Although officiating decisions went against Celtic for the full ninety minutes, Celtic did not offer enough to overcome a physical Shifnal and a lenient referee.

The opening ten minutes promised much, with Celtic looking fluid, and it resulted in the opening goal when Declan McLoughlin skipped past his marker, cut inside at the byline and pulled the ball back for Rohan Butler arriving down the centre, on his least favourite foot, Butler swept home a well-worked goal. After that, Celtic struggled to put any move together, while the home side had a couple of good chances, the first from Chay Tilt, smashing in a low shot Charlie Monks did well to smother with attackers arriving. The second was an attempt from forty yards by Billy Cairns, which whistled past the post, though Monks had it covered. Just before the interval, McLoughlin went close twice, once from open play and once from a free kick. Both close, neither giving Celtic breathing space going into the second half.

The second half saw a deep Celtic, inviting the hosts onto them, but Shifnal didn’t take the invitation, more intent on disrupting play. Abdularasaq Alamu-Tajudeen did have an attempt mid-way through the half, but Monks watched it all the way. Their goal when it came was from the spot. The referee was closer to the incident, but it looked a fair challenge by Mike Koral. But penalty awarded and converted by Zidan Sutherland with five minutes remaining. McLoughlin came within an inch of restoring Celtic’s lead in stoppage time before a contentious goal handed all three points to Shifnal. It looked like Cairns had seriously fouled Charlie Doyle in the centre circle, leaving Doyle flat on his back. It looked so much that way that Celtic players rushed to remonstrate with the official. If ever players needed an example of playing to the whistle, this was it. While Celtic stopped, convinced that the game should have stopped, it left Sutherland to advance on Monks almost unchallenged, slotting the ball across the Celtic custodian and adding insult to literal injury. Further insult to Doyle, getting booked for remonstrating.