A last gasp equaliser denied Celtic a thoroughly deserved three points after coming back from a goal deficit in the first half.
Celtic were edging the first half with James Wren called into action three times with great saves, the first after Connor Hughes powered in on a diagonal and an acrobatic Wren managed to get a hand to the ball. Jake Charles twice saw an opening to shoot and took both opportunities with fierce drives that Wren did exceptionally well to keep out, such was the ferocity.
During another attack, Hednesford broke quickly, getting the ball up-field, James Lawrie with a well weighted intelligent ball that was just beyond Tom Brown, and James Fitzgibbon had too much pace for Brown, giving the Hednesford winger that yard of space he needed to fire across Jack Walton and open the scoring just before half time.
The second half continued to see Celtic push, Charles again coming close with a low drive that needed a stuck out leg from Charlie Gatter to deny him; however, the game saw Hednesford looking much more dangerous, Reece King heading narrowly wide off a free kick, and Joey Butlin seeing Jack Walton's athletic save deny him, pushing the looping ball over the bar.
Celtic got a goal back with plenty of time to grab another when Connor Hughes curled a corner to the back post, Liam Dickinson nodded the ball down into the path of Matty Wolfenden who made no mistake with a cracking drive.
Celtic wasted no time in getting their nose in front with easily the move of the match. A wonderful curling ball out for Connor Hughes to run onto, he pulled the ball across for Jake Charles arriving at the near post. Wren hesitated and Charles passed the ball around him to Wolfenden arriving at speed and Celtic were in front.
Celtic did well to close the game out, but moments into entering stoppage time, Reece King was given too much space to drive into the box, there was still a lot to do, with so many bodies packed into the box, and King's drive through the crowd was missed by everybody emerging out the other side, only for Tom Thorley to sweep in and fire home.
There was still time for Celtic to win a corner, but when Luke Ashworth's thumping header at the back post went narrowly wide, a point each was the result.
1 | Walton, Jack | ||
2 | Morton, Danny | ||
3 | Honeyball, Alex | ||
4 | Brown, Tom | > 70 | |
5 | Ashworth, Luke | ||
7 | Charles, Jake | ||
8 | Roberts, Oliver | > 78 | |
9 | Dickinson, Liam | > 90 | |
10 | Wolfenden, Matthew | ||
11 | Hughes, Connor | ||
12 | Taylor, Jack | ||
14 | Holgate, Harrison | < 90 | |
15 | Wilkinson, Greg | < 78 | |
16 | Crowley, Oliver | < 70 | |
17 | Winterbottom, Aidan |
1 | Wren, James | ||
2 | Mendez-Jones, Callam | > 42 | |
3 | Curley, Matt | ||
4 | Fitzpatrick, Joe | ||
5 | Oji, Samuel | ||
6 | Gatter, Charlie | ||
7 | Fitzgibbon, James | ||
8 | Thorley, Tom | ||
9 | Butlin, Joey | > 83 | |
10 | Lawrie, James | > 45 | |
11 | Graham, Jordan | ||
12 | Bailey, Ben | ||
14 | Harris, Louis | < 45 | |
15 | Glover, Danny | < 83 | |
16 | King, Reece | < 42 | |
17 | Law, JAson |