MICHAEL O'HALLORAN is just having one of those spells.

The only possible consolation he can take from this particular encounter is that he will have to go some to beat James Forrest when it comes to making one almighty hash of it when it seems absolutely, incontrovertibly impossible to miss.

The St Johnstone striker could have ended this game as a contest within the first half-an-hour. Three times, he was presented with a goal on a plate. Three times and in three different ways, he managed to ensure that his barren run in front of goal would extend to 11 long games since Tannadice in mid-February.

He is doing his best. He didn't ask to be shunted into a central position when Danny Swanson was deemed to be a better bet out left. It should turn for him some time and his failures against Celtic were not so heinous that they are likely to be transmitted around the worldwide web for the people who like that sort of thing to sit in front of their laptops and laugh at.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for Master Forrest. With seven minutes left on the clock, he raced clear of a home defence caught square by a long clearance after a header from substitute James McFadden had hit the junction of post and bar at the other end.

How unfortunate it was that the home side were to be punished in such brutal fashion. They had been the better side, created the better opportunities. Yet, here we were, stuck in that same, familiar story of wee team failing to kill off big team when it had the chance.

Alan Mannus, the goalkeeper, raced from his goal to narrow the angle.

To no avail. Forrest glided past him to his left and took aim. Game over, really. What happened next will haunt the Celtic winger for some time to come.

Perhaps the ball took a bobble. Perhaps Forrest lost his balance.

There was only one thing to do when he somehow managed to sclaff it wide of an empty net, however, and that was lie face down on the turf for a good half-a-minute and wish that it would swallow him up.

How this game finished goalless is similarly confounding. Right up until the dying seconds, both teams were still pushing forward. We were deep in stoppage time when Murray Davidson cracked the post again, leading to another counter-attack that ended with Mannus making a terrific save from Leigh Griffiths.

What a smashing game it was. Celtic fielded a reserve side to give key performers a well-merited rest and Lukasz Zaluska, making his first appearance since replacing Craig Gordon in the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Caley Thistle in November, certainly made the most of his rare outing.

He produced an acrobatic save from a long-range shot from Davidson on

12 minutes as St Johnstone instigated a prolonged first-half assault on his goal that would see O'Halloran squander the first of his opportunities on the quarter-hour mark.

Gary Miller delivered a dangerous cross from the right that was simply begging to be attacked. O'Halloran was in the perfect spot to do it, unmarked in the centre of the area. Inexplicably, he somehow managed to miss the ball altogether when it arrived.

Miller did make solid contact when producing a downward header from a Danny Swanson corner a little later, but Ambrose appeared at precisely the right moment to divert the ball over his own crossbar when it had appeared destined for the net.

Within moments, O'Halloran let himself down again. Steven Anderson, somehow finding himself out on the left wing, put in an excellent cross to pick the lone striker out directly in front of goal. He did manage to get his head to the ball this time around, but only he can explain the angle from which it skidded off his brow before trickling well wide of the target.

In fairness, he did quite well to create the chance that came his way just before the half-hour. David Wotherspoon dispossessed Armstrong on the right touchline and delivered a good ball inside to O'Halloran, who embarked upon a fine, direct run that left Ambrose wrongfooted and unable to prevent him from advancing into the heart of the area.

He had left himself one-on-one with Zaluska, but his shot was far too close to the Pole and went behind for a corner.

Zaluska appears to have settled for a life of living in someone else's shadow, but he remains a goalkeeper of some ability and exhibited that with an excellent double save from Wotherspoon and Davidson with eight minutes of the first half remaining.

His team-mates needed to show they still possessed a bit of appetite as the game reached the interval, though. Griffiths did threaten to spark Celtic into life with a shot deflected just over the crossbar by Tam Scobbie's outstretched leg in the 40th minute and Scott Brown had a header from the resultant corner kick headed off the goal-line by Chris Millar.

Deila's side have the holidays on their minds, though. It is understandable. The hard work has been done and it won't be long until it starts all over again in July.

Charlie Mulgrew certainly requires to improve his fitness before those Champions League challenges and will have benefited greatly from making his return from injury when replacing Jason Denayer at half-time. He might even have got himself a goal with 21 minutes to play when getting his head to an Armstrong free-kick at the back post and forcing a save from Mannus.

Whether St Johnstone join Celtic in UEFA competition remains to be seen, but it has been another good season for Tommy Wright's men.

The Northern Irishman will just be frustrated that they failed to put the champions to the sword for a second time after winning at Celtic Park in March.

They certainly had their chances. Gosh, didn't they just?