AS THE confetti fell and Fran Alonso threw his white Miami Vice jacket – the one his mother despaired of – into an excited throng of Celtic fans, it was hard not to feel for the Glasgow City players forced to watch on.

So often the headline act in this movie across the bulk of the past two decades all of a sudden they found themselves on the outside looking in. The anguish was obvious in some of them as tears fell. In others there was anger as they stood arms folded, body language saying it all as they took their medicine.

City have been dethroned this season but they also felt denuded of their power at Tynecastle yesterday afternoon.

Alonso spoke before the game about the importance of belief for his side going into this game and it was their conviction that shone through even when they were faced with a numerical disadvantage. Glasgow City have lost their aura of invincibility.

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What happens next will be intriguing. Celtic have watched Rangers lift this season’s title without losing a single league game. Two draws were the only blot on the Ibrox side’s copybook in terms of their journey to the title. Celtic, though, put them out of the League Cup and the Scottish Cup on their way to collecting both honours this season.

They will fancy that next term the league will be a viable ambition as they look to build on the foundations that have been set this season.

In a Celtic team where the camaraderie seems to make them bigger than the sum of their parts, Alonso is a key figure at the head of it all. The club’s first nod towards a professional structure, the Spaniard was brought in three years ago to oversee a move towards a more modern and progressive women’s section at the club.

At that point, Celtic’s only silverware had come back in 2010. Alonso’s enthusiasm is notable, and his 100-mile-an-hour chat an enjoyable listen, but two things are clear about his work: the respect he has from the players and the coaching nous he carries.

Captain Kelly Clark, who chooses to combine an accountancy career with football commitments, penned a new contract on Friday afternoon to prolong her stay at the club. As there is a move towards further professional contracts on offer the development of the league will continue.

Summer recruitment across the board will be interesting too. Celtic have a goalscorer in Charlie Wellings – 40 for the season – but a creative midfielder would not go amiss.
Certainly, though, for the next few weeks there is a chance to enjoy the fruits of this season’s endeavours.

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Izzy Atkinson, who scored the 112th-minute winner, was delighted to put her name into the club’s history books – and then revealed that there was nobody from her family there to see it.

“My mum and dad couldn’t make it over from Dublin,” she said. “My seven siblings and my 40-odd cousins were all camped in their front room watching it so I am sure that I could hear them roaring from here!

“I am just in shock. What a day. I will remember it for the rest of my life. I took a touch and, in the space of a second, I realised I was one-on-one with the goalkeeper. I saw her legs open and I knew what I was going to do.

“To fight for so long with a player down and play like that for 70-plus minutes – not a lot of teams can do that. But we really did fight.”