Celtic hero takes limelight on trophy day amid Green Brigade tribute - but spare a thought for St Mirren

On a gloriously sunny day in Glasgow’s east end, St Mirren threatened to rain on Celtic’s trophy parade. Then came the moment almost everyone inside Parkhead had been hoping for.

Staring down the barrel at just a second home league defeat of the season as the clock ticked into the fourth minute of injury time, this looked like one of those rare days when Celtic just couldn’t find the net.

An insipid first half where they created next to nothing, as St Mirren’s backline held firm, gave way to a glut of late scoring opportunities.

Celtic's Callum McGregor and James Forrest lift the William Hill Premiership trophy after the 1-1 draw with St Mirren. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group) | SNS Group

Daizen Maeda, the recently crowned Player of the Year, headed over from right underneath the crossbar. It looked harder to miss. Substitute Johnny Kenny raced clear only for Zach Hemming to deny him not once but twice. Fellow replacement Hyunjun Yang similarly couldn’t direct his spectacular effort beyond the goalkeeper.

When it wasn’t Hemming getting in the way of Celtic’s forays it was his defenders, Marcus Fraser, Alex Gogic and Richard Taylor throwing their bodies in front of everything.

They couldn’t deny James Forrest, however. Not on this day of all days. The Green Brigade had unveiled a giant banner of his likeness early in the second half as supporters waited impatiently for the arrival of Celtic’s most decorated player of all time.

By the time Forrest was summoned from the bench as part of a triple change 10 minutes into the second half, Celtic were trailing to Jonah Ayunga’s sweet left-foot finish.

A display for Celtic's James Forrest during the 1-1 draw with St Mirren. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group) | SNS Group

Man of the moment

Forrest immediately gave Celtic a belated spark with his dribbles, crosses and shooting on sight as he chased a goal for an incredible 16th successive season. Just when it looked like he would need to wait until next weekend’s Scottish Cup final to realise that goal, one final opportunity opened up and he did not spurn it.

Fraser, inexplicably, dallied on the ball wide on the touchline then inadvertently squirted it into his own penalty box. In a flash Celtic were onto it, the ball worked wide to Alistair Johnston. Urged to shoot by thousands of screaming supporters, the Canadian instead caught sight of Forrest haring down the channel outside of him and played the perfect ball into his path.

The winger didn’t need to be asked twice as he lashed a shot beyond Hemming at his near post to break St Mirren hearts and send the majority of Celtic Park into raptures. It wasn’t the win most of them had turned up anticipating but snatching a draw from a likely defeat was the next best thing and ensured the party didn’t kick off on a sour note.

Celtic's James Forrest celebrates scoring a stoppage time equaliser in the 1-1 draw against St Mirren. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group) | SNS Group

With Lisbon Lion Bobby Lennox watching from the stands, the man who has usurped him as the most decorated Celt of all time was given the honour of bringing out the league trophy ahead of the official presentation, his 13th league title in a haul of 26 medals overall.

Brendan Rodgers, introduced as the manager of “Scotland’s most successful club”, hailed Forrest as an inspiration to every young player coming through the academy, although the winger might have started to wonder if he was being shepherded into retirement against his will, given the fulsome nature of the tributes.

Spare thought for St Mirren

As the Celtic celebrations got into full swing, St Mirren were back inside wondering what might have been. Needing to better Dundee United’s result to move into fifth and claim a spot in next season’s Conference League, this was another terrific performance, marred only by that late and avoidable consolation.

Defensively dogged, they didn’t create a huge amount at the other end but made the most of one opportunity early in the second half. Declan John’s free kick was headed out by Liam Scales but only as far as Ayunga who took a touch before thrashing a low shot past Kasper Schmeichel.

With United losing at home to Aberdeen at that stage, St Mirren were up into fifth in that most precarious of creations – the “as it stands” table. United coming back to win at least meant Fraser’s mistake for the Celtic goal hadn’t cost his team but it was a cruel ending as St Mirren went through the post-split games without defeat, only to miss out on European football by three points.

In the first ever season of the split back in 2000/01, St Mirren went similarly unbeaten in their final five games only to still be relegated. This wasn’t quite as painful but not far off it as Forrest enhanced an already stellar legacy with another big moment.