MARTIN O'NEILL hailed his players after they ended a difficult season with a league and cup double following a 3-1 win over Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup Final.
Daizen Maeda, Arne Engels and Kelechi Iheanacho scored to give the dominant Hoops a 3-0 lead before Josh Cooper hit a consolation for the Pars with 10 minutes to go.
Having secured the title a week ago, Celtic's 43rd Scottish Cup success caps a remarkable season that at times looked on the rocks following a series of managerial changes.
O'Neill took temporary charge following Brendan Rodgers' exit in October and took up the reins once again in the wake of Wilfried Nancy's sacking in January.
On both occasions, Celtic's hopes of silverware looked bleak but having delivered a memorable double, the Co. Derry native paid tribute to his players, particularly captain Callum McGregor.
"I'm the very first one to blame players and I think that players in general are almost spoiled and they don't ever blame themselves," O'Neill told Celtic TV after the Hampden final.
"This team's different, really different. Whatever we lack in certain things, the heart and desire and the will to go — which is epitomised by the captain of the side — is just so strong."
Dominant Hoops
Even under O'Neill, Celtic have toiled at times this season but this was a commanding performance over Championship side Dunfermline, managed by former Celtic boss Neil Lennon.
However, the champions were given an early scare after nine minutes when Callumn Morrison did well under pressure from Alistair Johnston to prod the ball beyond Viljami Sinisalo.
It looked like he had done enough to open the scoring only for Irish defender Liam Scales to race in and clear the ball off the line.
Celtic then took control and after John Tod failed to clear a long ball over the top from Johnston, Maeda chipped goalkeeper Aston Oxborough for his ninth goal in seven games.
The goal lifted the Hoops while Dunfermline seemed to lose their composure and it felt as though it was only a matter of time before Celtic doubled their lead.
Having sparked the Hoops' comeback win over Hearts last week, Arne Engels again got on the scoresheet with a powerful drive from 25 yards to make it 2-0 after 36 minutes.
Lennon rung the changes with three substitutions at half time and it almost paid dividends as Dunfermline bossed the opening stages after the break.
Nurudeen Abdulai, Zak Rudden and Chris Kane all went close as the Pars laid siege to the Celtic goal in the hope of getting back into the tie.
With the Hoops under pressure, O'Neill threw on Iheanacho, who had scored seven goals from the bench this season and eight in total before Saturday.
He thought he had added another when he turned home Hyunjun Yang's cross only to see it ruled out after the South Korean had ventured offside in the build-up.
However, the Nigerian got his goal seven minutes later, dancing around Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen and Robbie Fraser before jinking past Oxborough and slotting home.
It looked to have all but sealed the win but Cooper set up a nervy finish when a blocked shot fell kindly for him in the box and the substitute scored with his first touch.
Dunfermline pushed for a second but Celtic saw the game out to extend their record number of Scottish Cup wins and make it four wins in the competition for O'Neill.
Stuff of dreams
The manager's last Scottish Cup success before Saturday was 21 years ago in what was the final game of his first spell in charge of Celtic.
It remains to be seen whether this will be the last game of his current reign but O'Neill expressed his joy at having the opportunity to once again leading the Hoops to silverware.
"I must admit, I never thought that I'd ever manage Celtic again," he said.
"But to end up winning, it's just the best feeling in the world."
He added: "It does actually feel great, I must admit, it genuinely does.
"To come back to manage Celtic, it was it's like something I could never, ever have dreamed of, never.
"Not in a month of Sundays could I have thought that there was the case for me to come back at my age.
"But to come back and then be part of a winning team, I think it's just brilliant."
Everything from irishpost.com and the print edition is available on the Irish Post App — plus more! Download it for Android or Apple IOS devices today.
See More: Celtic, Martin O'Neill, Scottish Cup
