AN uninspiring guddle of a match ended with Celtic as short-priced favourites to reach the first round proper of the UEFA Cup. One hopes, however, that if they are not any fitter by the time of the second leg in Glasgow, they will surely be significantly sharper.
Simon Donnelly, the young forward, will not, however, have any part to play in the attempt. He was justifiably sent off for a wild (lunge at Janocko nine minutes it0 the second half.
It was the Parkhead side's good fortune to encounter opponents whose scoring attempts and all-round play were as slipshod as their own. The Slovakians even managed to miss a first-half penalty, while Marshall, the Celtic goalkeeper who had committed the offence, retrieved his standing by making a string of good saves.
It was not so much one incident as a mini-series of them which demonstrated the sluggish, frequently dishevelled play of Celtic during most of a game in which they looked as though they were having difficulty in summoning sufficient interest in their own affairs.
Marshall moved forward to receive a seemingly harmless lob from Kariasek in his own half, then seemed to nod off as he fumbled the hall at the feet of Janocko. The Kosice forward was still in an unthreatening position on the left edge of the penalty area when Marshall doubled up on the errors by diving clumsily and pulling him down.
The goalkeeper leapt again a few seconds later, this time to his left, to hold Zvara's attempt at the conversion.
He was not on his feet long when the referee pulled him for taking too many steps. The indirect free kick was pushed to Kozak, and his powerful drive was kept out by the line of defenders rushing from the goalline.
Yet, despite the disorder of most of their endeavours, Celtic had missed an opportunity which almost compared with a penalty before Marshall committed his aberration. Thom came in from the left and fed Cadete, whose quick turn finished with a shot which came off a post. The ball bounced straight to O'Neil and the big defender, very carefully, drove it low towards what looked like an empty net. He had deliberated so long, however, that Hornyak was able to rush back and block the ball on the line.
Later, Cadete surpassed that effort, snaking onto Janocko's misdirected header, chipping the helpless Juraoka - and sending the ball wide of the far post.
Despite the general poverty of the performance, however, Celtic should ensure another elimination to add to the undistinguished record of their Slovakian opponents, who have never passed the first round of European competition.
Celtic manager Tommy Burns told Simon Donnelly he got what he deserved after being sent off.
"I think to be fair Simon got himself upset and took a swing at the guy," said Burns, of the 54th minute incident when Donnelly pulled down Vladimir Janocko. "I think the referee was perfectly correct."
Donnelly will be banned for the Parkhead rematch with Kosice, and could land a lengthier suspension if the referee views his behaviour as violent conduct.
"Simon was just stupid. He had lost possession and chased after the player and felled him," said Burns.
"It will be a lesson to him, because someone else will get his place and that is probably the harshest lesson of all."
Burns added: "We defended very poorly in the first half but we got it together after the break. It was an alien system to us but sometimes you have to do that in an away leg in Europe.
"Now we will attack more at Celtic Park and hopefully we can complete the job.
Marshall said: "I think we have to be favourites now to go through. We didn't defend well in the first half and I certainly had to make a lot of saves.
Kosice coach Jan Kozak said: "We are not giving it up. There will be a full house of almost 50,000 in Glasgow backing Celtic but we'll do our best to keep our chances alive."
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