u
THAT WIN AGAINST AJAX GAVE THE FULL
CLUB A BOOST AND IF THE BOYS CAN GET A
WIN TONIGHT IT'LL DO THE SAME
"The direction was great but I didn't think I'd hit it too
hard but their goalie was really slow going down. Maybe
the defender blocked his eyesight a bit but the keeper
came to the near post and I aimed for the back post and hit
it perfectly.
"When it left my foot I didn't think I'd got enough on it,
but luckily it was right in the corner.
"It was just a matter of remembering the technique you
learn in training to get your knee over the ball and strike it.
"There were a lot of Celtic fans there so there was a bit
of pressure in respect of doing well for them. As a Celtic
player you always think of the fans and a lot of our friends
were over for the game and came to the hotel to see me, so
there was that wee bit of added pressure.
"Also, the fact that you're a supporter yourself gives you
added pressure but none of that was on my mind, It might
have been if I started the game but because I only went on
with 15 minutes, anything I could do was a bonus,
"Big Billy just said, 'Big man go and get us a goal, please.'
Those were his words and I just said, 'Aye sure Billy, no
bother.'"
While the majority of the Celtic squad were still
celebrating the goal, the referee had allowed Ajax to
place the ball for the restart and blew his whistle for the
continuation of the match while most of the Celts were still
in their opponents' half.
It was a moment of terror for the jubilant Bhoys, but
thankfully one of the more experienced members of the
side had decided to stand guard, just in case,
McCluskey said: "We were celebrating, going off our
nuts, and someone from Ajax got the ball back up the park
quickly and we only had Davie Moyes and Danny McGrain
back in our own half but the referee allowed them to take
the kick-off really quickly.
'We were still in their half, trying to get back and I think
Danny just blootered somebody right out of the game to
get it stopped. He just took somebody from the hips and
stopped the game.
"We managed to get back in and get some sort of shape
about ourselves and our defence,"
The final whistle was blown shortly after and McCluskey
and his team-mates had secured safe passage to the next
round of the competition,
The scenes of celebration that night marked a real show
of unity between the squad and the support, with the
travelling fans nearly tumbling out of the high-fenced
enclosure at the Olympic Stadium as the Celtic players
went over to greet them after full-time.
