A DEFEAT and poor performance from Celtic in the second of the series of friendlies in which they will build to the start of the new season in a month’s time. Perhaps the greatest concern to Gordon Strachan will be how few chances his side created without the delicate invention of Shunsuke Nakamura, who is at the Asian Cup with Japan. In his absence, Celtic’s strikers were largely starved of service. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Scott McDonald suffered in the first half and the supply to Kenny Miller and Maciej Zurawski, their replacements, was also meagre.

Another worry for the Celtic manager is his lack of full-back cover for Mark Wilson and Lee Naylor, and he used Teddy Bjarnason, the young Icelandic midfielder, as an emergency right-back here. He will seek to amend this with a signing soon. He remains interested in Jean-Joel Perrier Doumbe, who scored Celtic’s winner in the Scottish Cup final, but faces competition from clubs in France and England and may instead turn to Moritz Volz, Fulham’s German full-back. This perhaps would interest the Dusseldorf or Black Forest Celtic Supporters’ Clubs, who proudly displayed their banners beside more familiar ones belonging to the Barlanark Bhoys and the Saltmarket CSC.

Daniel Paulo should have given Young Boys an early lead but was perhaps dazzled by the sunshine as he fluffed his finish. Scott Brown had already been warned by Claudio Circhetta, the referee, for a spectacularly mistimed tackle by this stage and was booked after 17 minutes for catching Gilles Yapi needlessly in the centre circle. It is an aspect which Strachan will have to curb to extract maximum value from his £4.4m acquisition from Hibs.

Naylor then upset Young Boys players and staff with a whack on Carlos Varela, before the Swiss side took the lead when Tiago Calvano headed emphatically home after Celtic’s defence reacted sluggishly when a cross from the left was turned back across goal by Marco Schneuwly. They would have fallen further behind had McGovern’s reactions not denied Paulo when he was again left clear on Celtic’s goalkeeper.

With their attack neutered, Celtic’s first chance came when Naylor located Bobo Balde’s forehead with a free-kick but the Guinean wasted his free header. Vennegoor of Hesselink was more accurate with his knockdown when Naylor found him with a long throw and Jiri Jarosik, who retains the knack of scoring from midfield, was at hand to turn in an equaliser. Brown might even have given Celtic the lead after gamely pursuing a punt from McGovern all the way into Young Boys’ box. The midfielder’s irritable mood was not helped when he was baulked as he attempted to finish.

As with Thursday’s 1-0 over Basel, Strachan changed virtually his whole side at half-time. The players were probably glad of the respite given the high temperatures. Only Bjarnason, Naylor and McGovern survived but the ball was soon flying past the latter when Marco Schneuwly sidefooted home a cross from the right.

Celtic were forced to reintroduce Evander Sno when Steven Pressley had to go off and the Dutchman gave way to Chris Killen for the last 20 minutes as Celtic chased the draw which would see them win the Uhren Cup outright. Instead, it was Young Boys who took the trophy when Hakan Yakin, an old foe of Celtic from his days with FC Basel, scored twice in the last three minutes of the match.

Celtic (first half): McGovern, Bjarnason, Balde, McManus, Naylor, Jarosik, Sno, Brown, Riordan, McDonald, Vennegoor of Hesselink

Celtic (second half): McGovern, Virgo, Pressley (Sno 57min) (Killen 70min), Kennedy, Naylor, Bjarnason, Donati, Gravesen, McGeady, Zurawski, Miller

Scorers: Young Boys: Calvano 25, Schneuwly 48, Yakin 88, 90

Celtic: Jarosik 39

Attendance: 7,688