After beating Hamilton 2-0 at home and having their match at Kilmarnock called off because of conditions around Rugby Park and not actually inside the ground itself, Celtic could only sit and watch Rangers destroy Dundee United 7-1 at Ibrox before all icy roads led to Celtic Park for the New Year derby.

All the big names had gathered in expectation, Rod and Penny, Gordon Strachan, X-Factor runner up and Celtic fan Ollie Murs, Tommy Cunningham and Sean Graham were there also hoping to see a win for the home side.

Rangers brought a seven point lead to Celtic Park and they were lucky to leave with that lead still intact after being battered by Celtic on Sunday. The home side dominated the match from start to finish with Rangers and their SPL hit man Kris Boyd rarely seen as an attacking force.

Celtic came out of the traps flying and it was clear that only one side was trying to win this match as the game would go on.

Celtic played some of their best attacking football of the season against the old enemy and it was clear that Rangers could only keep up with their opponents by using spoiling or time wasting tactics as they did throughout this match to frustrate Celtic.

Many were shocked to see that Scott McDonald was left sitting on the bench while Samaras and Fortune were given the striking roles but I have to say that both strikers did work their socks off and were unlucky that they could not find themselves on the score sheet.

Well that is only half true as Fortune seemed to have a perfectly good goal chalked off as you are not allowed to breathe on Allan McGregor these days without the refs giving a foul against the forward!

McGregor seemed to go up half heartedly with Fortune and miss the ball as the Celtic striker got his head to the ball ahead of the Rangers keeper and was unlucky not to see his effort given.

If that mistake was not bad enough by Steve Conroy then he certainly made another cracker when he showed Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty only a yellow card for a terrible late lunge on Andy Hinkel when he caught the Celtic full back on the shin with his studs showing.

Many refs would have given him a straight red for such a tackle so why then did Mr Conroy only produce a yellow? Both Lafferty and McCulloch who also stopped McGeady in full flight with a block tackle were lucky to see out the match for some of their antics but then what do you expect!

Even though these tackles were flying in, Celtic still poured forward and were unlucky not to score when a Robson header from a great Hinkel cross crashed against the Rangers bar with McGregor beaten and shortly before half-time Samaras broke clear of the chasing Rangers pack only to knock his effort wide with McGregor again helpless.

Celtic knew that they should have been ahead as the break approached with all the chances that they had created but knew that while it was still 0-0 Rangers could still nick a goal, if they ever crossed the half-way line!

As the second half started, again it was the home side who poured forward but again missed chance after chance that was being created with Samaras and McGeady the main sinners.

McGeady however was causing Rangers problems all day and perhaps if his finishing was as good as his quick feet and dribbling skills then we would have a world class talent in our ranks.

He teased and tormented the Rangers defence but as the whites of Allan McGregor's eyes lit up he blasted the ball over the bar and another chance was gone.

With time running out and Celtic needing a goal, on came Scott McDonald to the action, cometh the hour, cometh the man. As the clock ticked towards 79 minutes, McGeady outfoxed two Rangers defenders to find wee Skippy in space and he headed Celtic into a deserved lead to send Celtic Park wild with delight but their joy was short lived!

Lafferty (who should not have been on the pitch) won a corner and Davis found McCulloch (who should not have been on the pitch either) and he headed the ball home for the equaliser for Rangers, a goal they barely deserved but again Celtic's defence switched off at a time when they should have focused and Caldwell was beaten to the ball by McCulloch to send the away end mental!

Suddenly, everyone inside Celtic Park knew there was actually fans in the away end and time was running out to grab a winner that their play so deserved.

The Hoops tried everything to grab the winning goal and but for a fantastic save from Allan McGregor from a Samaras shot that was heading for the top left hand corner, they surely would have but that is why Walter Smith and others rate McGregor so highly (Goram mark II).

The first Old Firm derby of 2010 ended in a 1-1 draw and in the end Walter Smith admitted that his side were lucky to come away with a point, just hope Ravi feels the same?

At the end of the match I noticed the Rangers bus was replaced by Dick Turpin on a horse pulling a rather large coach for the players to go in, only right I thought as indeed coming away from Celtic Park with a point after that match was indeed robbery!

Celtic manager Tony Mowbray will address the changes that need to be made during this transfer window and hopefully he will bring in a few new faces to help the squad for the challenge ahead and trying to claw back Rangers’ seven point lead, long way to go and only time will tell if all those chances will come back to haunt Celtic.