Celtic capitalise against 10-man Limerick hosts
Castlebar Celtic midfielder Niall Brennan makes a challenge during last Sunday's win away to Aisling Annacotty of Limerick in the FAI Junior Cup. Picture: Mike Staunton
FAI Junior Cup – Round 4
Aisling Annacotty 1
Castlebar Celtic 2
In Annacotty
Castlebar Celtic made it a weekend to remember for Mayo clubs on the road as they defeated Limerick & District League side Aisling Annacotty to reach the fifth round of the FAI Junior Cup.
It also caps off a stunning 2024 for the Hoops. In their centenary year, this side has won everything there is on offer for them. Retaining the Super League title, winning the Westaro Cup and Super Cup, the Connacht Cup and now into the last 32 of the FAI Junior Cup, winning 34 out of 36 games played.
Both sides produced a cracking game of football with the visitors emerging deserving winners. Aisling Annacotty’s cause was not helped when Leon Daly received two first half yellow cards, while another four Annacotty players also went into the referee’s notebook over the 90 minutes but once Daly was dismissed before half-time, the opening was there for Celtic win this game and they seized it with both hands.
Ironically, Celtic were in a similar position 12 months ago against another Limerick outfit Pike Rovers, who also had a man dismissed early on, but Pike were able to come out of it on penalties.
Celtic had to weather an early Annacotty storm in the first 10 minutes, with the hosts going close to scoring, but once they settled and began to deal with the physicality of Aisling Annacotty, Celtic began to take control.
The visitors missed a host of one-on-one chances, with Annacotty ‘keeper Stephen McNamara pulling off some vital stops, and the game’s defining moment came when Daly was dismissed before half-time after picking up two yellows. The first came on 27 minutes for a poor challenge on Ioseph O’Reilly and then a second 10 minutes later for a late tackle on Brian Walsh.
To their credit, Annacotty never gave in but once the visitors took the lead, they never looked like relinquishing it. The deadlock was broken on 51 minutes when Jason Hunt’s corner-kick was met superbly by Jordan Loftus, who was proving a menace for the Annacotty backline to deal with.
The same two players combined again 15 minutes later to double the visitors lead. Hunt was upended in the box and despite the best efforts of Annacotty to put the Celtic number nine off, Loftus stepped up to blast home the spot-kick.
The last 20 minutes of the game saw Celtic naturally begin to sit back and defend their lead. Aisling continued to poke and prod and got a consolation goal in stoppage time when Joel Coustrain played Conor Coughlan through to slip the ball home. Another chance on the edge of the penalty came Annacotty’s way to force extra-time but was skewed wide and Celtic went back down the M18 with a famous scalp.
They will be a side that no one will fancy coming up against, especially if the tie is in Celtic Park.
Aisling Annacotty: Stephen McNamara, Conor Carew, Joey Rushe, Eliah Riordan, Ciaran Jennings, Tom Kidd, Adam Foley, Paul Brennan, Conor Coughlan, Joel Coustrain, Leon Daly. Subs: Adam O'Regan (for Jennings 34), Theo Joyce and William Armshaw (for Rushe and Foley 84).
Castlebar Celtic: Stefan Hester, Mark Cunningham, Brian Walsh, Ioseph O’Reilly, Cathal Coyne, Oran Groarke, Niall Brennan, Johnny Cocozza, Jordan Loftus, Jason Hunt, Dylan Edwards. Subs: Mark Howley (for Edwards 72), Paul Walsh (for Hunt 80), Eoghan Hughes (for Cocozza 90).
REF: Mark Kennedy
