Mariners 1
Celtic 0
After touching down in Australia, Celtic boss Neil Lennon admitted his future would be under a dark cloud if the Hoops failed to wrestle the Premier League title from Old Firm rivals Rangers this season.
While pre-season friendlies are almost instantly forgettable affairs, Celtic’s reverse to a limited Central Coast Mariners outfit in Sydney yesterday did little to convince Hoops fans that Lennon’s glum pre-season assessment would galvanise his players on their second pre-season jaunt Down Under in three years.
Lennon chose Celtic’s opening match of the 2011-12 season to hand new summer signings Kelvin Wilson and Adam Matthews their full debuts, and included only three starters from the Scottish Cup final-winning team.
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But the match between last season’s Australian and Scottish league runners-up produced few clear chances until unheralded Mariners recruit Troy Hearfield settled the contest with a curling shot from the edge of the area in the 87th minute after Celtic had failed to clear a cross from the left.
Another second-half Mariners substitute, Trent Sainsbury, cleared the ball off the line just before the end of the 90 minutes, as Celtic had an appeal for handball turned down.
Neither goalkeeper was forced into a significant save in the first half. Celtic put a couple of attempts wide and the Mariners had a good spell just before the break, forcing several corners and having two shots blocked on a bumpy surface.
Lennon rang the changes at half-time, sending on Anthony Stokes, Gary Hooper, Paddy McCourt, Daryl Murphy and Beram Kayal.
Despite the one-way traffic towards the Mariners goal, the home side should have taken the lead in the 60th minute when Adriano Pelligrino headed wide with the goal at his mercy.
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Celtic failed to create a chance of note despite showing more urgency in the second term but Lennon was not unduly worried.
“The players’ condition and the quality — particularly second half — it was a remarkable performance when you consider the week they’ve been through,” Lennon said. “They’ve been travelling all the way over on Tuesday and Wednesday and then one day’s training. They played very well second half and controlled the game.”
Defender Daniel Majstorovic, Greek striker Georgios Samaras and South Korean Ky Sung-Yeung are scheduled to arrive in Perth on Tuesday ahead of Celtic’s clash with Perth Glory on Saturday.