Castlebar stand tall in battle of Celtics
Castlebar Celtic outclassed their opponents from Strandhill to advance to the third round of the FAI Junior Cup with a very comfortable win in the drizzle of Celtic Park on Sunday.
Mark Cunningham was the star of the show. Listed at right back, he cut through the middle on a number of occasions and hit the net twice. Later on he beat three players with a turn that a ballerina would be proud of to set up substitute Fionn Mahon to neatly finish.
While Strand Celtic were missing a few players, Castlebar Celtic were arguably at full strength.
Celtic had won two of their eleven first-half corners, and both Niall Brennan and Jordan Loftus had seen chances fly over before they took the lead after seven minutes. Following constant Castlebar pressure, Dylan Edwards, unmarked, coolly shot home from the edge of the box following a throw in.
Loftus threatened on a couple of occasions and Cunningham broke the line but his header, which rebounded off the bar, wouldn’t have counted; referee Damien McGrath whistling for offside.
Strand’s first shot on goal came on 26 minutes when Josh Gilligan saw his shot saved easily by Stefan Hester.
Strand had no answer for the midfield industry of Oran Groarke and Johnny Cocozza. Brennan’s runs and Cunningham popping up all over the place didn’t help Strand’s plight either.
The first of Cunningham’s goals came after half an hour when he got on the end of a fine pass from Loftus to blast past Ryan McAuley in the Strand goal. Four minutes later, the same pair combined in an identical move and Castlebar were three to the good. In between the goals, Loftus had a shot saved.
Strand, naturally, were fired up for the second half and won their first corner of the game on 50 minutes. Tom Galvin fired over and wide of Hester’s goal and that was really as good as it got from open play for the visitors. At the other end, Loftus should have done better after good combination work by Hunt and Cocozza, but he couldn’t get a shot in.
Cunningham was in the news at the wrong end when he tripped Conor McKeown in the box and the striker converted the resulting penalty. Hunt saw his cheeky shot come off the far post before Brian Walsh scored to make it 4-1 after excellent work by Cocozza and a pass from Edwards. Loftus put Oran Groarke through and the midfielder should have made it five. Groarke put another chance over and then Brennan made the wrong choice when he went outside the keeper on a one-on-one, leaving himself too much to do.
Castlebar introduced Mark Howley, Eoghan Hughes and Fionn Mahon for Loftus, Groarke and Iospeh O’Reilly before Cocozza showed world class in front of goal. Hunt fired in diagonally and low into the crowded box, and Cocozza reading the situation perfectly, stepped over the ball to allow it to trickle into the Strand net. What a sickener for the visitors.
Hunt and Brennan were replaced by Paul Walsh and Fionn Mahon, and Mahon got on the scoresheet after Cunningham’s magic to add the sixth.
Cunningham and Cocozza had shots very close near the death, but Castlebar had to settle for six for the second time in a row in this competition.
“This is the competition we want to be winning this year,” Mark Cunningham told the at the final whistle. “Or at least getting into the later rounds. You can see the work rate everyone puts in, their mentality of everyone on the pitch, it’s unreal. We’re happy with the performance. I’m happy to get the two goals but against another side, I mightn't be able to do as much attacking myself. Jordan (Loftus) gave me both of them. Jason (Hunt) and Jordan can pass to anything, anywhere. They are unreal.
“I hold my hands up for that penalty, it was a stupid foul. The penalty got them kind of back into the game for a few minutes, but then we went and scored three more goals. We shut them down straight away. But they’re a decent football team, we were just better today.”
“We’re delighted with the win,” Castlebar Celtic coach Declan Flynn told the . “I thought we played really well. We've conceded a penalty, it's sloppy, but we reacted well afterwards. Everyone that came on played a part. And the dummy by Johnny (Cocozza) for Jason Hunt’s goal - that's just the kind of player Johnny is. You see it in his general play; the work rate - he covers every blade of grass on the pitch. He’s phenomenal, and a great lad.
“Strand came at us after the break, but you'd expect any team to come out firing, but it's how you deal with it and try not make mistakes or get punished. Mark (Cunningham) got two – he’s a special, special player for us, but you see the lads on the bench. And we hadn’t a full bench today. They are dying to get out there.”
Hunt and Cocozza were best of Castlebar, while Stafford and McKeown shaded it for Strand.
