EARLY TARGETS

A look at the first scorer of each new decade

- JOE SULLIVAN

1890s TOM MALEY

CREDITED with a hat-trick in Celtic’s first ever game, the 5-2 win over Rangers on May 28, 1888, Tom Maley not only scored Celtic’s first goal of the 1890s, but also bagged another triple. The opponents on January 1, 1890, a time when most of the games played were friendlies, were Everton – who had future Celtic legend, Dan Doyle in their ranks. Maley netted in the 25th and 30th minutes and the 16,000 crowd saw him complete his hat-trick before half-time as the Celts went in 3-0 up. The Merseyside team pulled it back to 3-2 after the break and that was the final score. Celtic also beat Hearts 7-0 and St Mirren 1-0 in friendlies before playing their first competitive game of the new decade on January 18 with Willie Groves scoring in a 1-1 home North Eastern Cup game with Cowlairs. Celtic won the replay 5-0 at Gourlay Park, Springburn, before going on to beat Thistle 5-0 at Beechwood in the semi-final. The Celts met another Springburn side, Northern, in the final at neutral Barrowfield (then home of Clyde), to retain the cup. The Thistle mentioned are not the Partick variety – they came from just down the road in Dalmarnock and wore blue and white hoops.

1900s JACK BELL