Runcorn’s almost one hundred percent record continued after a ten minute spell starting with an awful goal to concede.

First half was a half of few chances, and what chances came were easily dealt with. That said, Runcorn should have taken the lead in the opening three minutes when Naim Arsen cut in from the wing, to latch onto a low pass unmarked, he completely misjudged the angles and fired across the face and wide. Celtic were in the ascendancy after this, and Joe Duckworth had a glorious chance latching onto Lewis Rawsthorne’s cross but lifted it over the bar. Max Leonard’s rocket of a shot struck Joe Ferguson, the ball coming to Kyle Brownhill who fired over, while Rawsthorne’s blast from an acute angle saw Bayleigh Passant well placed to stop. Liam Tongue came closest with his header from a corner going narrowly wide and leaving Passant tangled in the netting.

The second half saw Celtic really up their game, with fluid football. Jack Irlam’s ball set Duckworth on a run, beating his man and firing low into the box for Rawsthorn to divert past Passant. Passant denied Leonard with a superb stop from a superb half volley, but nothing he could do when Duckworth freed Rawsthorn to run towards the corner and whip in a superb cross for Irlam arriving to volley home and give Celtic a two goal lead.

Celtic looked rampant, but it all changed on a miscommunication. A simple ball to the back post, though Luke Wall should never have been able to make the cross. Sean Tse and Charlie Monks both left it for the other, and instead Ryan Brooke headed in unchallenged. With the sea change, Runcorn pressed and pressed, forcing Celtic’s midfield right up against the backline, leaving no outlet and constant pressure. It told. Lewis Doyle’s ball in and Joseph Furguson who’d run the length of the field to arrive in time to convert. The pressure continued and Arsen’s cross in from the left found Brooke found himself again unchallenged nodding the home side into the lead. Runcorn proceeded to show Celtic how to manage the game, something Celtic had failed to do, leaving Celtic with only one more chance in the game, a curling shot from Benni Smales-Braithwaite straight down Passant’s throat and for the second time against this team, Celtic gave up a two goal lead.