Both teams worked hard, but two goalkeeping mistakes led to two goals and the points were shared.

In a cagey first half, Celtic just shaded the chances, with Dylan Scott firing through a crowd into the keeper’s arms and Nick Rushton seeing his header tipped over the bar. Scott fired across the face and Ruben Jerome’s header was well collected as the two teams probed solid defences for an opening. Mike Koral swept in from the wing only to fire past the post, and Scott hit the crossbar. Both central defenders got chances from numerous set-pieces, Jack Tinning forcing a save, though Jack Byrne fired wide. Right at the end of the half, Vauxhall’s best chance was a free kick on the eighteen-yard line, millimetres from being a penalty. Former Celt, Josh Quarless took the free kick but straight down Charlie Monks’s throat.

The second half started with Jerome beating the offside trap and getting into the box, but keeper Reece Trueman barrelled into Jerome conceding a penalty that Jerome converted himself. Had Jerome converted his half chance, or Benni Smales-Braithwaite kept his sky-high shot down, the end result may have been different, but as the last quarter-of-an-hour started, Vauxhall threw everything forward. Finlay Heath produced an excellent free kick that required an athletic stop from Monks, but lost his clean sheet from a corner, not catching the ball cleanly, and losing it as he crashed into the floor with Adam Hughes smashing in the loose ball. Seconds later, with Motors pressing hard all over the pitch giving Celtic no chance to settle, and Monks pulled off another stunning save, close range, Nick Rushton’s header tipped over the bar.

A draw is a fair result, given the effort put in by the two teams, but Celtic were so close to opening their account with a rare win at the Motormen.