Cammy Bell and Georgios Samaras were separated by a year at birth but on Saturday they shared a common desire to prove their worth to their respective managers. Fate brought them together and their duel underlined why everyone deserves a second chance.

The Kilmarnock goalkeeper and the Celtic forward were the stars of vibrant piece of entertainment, something neither has been able to claim too often. Bell appears for Kilmarnock as often as Jim Jefferies’ team win in Glasgow, while Samaras has been seen once too often, in the eyes of the Celtic Park crowd, with a reputation as a serial sinner in front of goal that has drained his supporters’ goodwill.

Yet, the Greece player finally caught fire against Kilmarnock with a robust display and a fine goal in the victory that restored confidence to Tony Mowbray’s team ahead of their Europa League group C match in Germany on Thursday with Hamburg. Indeed, Samaras would have had a hat-trick if it had not been for Bell.

The 23-year-old goalkeeper was only playing because Kilrmarnock’s current first-choice, Mark Brown, who is on loan from Celtic, was not allowed to play against his employers. Bell had only made two appearances for Kilmarnock before facing the Clydesdale Bank Premier League leaders and was forced to take a year out after a cruciate ligament injury before a loan spell at Queen of the South — that included a Uefa Cup tie — illustrated his recovery.

His situation at Rugby Park right is temporary, in that once Alan Combe returns from his own injury absence, Bell will drop back down the queue. Yet the way Bell denied Aiden McGeady, Zeng Zhi and Samaras in a furious finale as Celtic pursued a fourth goal, hinted that he is worthy of the manager’s endorsement right now.

The same could easily be said of Samaras. The habitually slothful striker probably received his own wake-up call with the sight of Marc-Antoine Fortuné back on the bench after a knee injury sustained at Arsenal in August. “I just encouraged Samaras to keep getting into the right areas and keep trying,” Mowbray said. Whether it was the sight of Fortuné or the sound of Mowbray, Samaras duly delivered.

He made the most of a free role behind Scott McDonald and showed a rare hunger. Samaras’s powerful 32nd-minute header from Andreas Hinkel’s cross belied his recent profligacy to net only his fourth goal of the season. It was his first on “home” soil, with the others coming at Hibernian, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Dynamo Moscow — the two European goals are proof that the big stage offered in Hamburg might be suited to the capricious Greek.

Bell seems to think so. “Samaras was brilliant,” the goalkeeper said. “He always seems to turn it on against Kilmarnock and scored twice at Rugby Park last season. Maybe he does not do it often enough, which is why he gets criticised, but he has great skill, which is why he is at Celtic.

“When Samaras put them 2-0 up after half an hour, I thought it was going to be a long day. I could do nothing about his header. Celtic really turned it on and I had quite a few saves to make, which, hopefully, will help my case for a regular place.

“Celtic came flying out of the blocks, maybe after the recent criticism, and they overran us. By the time we got into game, it was too late. McGeady and Samaras had scored. Kevin Kyle missed a great chance for us before half-time, which he admitted in the dressing room at the interval, was bread and butter for him.”

One remarkable piece of agility from Bell seven minutes from the end, pushing a Samaras volley over the bar after Garry Hay had cleared Zhi’s shot off the line, certainly highlighted the young goalkeeper’s worth.

Bell could do nothing to prevent McGeady thrashing in a fierce angled shot after 12 minutes to open the scoring but produced a crucial point-blank reaction to deny McDonald after Samaras had carved Kilmarnock open.

The introduction of Hay at half-time and some positional adjustments made Kilmarnock more of a threat in the second half, with Kyle planting two more headers narrowly over the bar, but Celtic’s other substitute, Niall McGinn sealed the success with his first goal for the club, taking a pass from Hinkel and showing deft control before his raking right-foot finish went beyond Bell.

The contribution of the gifted Paddy McCourt had given Celtic a creative edge they have lacked in recent games but Mowbray understandably was keen to declare that the only difference between this success and the defeat by Heart of Midlothian in the Co-operative Insurance Cup three days earlier, when Samaras had squandered four good chances, was ruthless finishing. “It was a similar performance,” he said. “This time we got the goals.”

Jefferies agreed. “Celtic started the game unbelievably well and would have beaten most teams on that performance,” he said. “They could have been out of sight.”

Celtic (4-4-2): L Zaluska 7 — A Hinkel 8, G Caldwell 7, G Loovens 6, D Fox 5 — A McGeady 8(Z Zhi 83), L N’Guemo 6, M Crosas 7, P McCourt 7 (N McGinn 67, 6) — G Samaras 9, S McDonald 7 (M Fortune 67, 4) Substitutes not used: D Cervi, P Caddis, J Thomson, L Naylor, B Robson. Booked: McGeady

Kilmarnock (4-4-2): C Bell 8 — J Fowler 7, F Wright 5, R O’Leary 6, J Hamill 4 — D Invincibile 5 (G Hay 46, 7), C Bryson 7, M Taouil 6, G Skelton 5 (I Flannigan 67, 4) — C Sammon 4 (D Fernandez 46, 6), K Kyle 6. Substitutes not used: L Robinson, M Pascali, G Owens, L Kelly. Booked: Wright

Referee: W Collum. Attendance: 46,000