Celtic looking good after stop-start league season

Lo and behold, we had a full round of Super League fixtures last Sunday. After much chopping and changing since the season kicked off two months ago, we finally had all 10 teams out on the same weekend in the Mayo Football League’s top division.

With 27 goals across five games, an average of just over five goals per game, you can see why it means so much more to have everyone in action at once. We also had three games last Thursday, as the Mayo League makes strides to get everybody caught up. So far, so good in that department: everyone has now played five or six games with the exception of Ballyheane, lagging behind with four played.

Ashley Stevenson’s team had an enjoyable couple of days, firstly dispatching Kiltimagh/Knock United on Thursday on a scoreline of 5-0 at CMS Park and following this up with a 2-1 win over a much-fancied Westport United on Sunday at home, taking them to fifth.

Fourth place Ballina Town’s mixed bag season continues after defeat to Castlebar Celtic at the weekend. Once Benny Lavelle returns, it should help steady them a bit. Dylan McKee’s form has been a boost for them – the midfielder sits atop the top scorers list with six goals, already surpassing his tally of four for last season.

In third, Westport United endured a tough couple of days having failed to gain ground on Castlebar Celtic, whom they drew with on Thursday and then suffered the aforementioned loss to Ballyheane.

Conn Rangers jumped back up the table to second with two wins in three days, beating Claremorris and Ballinrobe Town, who share residency in the relegation zone at the moment. Claremorris bounced back from the defeat to Conn with a 5-5 draw against Kiltimagh/Knock that did a lot of the heavy lifting in the average goals per game stat referenced earlier in this column, but they remain without a league win.

Ballinrobe Town are also on the hunt for their first win. Xavi Vasquez’s team were left frustrated against Conn Rangers, having taken an early lead in Mount Falcon. Crossmolina finally conjured up a first win of the season against Manulla. These are the sort of games they have to win if they are to have a chance of staying up and that is exactly what they did. Crossmolina are far from a poor team, they possess a lot of quality and young Matthew Williams has been a star turn for them so far this season.

The momentum Manulla generated from early season wins against Claremorris and Conn Rangers seems to be fading and they will need to kick on against Kiltimagh/Knock United and Ballinrobe Town this week to get back on track if they are to stay up.

Speaking of United, they might find themselves teetering towards danger if things don’t pick up. They have won one out of six games thus far and that was against Crossmolina a month ago. Since then, they have shipped fifteen goals in four games and scored eight – five of which came in that draw against Claremorris.

Looking all the way to the summit, Castlebar Celtic remain the team to beat, literally, having gone all of last season without a defeat in the league. In fact, you have to go all the way back to April 9, 2022 when they last suffered a league defeat when they were beaten by that season’s champions Ballyheane.

In the week gone by, they took four points out of six from their two biggest rivals in the title race. A draw with Westport United on Thursday will have hurt the Coveys more than the Hoops in the long run and taking the three points away to Ballina Town is also massive for them.

They have scored eight more goals (23) than the second highest scoring team (Kiltimagh/Knock on 15) and have also only conceded two goals in their opening five games. This is while reaching the Connacht Cup final and having multiple players committed to the Oscar Traynor team.

At the moment, they look to be without peer in the Super League. They are a point ahead of Conn Rangers, who they beat 9-0 a few weeks ago. This is football and anything can happen but it is going to take a whole load of ‘anything’ to stop Celtic at the moment.

What may affect them and others around them in the coming weeks will be the quick turnaround from Thursday to Saturday or Sunday. They say that he who dares, wins. I say, he who dares and has the biggest squad available to them, will probably be the one who wins.

Premier League 

With a perfect record, Glenhest Rovers sit top of the tree in the Premier League. The accusation leve;led at ‘Hest over the last few years, mostly by me, is that they lack a quality striker. This year, the line is being led by Connor McCarthy and the former FC United of Manchester player has delivered. They are closely followed by Ballyglass, who they beat last Thursday evening. Ballyglass are the highest scoring team in the division, although nearly half of those goals came in an 11-1 win over S&F United. That game also propelled Liam Hughes to the top of the goalscorers chart. He netted seven that game.

With the next eligible club for promotion, Kilmore, a whole six points adrift, it looks as if Glenhest and Ballyglass may be headed back to the Super League but there is a long way to go yet. Kilmore have a game in hand, and Stadio Drum is a tough place to go.

Ballyhaunis Town are fifth and eight points behind Ballyglass but have produced some impressive results. It has been a forgettable season for the other ‘A’ team in Premier, Straide & Foxford United, who have suffered five losses on the bounce. Their 5-3 defeat to Kiltimagh/Knock uNITED ‘B’ has left them in real bother as those three points have left the two teams’ level on 0 points – KKU B’s points deduction for conceding to Ballyglass have effectively been wiped out, as far as the relegation battle is concerned.

Westport B are the pick of the ‘B’ sides and are five points off Ballyglass. For the likes of Kilmore and Ballyhaunis Town, navigating Westport B will be as tricky as facing the top two teams if they are to squeeze into the promotion spots.

League One 

Despite a three-point deduction, Iorras Aontaithe are top of the table on 16 points in League One, which is turning into a very crowded field. Fahy Rovers and Killala are a point behind Iorras in second and third. Partry are just three points off top in fourth place and then Conn Rangers B are fifth on 12 points.

Castlebar Town and Crossmolina B look in danger of relegation at the moment, but Claremorris B sit just ahead of Castlebar. Swinford also look in danger of getting dragged into that situation, after conceding to Iorras at the weekend. Ballyvary sit mid table and should have enough about them to stay out of trouble, particularly if the League’s leading scorer Paul Lynch keeps banging in the goals.

League Two 

When they are at their best, Ballina Town B look utterly frightening. They went away to previous table toppers Ballinrobe Town B and smashed them 9-2. John Durkan is too good a player for League Two and he scored four at the weekend and is top scorer in League Two with nine. Ballinrobe will be mostly happy with their season, barring that defeat and a recent loss to Bangor Hibs.

They will be keeping a cautious eye on Snugboro and Bangor Hibs creeping up on them however, and will look to close the gap with their games in hand. Fahy Rovers B are not a million miles off either; their defeat to Achill Rovers at the weekend was their first set back in the league since March.