JAMES FORREST GAVE Celtic fans the finale they craved as he equalised in stoppage time against St Mirren to extend his run of scoring for the club to 16 consecutive seasons.
Forrest left it until the league season was 38 games old to get off the mark on a day when he was chosen to deliver the William Hill Premiership trophy to his team-mates ahead of Callum McGregor lifting it for the fourth year running.
Ireland’s Adam Idah and Liam Scales both started for Celtic — the former substituted after 54 minutes — while Johnny Kenny was introduced from the bench. Killian Phillips and Roland Idowu featured for St Mirren.
St Mirren were leading through Jonah Ayunga’s goal – and at one stage heading for Europe – until Alistair Johnston set up fellow substitute Forrest, who slotted inside the near post to make it 1-1.
Forrest had injected some much-needed urgency and creativity into the Celtic team after being introduced in the 55th minute after the home fans raised banners in his honour and sang his name.
The winger then went on to collect the 26th winners’ medal of his Celtic career, one more than previous record holder Bobby Lennox.
St Mirren fans were left proud of their team for their display and for going through the post-split fixtures unbeaten, but also disappointed after being pipped to fifth place.
Dundee United striker Sam Dalby’s 63rd-minute winner against Aberdeen saw European qualification slip from their grasp even before Forrest struck.
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The first half saw St Mirren sit deep and defend their box and protect goalkeeper Zach Hemming, who dealt with a series of corners.
St Mirren striker Mikael Mandron came closest to breaking the first-half deadlock, forcing Kasper Schmeichel to beat away his shot on the angle.
Nicolas Kuhn might have had a penalty early in the second half when he rode Richard Taylor’s risky challenge instead of going down. The winger set up Paulo Bernardo but the midfielder took too long to shoot and lost the chance.
Saints stunned Celtic Park in the 51st minute. Ireland’s Liam Scales headed out Declan John’s long free-kick but only as far as Ayunga, who fired a left-footed shot low into the corner from 16 yards.
Celtic were in need of some urgency and they got it with the introduction of Forrest, who came on along with Luke McCowan and Yang Hyun-jun.
Forrest was involved before McCowan and Callum McGregor had shots blocked and then set up Daizen Maeda with some brilliant wing play.
Maeda has 33 Celtic goals to his name this season and they were all probably easier to score than this chance but he headed over from a yard out.
St Mirren were getting chances on the break and Mandron glanced a header wide before Schmeichel saved from Roland Idowu.
Celtic stepped up the pressure in the final stages. Substitute Johnny Kenny showed good pace to get in behind the visiting defence but Hemming made a double save before repelling Yang’s acrobatic effort moments later.
Forrest ignored cries of ‘shoot’ to set up Jeffrey Schlupp but Marcus Fraser blocked brilliantly.
The 33-year-old had also seen efforts blocked before his fairy-tale finish.
Meanwhile, Rangers were left to lament a contentious first-half moment as they ended a largely dispiriting Premiership campaign with a 2-2 draw away to Hibernian.
Second-placed Gers went ahead early on through top scorer Cyriel Dessers and felt they should have doubled their lead in the 15th minute when Nico Raskin looked to have forced the ball over the line. However, play was waved on and Hibs went straight up the park to equalise through Kieron Bowie.
Raskin did restore the visitors’ lead early in the second half but Martin Boyle hit back with his 99th goal for the third-placed Hibees to maintain their six-month unbeaten run on home soil.
The draw meant interim boss Barry Ferguson – expected to make way for a new manager this summer – has overseen just six wins from his 15 matches in charge since succeeding Philippe Clement in February.
And Jim Goodwin’s Dundee United clinched a European place after leapfrogging Aberdeen into fourth place with a stunning 2-1 comeback win.
There was joy for Irish players as well as the manager: Will Ferry and Ruairi Paton both featured for Aberdeen, while Emmanuel Adegboyega was an unused substitute. Jamie McGrath was on the losing side with Aberdeen.
