Play-wise, the two teams were much on a level, but where they differed was defending, with Bootle working two good goals and able to hold Celtic at bay.

And they got the first early on, to give them the advantage in the game when pace took Declan Daniels past Jack Kenny to square a ball across the box for Ste Edmundson to hold off Kyle Brownhill and power the ball into the net. Ellis Horan tried for an instant reply, taking his shot from the edge of the box, unable to squirm through a solid backline, with Joe Mason making the save. Celtic showed some solid defending of their own, throwing bodies on the line as the home team probed for a second, Ste Edmundson’s angled drive hitting the crossbar and coming to Daniels, who found Kenny in the way, the loose ball falling to Jack Lenehan who found Aaron Chalmers charging the shot down. A third time the ball fell kindly for Bootle and this time Sam Hughes fired over.

The first goal came eight minutes into the game, the second came six minutes into the restart. After an offside, a long ball found Daniels. With the Celtic defence stretched, he slid the ball through to Hughes, and though he had two Celtic defenders on him, he found enough space for a shot and doubled the Bootle lead. The last thirty minutes were all about Celtic trying to find an opening in a defence without a crack. Charlie Doyle was the main hunter of an opening, putting a whole series of excellent crosses. Lewis Rawsthorn got onto one, but cleared the bar, while Aaron Chalmers and Fortune Maphosa both put set pieces over the bar. Horan got his weight behind a shot, putting a rocket through the crowd. Any deflections and it was in, but it evaded everybody and Mason made the save.

Bootle’s defence won’t concede many this season, and Celtic were never going to break it down.