Pre-season friendly/ Celtic 2; Newcastle Utd 1: A better-than-average pre-season friendly left both Martin O'Neill and Bobby Robson with material to contemplate last night.
Much of this was positive. For O'Neill there was an 89th-minute winner from his new signing Henri Camara on his debut and another example of the potential of 18-year-old Aiden McGeady. For Robson, it was that Craig Bellamy was sharp in the second half.
Bellamy opened the scoring before Momo Sylla equalised for Celtic.
The outbreak of viral conjunctivitis at Newcastle has claimed four players now, and tomorrow's friendly at York City has been cancelled as Newcastle assess the damage and whether it will affect the team Robson can send out in nine days at Middlesbrough.
As might be expected, Titus Bramble and Robbie Elliott were tested by Chris Sutton and John Hartson, the latter returning after six months out.
Celtic's best chance in the first half fell to Stilian Petrov. Running on to Jackie McNamara's astute pass, Petrov rounded Steve Harper but missed the open net.
Six minutes later McGeady sidestepped Elliott and from almost 30 yards sent a sweet shot towards the top corner with his left foot. Harper, at full stretch, tipped away.
Newcastle had little comparable movement, and their injury problems worsened when Laurent Robert limped off before half-time.
Ten minutes after it Robert's replacement, 19-year-old Martin Brittain, forced Celtic's David Marshall into his first action with a low shot, and Brittain then supplied a pass that ultimately led to Bellamy giving Newcastle the lead.
Kieron Dyer moved the ball on to to Bellamy and from 20 yards he found Marshall's bottom left-hand corner.
Robson replaced Alan Shearer with Patrick Kluivert immediately - Shearer appearing far from comfortable about that amid reports in Spain saying Levante are about to table a bid for the Newcastle captain - and Celtic fans were given their first sight of Camara as he came on for Sutton.
CELTIC (4-4-2): Marshall; McNamara, Balde, Varga, Valgaeren; McGeady, Lennon, Petrov, Pearson; Sutton, Hartson.
NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-4-2): Harper; Hughes, Bramble, Elliott, Bernard; Milner, Dyer, Butt, Robert (Brittain, 45); Bellamy, Shearer.
Referee: W Young
Guardian Service
