minutes into the second half, converting Andreas Hinkel’s cross with a superb diving header to make it 3-0 to Celtic. A goal that effectively killed the game, as Mowbray then brought on Fortune, Ferry, Caddis and Misun on 61 minutes.

A late charge from Brisbane drew a number of chances, with substitute Tim Smits at the centre of the attack. The striker found himself in the area on 87 minutes and squared up DeVere, but a desperate block saw the ball deflect out for a corner. On 89 minutes a corner found its way to Smits on the right-hand corner of the area and he returned a fierce left-footed drive towards goal, but the ball was well held by substitute goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska.

“For us, a lot of positives came out of it,” the Roar coach said. “I’m disappointed we lost the game, but I thought we were our own worst enemies in the first half. We started very well, most probably could’ve been 2-0 up but then I thought the last 25, although we didn’t play poorly, the turnover in possession was just terrible and that’s what killed us. We were giving a team like Celtic good possession of the ball just on halfway and good teams will punish you, as they did.”

It was a good display from Celtic,and although some problems were still evident, pre-season will give Mowbray the chance to iron them out before the SPL season kicks off. The only sour note was the injury to Celtic youngster Milan Misun.

Killen’s Brisbane performance, however, was threatened to be overshadowed as one over excited Celtic fan decided to run onto the Brisbane field in nothing but a Celtic scarf. Anyone want another shrimp on the barbie??

Match Highlights

Match Information

Competition: Translink Cup
Date: Sunday, July 12, 2009
Stadium: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Attendance: 31,340
Referee: Peter Green

BRISBANE ROAR (4-3-3): Reddy; Mundy, Moore, DeVere (Bowles 89), McLoughlan (Malcolm 57); Sarota (Miller 46), McKay, Nicholls (Brattan 77); Henrique, Van Dijk (Smits 84), Kruse (Cernak 59)

CELTIC (4-4-2) Boruc (Zaluska 46); Hinkel (Ferry 61), Caldwell, Loovens, Naylor (Misun 61); McCourt (Mizuno 46), Crosas (Caddis 61), Flood, Maloney (McGeady 46); Killen (Samaras 46), McDonald (Fortune 46)

Tagged with: brisbane, Celtic, friendly, Pre-Season

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