Celtic took the three points against a strong Prescot side who excelled at set-pieces, giving new manager Dave Jones something to smile about.

It was a dream start for Celtic. Moments after Tony Thompson scooped up Liam Tongue’s low drive, there was nothing the Cables keeper could do when Charlie Doyle’s inch perfect cross met Lewis Rawsthorn’s glancing header to open the scoring. Possession football became the name of the game for the next twenty-five minutes, both sides content to pass the ball around their backlines when regaining possession. That changed with a Cables set piece. Che Trepasso-Tully drew two defenders from the near post with a run having done this move moments earlier, but the corner instead went to the penalty spot where Sharif Deans met the cross with an unmarked header. After a crunching tackle on Andy Scarisbrick from Matt Waters, Waters saw red, and two minutes later, Scarisbrick exacted revenge, getting the final touch when Jack Irlam’s shot into the crowded touchline couldn’t squirm through. Another set-piece, and Cables were level again, this time a free kick from Trepasso-Tully finding John Murphy with time and space to stroke in the equaliser. Tongue could have put Celtic back in front before the break with an absolute pile-driver from twenty-five yards, but Thompson pulled off a spectacular save.

Six minutes into the restart, and another set-piece led to a goal for Prescot. Paul Murphy-Worrell putting the ball in for Sharif Deans again to steal a yard on his marker to glance a header past Charlie Monks. Tongue capitalised on a terrible clearance, getting the ball at his preferred distance and putting it straight back into the top corner to bring the scores level. Rawsthorn’s effort two minutes later should have put Celtic ahead, with Thompson flying across the face of his goal to palm the ball around the post. After losing Obua Mugalula, Ruben Jerome came on in time to get a close-up for Tongue’s second of the game. Rawsthorn held up the ball on the edge of the box and laid it out to Tongue, who smashed it into the bottom corner, edging Celtic in front. Jerome got his chance moments later to put Celtic further in front, but again Thompson was on top form, one-handed palming the shot over the bar. Rawsthorn could have made stoppage time a little more comfortable, but his shot lacked the power. And that should have been it, but deep into stoppage time, John Murphy got into a great position, with the goal at his mercy, defenders arriving, and he got his shot all wrong, nearly going for a throw. A let off, but three points are the aim.