Celtic slipped out of the top five unable to beat table-topping Widnes despite their reduction to ten men.
Widnes made the early running, but the closest they came was a thirty-yard effort from Matty Rain requiring a decent stop from Charlie Monks. The balance of play changed with an awful foul by Niall Battersby on Joe Duckworth leaving the referee no choice but to show a straight red. For the rest of the half, Celtic hammered the league’s best defence and almost broke through. Lewis Rawsthorn got behind, but the angle got too tight, while Max Leonard got hardly any power when he found an opening. Duckworth’s effort required a low-down block at close range from Mark Halstead, Jack Irlam latching onto the loose ball, but only able to stab it wide under pressure. As the half ran out, Rawsthorn hit the crossbar, and Jack Irlam forced another fabulous stop from Halstead.
Celtic started the second period as they had finished the first. Rawsthorn’s thunderous shot from just inside the box saw Halstead acrobatically tip over, and debutant, Courtney Meppen-Walters shielded the ball well before performing a bicycle kick that needed a stuck-out leg from Louis Isherwood to deny. With Celtic pressing, they left themselves exposed at the back, and Sean Miller capitalised, released by Halstead he raced down the wing, drawing Jack Tinning, only to square to James Steele for a side foot into the back of the net. Going behind doesn’t faze this Celtic team, and they continued to hammer the Widnes backline. Brandon Newell burst through onto an excellent Jordan Butterworth cross, but fired straight at Halstead, Meppen-Walters took a wicked free, this time the crossbar saved Halstead, with Rawsthorn seeing Halstead’s stuck out arm deny him from the loose ball. Right at the death, penalty claims fell on deaf ears after Meppen-Walters free kick was saved, the loose ball was sent back in, only for an unseen hand to stop a certain goal.
Celtic had their chances to upset the league leaders, but couldn’t quite overcome Widnes.
1 | Halstead, Mark | ||
2 | Walls, Jack | ||
3 | Rain, Matty | ||
4 | Battersby, Niall | ![]() | |
5 | Isherwood, Louis | ||
6 | Rydel, Ben | > 24 | |
7 | Irwin, Steve | ||
8 | McGee, Harry | > 57 | |
9 | McGowan, Jack | > 76 | |
10 | Miller, Sean | > 83 | |
11 | Steele, James | ![]() | |
12 | McGivern, Dominic | ![]() | < 83 |
14 | Peterson, Tom | < 76 | |
15 | Williams, Kingsley | < 57 | |
17 | Holland-Wilkins, Jacob | ||
18 | Byrne, Jack | < 24 |