After all the recent excitement of cup games, and last week's disappointing exit from the FAI Junior Cup due to controversial officiating, it was back to the bread and butter league business against 2nd placed Usher. The venue was the Institute of Technology in Blanchardstown on a freezing cold night. 

It was evenly contested throughout. However, Matthew McEntee was his usual self pressing defenders, implementing the golden rule of the first line of defence is your attack. On 30 minutes, he got his reward when he dispossessed the Usher defender and slotted home to give the home side the advantage at half time. 

Usher hit back early in the second half and drew level when Celtic failed to deal effectively with what appeared to be an innocuous cross.

It looked certain to be a share of the points when the sides were all square deep into injury time. Then in the 94th minute, Killian Zambra got possession from a corner kick, and his cross was steered home by big John Byrne to the delight of the home team and supporters. 

It was a great start to the New Year for Celtic in the League as they try to concentrate on league matters after their preoccupation with Cup fixtures over recent months. The victory was no surprise after their excellent results in the various Cup competitions.