Match Report - Northern Premier - West - Saturday April 25th, 2026 Sat Apr 25th 2026

Celtic booked themselves a home time in a game that looked unlikely to continue at one points, but ultimately got the only goal.

Seven minutes into the first half, the Mottram end goal frame came loose. Jammed into the socket, it took a team of volunteers and players to extract the stuck post and reset the goals. Forty minutes past, while the rest of the league played on, unaware. Fixed, the game restarted, the sparkle struggling to ignite. Chasetown got the first chances, with George Cater firing straight at Charlie Monks and Kevin Spirelli firing over. Half an hour in, Max Leonard got Celtic’s first real chance latching onto a deep looping cross from Jack Irlam and volleying narrowly over the bar with Curtis Pond beaten. Just before half time, Irlam got a chance of his own, from a free kick, requiring a decent stop from Pond.

Celtic upped the pressure in the second half, and it told. From a free kick, Benni Smales-Braithwaite’s free kick beat Pond, headed off the line by Mitchell Clarke. However, a failure to clear lines allowed Aaron Chalmers to bring the ball back in, shimmy and dummy to create space and an inch perfect pass to Jack Irlam. Irlam made no mistake, firing across Pond into the far corner. Chasetown came looking for an equaliser, but Celtic looked more likely, Andy Scarisbrick denied by Pond, and Smales-Braithwaite twice denied, the second an excellent stop.

Tuesday will see Runcorn visit for the play-off semi-final. The winner of that will be away to Avro or Lower Breck.