In front of their new manager, Celtic were good for the win, but Clitheroe provided stiff competition. Any mistake would have cost Celtic, but even when both centre-backs limped off Celtic stood firm.

Joe Duckworth finished off a fast-paced move getting his head on a Milan Lalkovic cross, but nodded wide, while Lalkovic himself saw Hakan Burton well off his line, and tried an audacious effort from fifty yards away, and missed by an inch. Duckworth saw his bottom corner effort just turned around the post by Mark Hughes and Jack Irlam came agonisingly close heading in the corner from close range, but Varny on the line hacked clear. Joe Duckworth took advantage of a mistake by Hughes, who’d tried to head back to Burton, Duckworth twisting past him to go one-on-one with Burton. Hughes, beaten, pulled Duckworth over just outside the box, but nothing came of it and Clitheroe swept down the field at pace, Parny’s shot hitting the upright. Clitheroe finished the half the stronger requiring a super save from Charlie Monks to deny Parny. However, Lalkovic showed great guile and skill to get into the box moments before the interval and Burton had to pull off another good stop.

Clitheroe pushed on in the second half. Celtic had already lost Sean Tse in the first half, when Ross Dent sliced down Aaron Chalmers, Chalmers also limped off. Clitheroe tried to take advantage, Emerich Poilly almost beating Monks, but Monks got his finger tips to the ball, pushing it around the post and Parny headed the corner over.

Ash Leather magic finally broke the deadlock. After Ross Dent fouled Leather, Celtic won a corner off the free kick. Clitheroe could not deal with the corner, cross after cross coming straight back in as they tried to clear, until Leather’s lifted ball to the front post found Jack Irlam, who pushed it out with hsi back to goal to Duckworth to prod through a crowd to score the game’s only goal.

Cue twenty minutes of absolute pressure from the visitors. For the most part, Celtic held firm, but under the cosh, Clitheroe broke through, Monks catching Hughes’s header off a corner, Javaun Splatt heading wide from another corner and Jacob Hanson coming close from distance. But the save of the match came seven minutes into stoppage time. Richie Baker tried the half volley from twenty yards but Monks was there again, one handed to palm over the bar, and Greg Wilkinson cleared the resulting corner.

Celtic’s new boss, Jon Macken, watched on, knowing he has a lot of work ahead of him.