Injury ravaged Celtic had to come from a goal behind to record a massive victory over a Bradford side which had cantered to four consecutive opening wins.

With Mike Koral, Josh Granite and Jack Tinning all out injured, Celtic had adopted a back three with Liam Tongue and Kyle Brownhill either side of Jack Byrne, and the unusual formation took some time for the team to adapt to, leading to an awful start from Celtic. Ben Andreucci out-paced and out-muscled Brownhill to go one-on-one with Charlie Monks, making no mistake. Benni Smales-Braithwaite tried to grab an equaliser, firing wide from thirty yards. After the initial hiccup, the backline, assisted by Cam Fogerty and Ellis Horan, held their own, at the expense of a succession of corners, and moments before half-time, a swift counterattack saw Andy Scarisbrick pull the ball back for Tongue. Thirty-five yards out didn’t matter to Tongue, who tried his luck and found it good, placing the ball into the bottom corner, Declan Lambton unable to reach it. Jack Irlam could have made it two in first half stoppages when he looked to have broken the offside trap with a well-timed run, but the assistant saw it differently, and the linesman pulled Irlam back.

Both Marcus Carver and Andy Scarisbrick saw tame efforts collected by the keepers, and the Celtic makeshift defence continued to stymie Bradford’s attack at the expense of corners. Penalties loomed on the horizon, with Celtic forced into containing Bradford, and though Monks collected crosses, Avenue’s shooting chances were denied. Jameel Ible, already on a booking, sliced Irlam down at the edge of the box, the ball rolling to Ellis Horan inside the box. Play on, but the assistant flagged Horan offside. Either Ible touched the ball last and Horan was inside, or Ible fouled Irlam and should have seen red, but this was not the outcome.

Three minutes later, and the point was moot. After soaking up an entire half of pressure, Celtic countered. A long ball from Monks found Scarisbrick. Three defenders and a goalkeeper between him and goal. He evaded flying challenges, shrugged off Scott Duxbury, rounded Lambton and slotted home Celtic’s second. Ten minutes remained on the clock, and Bradford continued to press and work the ball. Despite such a long time to defend, the back line dug in deep and rode out the last ten, and even worked another chance as Irlam tried to shrug off Duxbury to go one-on-one, only to be hauled down. Nothing came from the free kick, but it didn’t matter; Celtic are through to the next round thanks to a monumental effort at the back.