Many happy returns for Celts at Rugby Park

It just had to be Rugby Park. The scene of last season’s despair became the venue for an early championship party as Celtic wrapped up the Bank of Scotland Premier League with six games remaining.

They exorcised the demons of last season when Martin O’Neill’s men returned wearily from Spain, having lost the UEFA Cup final in extra time to Porto, to try to retain their crown in the final 90 minutes of the campaign.

Their 4-0 win at Kilmarnock that day, coupled with Rangers’ simultaneous 6-1 thrashing of Dunfermline to take the title on goal difference, became footballing folklore north of the border.

A more exciting finish could not have been contemplated and added spice was provided by post-match comments by Chris Sutton that questioned Dunfermline’s professionalism.

This time round there was not so much drama to go round and Sutton was absent injured anyway, as was Alan Thompson, who had missed a penalty on that fateful day.

Today’s script had long been written as Rangers had long since conceded the title; it was just a matter of when and where the final chapter was to be played out.

The Hoops fans who filled the stands behind both goals had enjoyed an extra 10 minutes of pre-match karaoke gloating at Rangers’ expense while boots were hastily being located for stand-in linesman, George Drummond, who had been plucked from the crowd to replace nosebleed victim Willie Dishington at short notice.

Of course there was a rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. Of course there was a huddle by the players, with their Kilmarnock equivalents having already been met by a chorus of boos.

That the Hoops fans were able to make more noise was no surprise; not only did they have more to sing about they was simply more of them as Killie had allocated 9,000 away places and opted for empty seats in the home section to avoid a repeat of last season, when green and white infiltrators had been everywhere.

Killie were in no mood to be mere stooges however as Kris Boyd proved when he rammed the ball past the recalled Robert Douglas midway through the first half.

That goal was ruled out by referee Mike McCurry because of an earlier Eric Skora challenge on Bobo Balde.

Tempers boiled over again not long after that controversial decision when Neil Lennon booted the ball into the Killie dugout, to the obvious displeasure of home manager Jim Jefferies.

Boyd received a lecture from McCurry for being the man who complained about the official’s failure to spot two blatant handballs by Celtic players in the space of a few nanoseconds.

But the crucial opening goal was devoid of dubious content, which will be a relief to the man who netted it.

Stilian Petrov, the Bulgaria captain, has established himself as a key player in the Martin O’Neill revolution thanks to his work-rate and attacking instincts.

When Henrik Larsson flicked the ball on with a stooping header the temptation must have been there for Petrov to go down under Gordon Greer’s neck-breather of a challenge.

He did nothing of the kind and continued his run to rap the ball past Colin Meldrum in the Kilmarnock goal.

No doubt the coals of indignation were thoroughly stoked in the home dressing room during the break but Killie were unable to turn it into something constructive.

Danny Invincibile fired across goal and inches wide and was convinced that the officials’ failure to spot a crucial deflection was yet another Ayrshire injustice.

McCurry’s next major decision was a more straightforward one; to rule out a Jackie McNamara goal as Larsson had been palpably offside as guest linesman Drummond, whose balding pate glinted like a beacon in the strong afternoon sunlight, had also spotted.

It was to be Celtic’s day, just as it had been their season although the Killie fans did have a witty ditty of their own.

When the Old Trafford-bound Liam Miller replaced Didier Agathe in the second half he was greeted with a rendition of “Glory, glory Man United”.

But that lasted just a moment. It was the Hoops fans’ pig Italian cries of “Championees” that were to linger long after the final whistle.