Celtic last-minute hero Anthony Ralston asked about away support; gives fantastic response

By Euan Davidson

December 16, 2021

Anthony Ralston has praised the travelling Celtic support, and claimed he’d have been “going nuts” with them in the stands at Victoria Park.

Ralston, a lifelong Celtic supporter, scored a vital 96th minute goal to seal three hard-earned points for the Bhoys against Ross County.

Remarkably, for a right-back, it was his fifth goal of the campaign, and his tenth goal involvement overall [Transfermarkt]. For the Academy graduate though, there will be few as sweet as last night’s in his entire career, no matter what he achieves.

Ralston’s involvement has been incredible this season. Since the summer, he’s gone from an also-ran in the Celtic squad to being a starter, as well as a Scotland international.

Speaking to Celtic’s in-house media, the reserved interviewee cracked a few smiles as he praised the support and reflected on his last-minute winner.

Ralston said [Celtic FC]: “It’s the stuff of dreams to do that.

“For the fans that come up here, who travel, with their work commitments and everything like that on a weekday, and support us, it’s what they deserve. They deserve the three points.

“It feels amazing to score a last minute winner. It’s the first one I’ve done so it’s a pretty unique feeling. If I was in the stand I’d be going nuts as well. So to be involved in scoring the goal is brilliant.”

Anthony Ralston epitomises the spirit of this Celtic team, as a supporter on the pitch

You’d have to be incredibly cynical or entirely biased not to appreciate the season Ralston is having.

It seems obvious that were Ralston not a professional footballer, he’d be following Celtic home and away. He’s right, you can absolutely see him “going nuts” amongst the away support last night.

The 23-year-old, though, is living the dream of every single Hoops fan. And you can tell he’s embracing it, from the sheer work rate he puts in.

He was shuttling up and down the right-flank for the whole game, but when Rogic needed to find a target on the left side of the box late on last night, who was there? Ralston.

It’s been utterly incredible to watch his progress. And, still so young, it’s not impossible to think there’s much more to come from the Scotland right-back.

What he did last night was everything this Celtic team have shown since the summer. Hard work, invention and a total commitment to fighting from whistle to whistle.

Read more: Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou’s brilliant deadpan response to question about rivals live on radio