Celtic recorded a big win at home against Hanley Town to go into Christmas Day with three points, courtesy of goals from Aaron Dwyer and Obua Mugalula.

For the opening half an hour, Celtic pushed Hanley back, attacking with pace.

Hanley have the league’s best defence, but it crumbled when Jack Irlam headed a ball into the path of Aaron Dwyer, Dwyer’s first touch lifted the ball over the last defender and Dwyer rounded him to slide home the opener.

At the half hour mark, Connor O’Grady came the closest to extending the league when he headed a corner towards the top corner. Tom Jackson got a fingertip to it to push the header onto the crossbar.

That came back to bite Celtic when they didn’t clear a long throw into the danger area and Luke Walsh found enough space to force home the equaliser.

The second period saw Hanley looking to hold on to the point, with Celtic starting strongly. Dwyer flicked his header into Jackson’s arms, and Michael Brewster latched onto a low cross but turned it the wrong side of the post.

At the other end, Kyle Black forced a decent stop from Luke Hewitson in a rare foray forward. Darius Osei and Jordan Burton replaced Darius Palma and Pavel Zuk, both involved in a total team move that unlocked the Hanley defence. Aaron Dwyer laid the ball off to Osei. A single touch fired the ball to the middle, where Burton unselfishly put through Obua Mugalula to fire across Jackson and give Celtic a slender lead.

Despite late pressure, Celtic held off the visitors and took three valuable points.