Mark Hendry: When Celtic Looked Gone - and Then Found Themselves Again

From silence at the break to unity at full time, Rugby Park may yet prove pivotal.

At around 2.45 pm last Sunday afternoon it felt as though Celtic’s nerve had gone again at Rugby Park.

Goals from Tyreece John-Jules and Joe Hugill stunned the travelling support into silence. The first half was as miserable as anything produced this season, up there with the bleak afternoon in 2011 when Neil Lennon’s side collapsed at the same venue.

That day, Lennon came close to walking away before a second-half fightback rescued both the result and the mood. Martin O’Neill was unlikely to have been wrestling with the same thoughts, but the interim boss must have been feeling the pressure as his side trudged in at the interval.

It was therefore a relief for supporters to see signs of life after the break.