A game of two halves saw little action in the first half, but it exploded in the second.

What chances did come mainly fell to Celtic, Benni Smales-Braithwaite twice went wide and forced a decent stop from James McClenaghan, with Tunde Owolabi also breaking through but unable to steer the ball past McClenaghan, while Ellis Horan fired straight at McClenaghan. All the action came after the interval, and it started from the off, with Celtic looking much livelier, harrying and chasing lost causes. Smales-Braithwaite fired a warning shot that McClenaghan managed to block.

And then a moment of brilliance broke the deadlock. Liam Tongue found Horan, thirty-five yards out, arriving at pace and he struck a sweet, arrow-straight shot McClenaghan could only watch sail into the top corner. Tongue was denied with his twenty-yard effort palmed around the post, and Jack Byrne’s resulting header had to be cleared off the line by George Windass. However, a corner at the other end saw a mad scramble in the box allowed Joshua Briggs to prod over the line. Celtic’s response came instantly. Smales-Braithwaite cut in from the wing and curled a beauty into the top corner. Clitheroe went looking for an equaliser, getting ever more desperate. Wilkins tried his luck from distance, Charlie alert enough to push the shot around the post. From the resulting corner, Celtic broke. Liam Tongue swinging the ball out for Andy Scarisbrick who raced down the pitch, curling the ball around the chasing defender for Dylan Scott to latch onto and put a gloss on the scoreline, launching Celtic back into second.