SCOTT McDonald ran old club-mate Stephen Craigan ragged as his second consecutive hat-trick at Parkhead kept Celtic on top of the SPL. The Aussie striker took his tally to 11 for the season and proved again that at £700,000 he has been a real bargain buy from Motherwell. And while McDonald has been banging them in the Hoops’ defensive record is more than decent. Yesterday was their fifth home league game - and they have yet to concede a goal on their own soil. However, Mark McGhee’s side came close to scoring several times as they made a lively start to the match. Ross McCormack rattled in a swerving 25 yard shot that Artur Boruc managed to get a hand on to divert the ball away for a corner after only four minutes. The former Rangers striker also had an effort cleared off the line by Stephen McManus. Well were dealt a blow when Stephen Hughes limped off after just 10 minutes. He was replaced by Phil O’Donnell. Keeper Graeme Smith was tested for the first time in the 13th minute, Chris Killen powering in a low drive from 15 yards. The New Zealander then rose above the Well defence to bullet in a header from a Shunsuke Nakamura corner - but again Smith saved. Motherwell’s early grip on play started to loosen and the home team took over. Paul Hartley ran from deep to be set up by Nakamura but Smith was there to spread himself and block the midfielder’s effort. It was end-to-end stuff, pleasing on the eye, the game wide open with good football on show. In the 36th minute Boruc threw the ball out to Lee Naylor, but the full-back was looking the other way and the ball rolled to Steven McGarry. He dinked the ball over the head of Boruc and it looked a certain goal. But the Polish keeper showed his class again when his quick feet got him back to fingertip over the bar. Boruc made a dash for Naylor and there looked to be a rerun of the Spartak Moscow bust-up. But Boruc controlled his aggression and gave the defender a cuddle. A minute later Scott Brown battled to win possession at the edge of the Well penalty area and his low shot was well saved by Smith. McDonald copped a booking for diving but broke into a smile three minutes before half-time when he headed home a Naka corner from six yards. McDonald was delighted to score against his former club but Craigan will be disappointed he failed to pick up the Hoops hitman. It could have been worse for Well before the break when Aiden McGeady and Naylor set up Killen to fire against the woodwork. McGeady was next to hit the bar after the interval with a swerving shot from 20 yards. But Well were still in it and Chris Porter forced Boruc into a fine save. However, Celtic put the game out of reach in 58 minutes. McGeady found Naylor just inside the Well half while McDonald made a clever run away from Craigan to go one-on-one with Smith. The keeper narrowed the angle but McDonald kept his cool to score with a nutmeg. Good finish - but poor from Craigan again. Nakamura had the chance to pile on the pain in the 83rd minute when McGeady’s 40-yard diagonal pass was cushioned into his path by Killen. He was only 16 yards out but slipped and fired the ball wildly over the bar. Nakamura’s form has been sloppy all season but McGeady looked good yesterday and built on his solid performance against Benfica. He played on the left wing and gave Paul Quinn a tough time. McGeady sent over a few good crosses - as did Naylor - but the youngster needs to improve his shooting. Too often his right-foot efforts were yards off target. Celts were awarded a penalty with three minutes to go when Craigan tripped McDonald. The little hitman grabbed the ball and stroked it low past Smith’s left side as the keeper dived to his right. It was a good result for Celtic because Motherwell had arrived as dangerous opponents and lived up to that reputation to help make this 90 minutes one of the better games this season. | 
