Celtic rout Hibs to win Scottish Cup

GLASGOW - Gary Hooper’s brace helped Celtic clinch the double as the Hoops swept to a 3-0 win over Hibernian in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park on Sunday.

Hooper struck twice in the first half and Joe Ledley’s late goal completed a record-extending 36th Scottish Cup triumph for Celtic and their first league and cup double since 2007.

Hibernian had been desperate to make amends for last season’s final thrashing by arch rivals Hearts.

But Hooper volleyed Celtic in front in the eighth minute from an Anthony Stokes cross before the same pair combined in the 31st minute for the English striker to head home his second.

Welsh midfielder Ledley bagged the third in the 80th minute as Hibernian’s 111-year wait to win the Scottish Cup continues.

“I felt so nervous this morning and all the way during the game really because of the weight of expectation riding on the game,” Celtic manager Neil Lennon said.

“But the players today were excellent. They controlled the game and played with great maturity and scored three very special goals.

“To win the double as a player was great but to win it as a manager is just fantastic.”

It was a second successive cup final defeat for Hibs boss Pat Fenlon but he conceded Celtic deserved to lift the trophy.

“I can’t fault the players for their effort and maybe if we scored first with the one it would have been a different game,” Fenlon said.

“We are bitterly disappointed to have lost a cup final but we have lost to a better side and there’s no shame in losing to Celtic.”

Celtic were without the suspended Victor Wanyama and Beram Kayal, but Lennon welcomed back winger James Forrest from injury, while top-scorer Leigh Griffiths passed a late fitness test for Hibs.

The absence of Hibs captain James McPake, who missed out with a back injury, meant there were only four survivors from the side who were humiliated in that 5-1 defeat against Hearts in the previous final.

However, the memory of that painful loss didn’t seem to dwell on the Hibs players’ minds as they made a bright start.

An early corner was cleared by Charlie Mulgrew only as far as Kevin Thomson, who teed up Tom Taiwo for a shot that just cleared the bar.

Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster then made a superb reflex save to deny Eoin Doyle’s header after the Irishman connected with Ryan McGivern’s cross from the left into the six-yard box.

Their early good work came undone, however, when Hooper fired Celtic in front.

Alan Maybury fluffed his clearance from Mikel Lustig’s cross and Stokes capitalised to swing a ball over to the back post where Hooper snuck in between Paul Hanlon and McGivern to volley past Ben Williams from a tight angle.

An excellent pass from Kris Commons then picked out Ledley on his own in the box and only a superb block from keeper Williams denied the Welshman’s effort.

Hibs failed to heed that warning and Celtic doubled their advantage when Stokes and Hooper expertly combined again.

Commons fed Stokes down the left wing and he swung a cross to the back post where Hooper again got in the middle of Hanlon and McGivern to send an angled header into the bottom left-hand corner.

There was a brief respite for Hibs when Griffiths beat the offside trap and rounded Forster, but the prolific striker could only knock the ball across the goalmouth from a tight angle as Mulgrew cleared the danger.

The second half was only seven minutes old when Stokes came close to adding to the scoreline as he cut inside from the left before firing a right-foot shot a yard wide.

Celtic sealed their win through Ledley. Lustig’s cross was missed by Hooper in the six-yard box but the ball fell to the former Cardiff midfielder and he rifled past Williams.