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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
Sport
Daniel Caw

Celtic hero Martin O'Neill admits Helicopter Sunday pain 'gnaws away' at him

Former Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has admitted the pain of losing a dramatic Helicopter Sunday title in 2005 still continues to 'gnaw away' at him on a regular basis.

O'Neill cemented himself as a genuine Hoops legend during his five-year stint at Parkhead, winning three Premiership titles, a domestic treble, and reaching the 2003 UEFA Cup final in Seville.

However, the Northern Irishman admits one of the memories most prominent in his mind of his time in charge is far from a happy one, as he recalls Scott McDonald and Motherwell handing the title to Rangers.

Celtic went into the final day of the 2004/05 season top of the table, and requiring to match or better Rangers' result against Hibs at Easter Road, and it looked like they had one hand on the trophy when Chris Sutton delivered a first-half lead.

But McDonald had the last laugh as he scored twice late on to inflict a shock 2-1 defeat, with Rangers beating Hibs 1-0 - and it seems the memory of Fir Park is still engrained in O'Neill's mind.

Speaking the Press Box podcast, O'Neill said: "I know it was 2005, but I'm just trying to count the years.

"We're talking about 16 years and, no, it's still there.

"In fact, I was having toast this morning and I was thinking about it. I'm serious.

"It never leaves you. I think about that, I think about the UEFA Cup more than I think about our triumphs.

"That's been the case, it gnaws away at you, of course.

"Was it Gordon Marshall who was in goal for Motherwell that day? A very fine goalkeeper, but he's never produced a performance like that in his life.

"We could have won by about seven! You just felt it was going to happen.

"Rangers were at Hibs that day, they took the lead in the game and it became a stalemate after that because Hibs couldn't afford to lose 2-0 otherwise they wouldn't be involved in European football.

"I think it was like the East vs West Germany game, when the teams just played it out.

"But we should have been able to take care of our own business."

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