Celtic overturned a three-goal deficit to stun Hednesford.

For the opening thirty-five minutes, Celtic couldn’t get near the ball, and when they did, Hednesford harried and pressured Celtic into mistakes. Manny Duku fired a warning shot over the bows when his shot across the face hit the opposite post and Celtic scrambled it clear. Duku was irrepressible but his opener came handed on a silver platter. After struggling to clear a corner, Celtic did, but a pass out of the back went straight to Duku, intercepting and left one-on-one with James McClenaghan. Duku made no mistake. Daniel Trickett Smith tried to add to his season tally from the corner of the box, but his shot flashed wide before Duku was there again, seeing McClenaghan stranded in another half-clearance from the Celtic box, he nodded his header over the Celtic keeper and under the bar. New signing, Lewis Rawsthorn came close to halving the deficit, with two chances in a minute. His first cleared Jack Rose’s fingertips, but hit the bar, and his second cut narrowly wide. Instead, The visitors went down the other end, Duku turning provider to lift the ball to Joel Taylor, who nodded it back over McClenaghan for Hednesford’s third.

Cue the collapse. No. Brandon Newell’s cross forced a corner from Oli Harrison, and from Jack Irlam’s corner Hednesford struggled to clear their lines, the ball coming out to Liam Tongue who lifted it to the back post for Max Leonard to smash toward goal. Rose somehow got his body in the way, but the rebound came back to Leonard and he got a second chance. He didn’t miss. Confident, Celtic oozed class, shifting the play around the field, before Newell latched onto Joe Duckworth’s through ball in a tight box, lifting it over Rose to get within a goal with halftime approaching. Going into the interval only a goal down had seemed like a dream. Going in level, no chance. Until Newell raced into the box, drew the defenders and squeezed the ball sideways to Leonard, who couldn’t miss and did not. Celtic still had to be on their toes, and right before the interval, Duku’s hattrick loomed large from a corner, but Aaron Chalmers put his body on the goal line to deny Hednesford a crucial goal deep into stoppages.

For forty minutes of the second half, it was Hednesford’s turn to feel under pressure. Tongue tried a repeat of his goal against Runcorn, but Rose watched it all the way, whilst Rawsthorn shot took a slight deflection to force Rose into a full stretch reach. Leonard came close to putting Celtic’s nose ahead twice, but couldn’t keep a glorious opportunity down. Rawsthorn chased a lost cause, won it, and forced another save from the visiting keeper, whilst coming at him from the other side, Newell’s effort could only be tipped around for a corner. Celtic deserved a goal, but it felt improbable. Until Duckworth did the legwork, holding off Harrison, turning and finding Newell to nod his ball down past Rose and complete a most remarkable turnaround.

Had Kyle Brownhill or Joe Duckworth been on target, the last few minutes would have been more comfortable. As it was, the last ten saw Hednesford wash wave upon wave on Celtic’s backline. However, the closest they came was a Eliot Johnson heading over a corner by some considerable margin, and Dom McHale lifting his shot aiming for the top corner and finding the stand instead.

All in all, a game to live long in the memory and a fully justified win.