Celtic will rue their missed chances when Ashton United finished the stronger to force the inaugural Keith Trudgeon Memorial Trophy into a penalty shoot-out.

Aaron Dwyer caught Jordan Burton’s cross sweetly to start Celtic’s chances, forcing an excellent save from the Ashton keeper. Matty Bryan’s shot on the half hour would have beaten the keeper had it been on target as he scuffed it wide. A goal looked likely, and it came just before the interval when James Dwyer’s head met Burton’s corner.

The second half continued with Celtic playing tidy football, but unable to force the goal despite numerous chances. Max Harrop low shot off Burton’s layoff required a smart stop. It didn’t all go Celtic’s way, with Ashton’s first chance coming nearly on the hour, when Cole Lonsdale fired through a crowd. Elliot Wynne had little to do all game and saw the shot late, but still got down to palm the ball around the post. Twice Celtic went one-on-one with the Ashton keeper, and twice the Ashton keeper came off best, denying Matty Bryan and a Celtic trialist.

And so it was, three minutes left on the clock, an Ashton Trialist who’d not read the script, latched onto a poor pass, leaving Ashton’s trialist one-on-one with Wynne, and he powered past to equalise.

In the shootout, the first five were all scored, but when Ethan Padden missed and Louis Potts scored, Ashton lifted the Inaugural Keith Trudgeon Memorial Trophy.