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Celtic leave it late to earn draw as Forrest maintains scoring run on trophy day
JAMES FORREST GAVE Celtic fans the finale they craved as he equalised in stoppage time against St Mirren to extend his run of scoring for the club to 16 consecutive seasons.
Forrest left it until the league season was 38 games old to get off the mark on a day when he was chosen to deliver the William Hill Premiership trophy to his team-mates ahead of Callum McGregor lifting it for the fourth year running.
Ireland’s Adam Idah and Liam Scales both started for Celtic — the former substituted after 54 minutes — while Johnny Kenny was introduced from the bench. Killian Phillips and Roland Idowu featured for St Mirren.
St Mirren were leading through Jonah Ayunga’s goal – and at one stage heading for Europe – until Alistair Johnston set up fellow substitute Forrest, who slotted inside the near post to make it 1-1.
Forrest had injected some much-needed urgency and creativity into the Celtic team after being introduced in the 55th minute after the home fans raised banners in his honour and sang his name.
The winger then went on to collect the 26th winners’ medal of his Celtic career, one more than previous record holder Bobby Lennox.
St Mirren fans were left proud of their team for their display and for going through the post-split fixtures unbeaten, but also disappointed after being pipped to fifth place.
Dundee United striker Sam Dalby’s 63rd-minute winner against Aberdeen saw European qualification slip from their grasp even before Forrest struck.
The first half saw St Mirren sit deep and defend their box and protect goalkeeper Zach Hemming, who dealt with a series of corners.
St Mirren striker Mikael Mandron came closest to breaking the first-half deadlock, forcing Kasper Schmeichel to beat away his shot on the angle.
Nicolas Kuhn might have had a penalty early in the second half when he rode Richard Taylor’s risky challenge instead of going down. The winger set up Paulo Bernardo but the midfielder took too long to shoot and lost the chance.
Saints stunned Celtic Park in the 51st minute. Ireland’s Liam Scales headed out Declan John’s long free-kick but only as far as Ayunga, who fired a left-footed shot low into the corner from 16 yards.
Celtic were in need of some urgency and they got it with the introduction of Forrest, who came on along with Luke McCowan and Yang Hyun-jun.
Forrest was involved before McCowan and Callum McGregor had shots blocked and then set up Daizen Maeda with some brilliant wing play.
Maeda has 33 Celtic goals to his name this season and they were all probably easier to score than this chance but he headed over from a yard out.
St Mirren were getting chances on the break and Mandron glanced a header wide before Schmeichel saved from Roland Idowu.
Celtic stepped up the pressure in the final stages. Substitute Johnny Kenny showed good pace to get in behind the visiting defence but Hemming made a double save before repelling Yang’s acrobatic effort moments later.
Forrest ignored cries of ‘shoot’ to set up Jeffrey Schlupp but Marcus Fraser blocked brilliantly.
The 33-year-old had also seen efforts blocked before his fairy-tale finish.
Meanwhile, Rangers were left to lament a contentious first-half moment as they ended a largely dispiriting Premiership campaign with a 2-2 draw away to Hibernian.
Second-placed Gers went ahead early on through top scorer Cyriel Dessers and felt they should have doubled their lead in the 15th minute when Nico Raskin looked to have forced the ball over the line. However, play was waved on and Hibs went straight up the park to equalise through Kieron Bowie.
Raskin did restore the visitors’ lead early in the second half but Martin Boyle hit back with his 99th goal for the third-placed Hibees to maintain their six-month unbeaten run on home soil.
The draw meant interim boss Barry Ferguson – expected to make way for a new manager this summer – has overseen just six wins from his 15 matches in charge since succeeding Philippe Clement in February.
And Jim Goodwin’s Dundee United clinched a European place after leapfrogging Aberdeen into fourth place with a stunning 2-1 comeback win.
There was joy for Irish players as well as the manager: Will Ferry and Ruairi Paton both featured for Aberdeen, while Emmanuel Adegboyega was an unused substitute. Jamie McGrath was on the losing side with Aberdeen.
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