ANGE Postecoglou and his players will have to deliver far greater prizes than the Premier Sports Cup in the months ahead before Celtic can be considered the dominant force in Scottish football once again.

Yet, their hard-fought triumph over Hibernian at Hampden yesterday may well be a landmark moment in their ongoing recovery from their wretched 2020/21 campaign and could prove to be a catalyst for further success in future. 

The way that Callum McGregor and his team mates fought back after falling behind early in the second-half and clinched the victory certainly suggested they have the mentality, ability and strength in depth required to reclaim their mantle.   

Their 2-1 win was, typically for Scottish football, not without its controversies. There were claims for offside at both of the goals that Kyogo Furuhashi, who returned from injury, bagged a brace and picked up the Man of the Match champagne, scored.

Celtic were, too, fortunate not to concede a penalty in the sixth minute of injury-time when, as Hibs launched a last desperate attempt to snatch an equaliser, Carl Starfelt pushed Ryan Porteous.

But Postecoglou’s understrength team – they were missing Albian Ajeti, James Forrest, Georgios Giakoumakis and Jota - produced a dominant display and it was difficult for any impartial observer to argue with the final outcome.

The Greek Australian coach, a leftfield choice to take over from Neil Lennon as manager back in June, savoured every moment of a sweet result with his jubilant charges and their joyous supporters on the field afterwards.

However, he is hopeful the achievement will increase the belief in his methods and tactics among his men and help them to record more accomplishments in future.   

“This can be significant for this group of players and for us as a club,” he said.  

“I think it was really important that, right from the start, I tried to sell them some hope. Success turns that hope into something more tangible now. It says that ‘you know what, maybe this team can do special things’. The players and staff will feed off that.

“We weren’t the dominant team at the start of the year. I doubt very much that many people thought we could have any success, particularly this early. Having done it and having overcome what we have, it definitely builds resilience.”

Postecoglou made a big call before kick-off when he named Furuhashi, who had been sidelined since suffering a hamstring strain against Real Betis 10 days earlier, in his starting line-up. Without another specialist striker available in his squad, his willingness to gamble on the fitness of his leading scorer was understandable.

Hibs had blown Rangers away in the opening 45 minutes of their semi-final last month and effectively wrapped up a victory at half-time thanks to a Martin Boyle hat-trick.

But they struggled to get out of their own half after proceedings got underway yesterday. Caretaker manager David Gray had brought in Jamie Murphy for Chris Cadden. The winger and his fellow forwards saw next to nothing of the ball.

For all their possession and pressure, though, Celtic were unable to supply Furuhashi with decent service. Greg Taylor tried his luck from long-range and forced a save from Matt Macey and Starfelt headed wide after getting on the end of a David Turnbull corner. But their final ball left much to be desired and the scoreline remained goalless.

Turnbull, who had been heavily involved in much off their attacking play, pulled up with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Nir Bitton. His team were fortunate not to fall behind soon after he left the field.

Their opponents launched a counter attack against the run of play on the half hour mark. Only a perfectly-timed tackle by Cameron Carter-Vickers prevented Boyle from getting a shot away.

Furuhashi finally managed an attempt on target in the opening minute of the second-half. But Paul Hanlon slid in to deny him. The Hibs centre half and captain would further endear himself to his side’s supporters soon after when he opened the scoring at a corner.

He came from deep to meet a Boyle delivery into the six yard box and nodded in off Josip Juranovic in the 51st minute. Starfelt should have done much, much better to track his counterpart’s run.

Still, there was no time for Celtic to hold a post-mortem. Furuhashi restored parity 14 seconds after the restart. He got on the end of a long ball from Callum McGregor, controlled it beautifully with a sublime first touch and slotted beyond Macey.

There were appeals for offside around the stadium. But the ultra element in the Celtic support had set off smoke cannisters when play restarted and if the scorer had been it was impossible for the match officials to tell.

Nisbet pounced on a mistake by Starfelt in the 68th minute, advanced into the Celtic box and tested Hart from an acute angle. But the goalkeeper was equal to it. His save enabled his side to take the lead minutes later.

Hanlon gave away a free-kick just inside the Celtic half for a foul on Abada. Tom Rogic shelled it upfield to Furuhaashi who lobbed it over the head of Macey with an exquisite first-time shot. It is fair to say he justified his selection. 

Rogic could have wrapped it up for Celtic before the end but Macey palmed his effort wide. Nisbet hit the post with a header and Joe Newell tested Hart at the very death. Postecoglou was ready for a large whisky at the end of it all.

“I know I smell like I’ve been drinking a fair bit, but that was the players,” he said. “Particularly Juranovic and Hart who are in for some tough sessions in the next few days! But I will get myself a glass of scotch, the finest from here, and I’ll have a quiet drink.”

It could be the first of many.