Recalling the day Tony Mowbray’s gallus young Hibs side came of age at Celtic Park

Scott Brown (right) is mobbed by his Hibs team-mates after scoring the away side's third goal on April 30, 2005. Pic: SNS Group Alan Harvey

The exciting, attacking football played by Tony Mowbray's fearless young Hibs side produced some notable results during his two-year reign.

The memorable 3-1 victory at Celtic towards the end of the 2004-05 season was up there among the best of them.

Finding a way to win at Parkhead – daunting at any time but particularly so during the Martin O'Neill era – was bold enough, but to completely outplay the defending champions on their own patch was properly gallus.

It was anything but a backs-to-the-wall performance from the men in yellow as precocious talents such as Scott Brown, Derek Riordan, Gary O'Connor and Steven Whittaker came of age.

Brown, in particular, outshone big guns such as Stiliyan Petrov, Alan Thompson and his future Celtic manager, Neil Lennon, with a driving performance in midfield capped off with a superb goal to seal the victory.

The win was Hibs' first at Celtic Park since 1992. On that occasion, Mowbray was on the losing side, as goals from Keith Wright, Darren Jackson and Gareth Evans sealed a 3-2 win for the Edinburgh men.

The former centre-half could never have envisaged that, 13 years later, he would mastermind a similar result from the away dug-out.

The spellbinding football played under the Englishman was summed up by the quality of the goals scored at Parkhead that day.

The first saw Brown bomb through midfield before sending a pass to O'Connor in the box, but the striker still had plenty to do. The turn and nutmeg was to die for, as Slovakian international defender Stanislav Varga will testify having been left for dead, and the finish into the far corner was sublime, giving David Marshall no chance.

Celtic equalised through Craig Beattie's volley in the 59th minute but for all their youthful flair, Hibs also had a bullish side that enabled them to recover from that setback to seal a deserved victory.

They retook the lead with 11 minutes left with a back-to-front move so slick and incisive that the Celtic defence could barely react before the ball was in the back of their net.

A forward pass by Whittaker, a flick by Sam Morrow, and Ivan Sproule was in the clear. Defenders chased back in vain as the rapid Northern Irishman sprinted into the box to slot low underneath the advancing Marshall. A taster for what was to come at Ibrox the following season …

Hibs fans had barely finished celebrating when Brown had them on their feet again two minutes later, blazing a trail from the halfway line, straight through the heart of the Celtic defence, before coolly chipping the goalkeeper.

Celtic would go on to lose the title on Helicopter Sunday, while Hibs finished third and qualified for the UEFA Cup.