A disappointing result, with Celtic having the lion’s share of the chances, but Clitheroe scoring with three quarters of theirs.

In the opening minutes, Veron Parney had the first chance, but sent it wide of the mark with Celtic still in the starting blocks. It kick-started Celtic with Jack Irlam firing over, before Liam Tongue took advantage of a terrible wall and even more terrible positioning from Zac Hadi in the Clitheroe nets to score the easiest free kick of his career. Irlam and Kyle Brownhill both forced Hadi into comfortable stops, but a pile driver from Ruben Jerome required a reflex tip over the bar. From the corner, Tongue’s low drive through the crowd took a deflection wide off Andy Scarisbrick as Celtic looked for a second. Instead, Ben Woods got the ball in the middle, lifted it over the Celtic back line and Joshua Briggs ran onto it, forced wide by Jack Byrne, but as Charlie Monks came out, Briggs shot from a very tight angle to equalise. Celtic nearly got their noses in front again before the interval, but Aaron Chalmers powerful header went into the side netting.

Celtic raced out of the blocks at the start of the second half, Irlam going close before pulling the ball back for Jerome to have the time, space and composure to curl a left-footed shot into the top corner. The lead didn’t last long, and if the first Clitheroe goal was a tight angle, it was nothing compared to the second. After Ellis Horan had done a bicycle kick wide, at the other end Jack Morris fed the ball out to Lewis Trickett, virtually on the by-line. Somehow, he curled and powered his shot over Byrne and Monks into the back of the net. It got worse. A failure to deal with a cross out to Jordan Windass allowed the Clitheroe player to put a low cross through the box. No Celtic foot cleared it, and Harry Scarborough managed to get the merest touch to divert the ball under Monks.

Having already done one horrendous foul on Jack Irlam, Cameron Lancaster did it again, this time on Jerome, getting dismissed. With twenty minutes still on the clock, Celtic threw the kitchen sink at the visitors. The visitors narrowed to two banks of four at the back, desperate to hold onto the lead. Mike Koral went close, as did Scarisbrick and Max Leonard twice. Jerome forced a smothered stop at the second attempt by Hari, before, with a minute left on the clock, Jack Tinning powered a shot through a crowded box into the bottom corner. Even with six added minutes, breaking down the eight-man defence proved too much, though Scarisbrick could have renewed his hero status deep into stoppages, but his close-range shot went the wrong side of the post and Celtic are left to rue missed opportunities to be out of sight before Clitheroe had got going.