Celtic’s astonishing run crashed down against a hardworking Khalsa side fighting to remain in the league.

In atrocious first half conditions of snow, hail, gales, torrential rain and then glorious sunshine, Celtic had the better of the opening exchanges, with Benni Smales-Braithwaite hitting the upright, Andy Scarisbrick and Liam Tongue not far away and Jack Irlam forcing the first save of the match from R’aven Constable. However, it was Khalsa who opened the scoring, with a superb curling strike from Rahis Nabi, thirty-five yards out, his wind-assisted shot curled just beyond Charlie Monks’s fingertips into the top corner. Celtic looked a little disjointed, especially after losing Liam Tongue to injury, and in the reshuffle, Monks had to be alert to deny Dan Gyesi.

The second half saw an improvement in the weather and Celtic’s performance. Ellis Horan didn’t get the power on his free kick at the start of the half, whilst Khalsa’s top scorer tried his luck from fifty yards out when Celtic committed a lot forward, Monks doing well to get back to catch. Crosses and through balls were almost chances for Celtic, with Max Leonard, Horan and Aaron Chalmers all going close and Charlie Doyle’s top corner effort well caught and held by Constable. With so many committed forward, a counter remained a danger, and Chay Tilt’s speed proved Celtic’s undoing, unselfishly squaring to an unmarked Kieron Whittaker when one-on-one with Monks giving his team mate the easiest finish of his career. It could have been worse when the home side repeated the move, this time Whittaker hitting the post when a yard out.

Irlam forced a save at the end with a looping header, but in truth, Celtic were not good enough against Khalsa to overcome their desire to escape relegation. Other results mean any hope of finishing top for Celtic has gone, and Avro only need two points to finish second. Fifth place is still between Lower Breck and Vauxhall, and next Saturday’s game against Runcorn may very well determine who finishes third.