Staged as part of the deal which took McCourt to Parkhead a few months ago, the local man was given a warm welcome on his return to Foyleside by what was an appreciative attendance.

And while Celtic, led by Willie McStay and Neil Lennon, arrived minus their international players, the team did include included ex-AC Milan midfielder, Massimo Donati and former Barcelona playmaker, Marc Crosas but it was Celtic’s Japanese import, Koki Mizuno who sparkled on the right flank.

From a Derry City point of view, team boss, Stephen Kenny refused to field any of the starting line-up which defeated Linfield in the Setanta Cup 24 hours earlier, yet the local club’s second string stood up well to challenge.

Indeed, one goal separated the sides at half-with Celtic striker, Ben Hutchinson, curling a 25 yards free over the defensive wall and beyond the reach of Derry keeper, Darren Quigley, in the 36th minute.

However, two minutes later the eircom League side really should have equalised when a Ruaidhri Higgins corner was flicked on at the near post but having ghosted in on the blind side, Sean Hargan failed to hit the target with a close range header.

While the home side found themselves regularly on the back-foot, Derry limited Celtic to very few clear-cut scoring chances, however, Kevin Cawley really should have done better three minutes from the end when shooting well wide of the target.

Derry City – Quigley, McCallion, Hargan, Higgins, Martyn, McHugh (McDaid, 82), Callaghan, McClean (McAuley, 75), Stewart, Harkin (Nash, 71), Sharkey (Devlin, 82).

Celtic – Brown, Caddis, Conroy (Lafferty, 71), Donati, Loovens, O’Dea (Ferry, 65), Mizuno (Marr, 82), Crosas (Millar, 56), Hutchinson, McGowan, McCourt (Cawley, 71).

Referee – Mr. T. Connolly (Dublin).