A goal down in the first minute and a wonder goal in the last ensured Celtic’s opening day finished with a loss.

Straight from the off, Nick Rushton ran at the napping Celtic defence, chasing an under-hit pass, evading a sliding tackle and going one-on-one with Charlie Monks, making no mistake. A poor start, and it got worse. Though both Benni Smales-Braithwaite and Jack Irlam got efforts off, Runcorn could easily get back to cover any Celtic attacks. At the other end, James Harris found the space to cut inside and curl a shot over Monks’s flying fingertips, but his shot hit the corner of bar and post. Rishton reacted quickest, stopping in to head the home side two in front by the half hour.

After that goal, Celtic looked livelier, with Josh Granite up for a free kick, getting a decent contact only for Calvin Hare to fly to the top corner and tip the ball over the bar. Runcorn still got plenty of people back, so even when Celtic had six people in the box trying to find an opening, but unable to get through the forest of legs, and right before the interval, Ruben Jerome turning in a fabulous cross from Liam Tongue, with Hare somehow able to get across and down to block the shot.

The second half started as poorly as the first, when Cameron Fogerty slid in to deny Noah Roberts, taking the player, not the ball. A nailed-on penalty. Monks chose the right direction, but not the right distance, with Declan McLaughlin putting it into the far left corner. Celtic brought fresh legs on and looked twice as dangerous. Granite fired over while still up from a free kick; Tongue’s drilled effort took a deflection, sending the ball the wrong side of the post. From the corner, Hare jumped and missed the ball, colliding with Tinning, Granite who was being held by Scott Holding managed to evade the defender and side-footed in what he thought was a valid goal. No. Foul to Runcorn.

Minutes later and Celtic pulled one back that stood. Kyle Brownhill’s cross, Jack Irlam’s flicked on header and Ellis Horan arriving at speed to drill his shot through the crowd and into the bottom corner of the net. Less than ten minutes later, and Runcorn’s unassailable three-goal lead began to look shaker when Jack Irlam rounded Hare for a tap in, only to be brought down by the keeper. Irlam took the penalty, sending Hare the wrong way. Granite hooked a shot over the bar, and Lewis Rawsthorn forced a decent stop from Hare as time ticked into stoppages and Runcorn looked desperate.

But then Matty Whittingham found a yard thirty yards out and pulled out a contender for goal of the season to ease the pressure on the home side for the remaining minutes and sending Runcorn to the opposite end of the table from Celtic on the first day.