Champions Castlebar Celtic a class above the rest
Stevie Gavin (pictured) and Castlebar Celtic are gearing up for another title at the Super League title. Picture: Michael Donnelly
After waiting almost a decade to win the title again after winning it in 2019, Castlebar Celtic were not so keen to spend as long in the wilderness. They matched the feats of 2019 last season by going the year unbeaten and unlike in 2020 and 2021, when things looked like they were falling apart after such an excellent season, it is unlikely they go into this campaign with similar disaster on the horizon.
Stevie Gavin has galvanized the club and helped to make it a far stronger force in the Mayo League. The signing of Dylan Edwards was a masterstroke last season and it struck fear in the hearts of their title rivals to hear the creative forward had resigned.
They await the return of Jordan Loftus from injury and they have also lost Johnnie Cocozza but the return of Liam Flatley and Cathal Coyne, medal winners in 2019, provides greater depth to a packed squad.
Castlebar Celtic management team of Stevie Gavin and Declan Flynn are gearing up for another tilt at the Super League title but accept that it will take a lot of hard work to replicate last year’s feat, .
Celtic went unbeaten during last year's campaign, capturing a first league title since 2019 but for manager Gavin, this makes no odds with a new season ahead.
“If you check the table, it is all zero on it. There’s nothing, we’re starting from scratch so we have to try and put some points up.” “With huge respect for every team, every point you have to fight for. We would like to win it but we’ve got to start in the first game and go from there,” said Stevie.
“We have no divine right to win any match so if we’re not right, if we’re off, we could be on the wrong end of the scoreline. We have to concentrate on us,” added Declan.
Coming in as unbeaten champions means a target on your back but for Celtic, this is nothing new.
“We always have a target on our back. From the first day we walked in the door, when you’re at the likes of Castlebar Celtic, you have a target on your back straight away,” said Stevie.
“We all have to deal with that, players and management but that’s a good thing. It’s a good thing and we’re looking forward to it.”
Declan said the squad is rearing to go ahead of the season after a good break.
“We gave them some time off because we’ve been involved with the cup competitions. To be fair to them, our lads are disciplined enough that anytime we give them time off, they’re always tipping away training themselves. There’s no point in flogging them all year, they’d lost interest and they have lives outside of football and it shouldn’t be all-encompassing,” said Declan.
Celtic will have to cope without star striker Jordan Loftus for the first few weeks of the season but Stevie said this injury will only spur Jordan on upon his return.
“Hopefully, we’ll have him back sooner than later but it is what it is. He was out a bit with injuries last year and we managed to get by.”
“He is doing a lot of work and I think you’re going to see a different animal this year when you see him back, he’s going to have that edge.”
Meanwhile, captain Ioseph O’Reilly is keen to not see Castlebar Celtic go back into the wilderness after the most recent league title win. Celtic had to wait eight years after winning in 2011 and after the 2019 success, endured a couple of tough seasons with mid-table finishes before returning to glory last year.
“In 2011, we went unbeaten and then a lot of the lads went off to Australia and places like that. 2019 was just before Covid and a lot of that squad had split up by the time of the next full season.”
“This year we’re in a good spot. We know we have a massive target on our back like we always do every year but this year it is exceptionally big after the year we had last year.”
