Cup holders keep title defence on track

Connacht Cup – Round 3 

Castlebar Celtic 3 

Maree/Oranmore 2 

John Corless in Celtic Park 

This had everything you’d expect in a cup tie. Five goals, a missed penalty, late tackles, cynical fouls, five yellow cards, a heated exchange of views and a red card. It was a hugely enjoyable encounter for the neutral, with both sides wanting to win.

For the second season in-a-row, Castlebar Celtic have dispatched Maree/Oranmore out of the Connacht Cup by a single goal. In last season’s final Celtic overcame the Galway side by two goals to one, with Luke Kelly on the scoresheet on both occasions.

Celtic should have been out the gate in this one at half-time. Leading by three Kelly goals to nil, they were outplayed for much of the second-half, but inspired by the outstanding Iospeh O’Reilly at the back, they held on and go into the draw for the next round.

The visitors, who like a lot of Galway teams play on plastic pitches, found the wet Celtic Park surface tough to play on and not suited to their fast passing game. The goalmouth at the Fire Station end and the area around the centre circle were especially heavy, with water deposits on the surface and not surprisingly the ground cut-up as the game progressed.

Maree/Oranmore had much of the possession early on but couldn’t get through the Celtic backline, where Cathal Coyne alongside O’Reilly and full backs Mark Cunningham and Brian Walsh were outstanding. Then in a flash, Johnny Cocozza and Kelly combined for Kelly to drive home the first of his trio of excellent finishes.

The visitors had a half chance a few minutes later but Jack Morrissey, who had a solid game at the back, sent his header from Eoghan McDonagh’s free-kick straight to Stefan Hester in the Celtic goal.

Brian Walsh raided on the wing and found Eoghan Hughes in the box but there was nobody to connect with his inviting low cross. At the other end, under pressure from Coyne, Malachy Black was forced to shoot early and his effort went wide.

The visitors’ first real chance came after 39 minutes when Ciaran Black cut inside and passed to Colm Whelan but, perhaps due to it being a grass pitch, the striker fumbled his touch and the chance was gone. Suddenly, at the other end, Celtic were two up, when Kelly did excellent work to connect with a loose ball. Celtic lost the influential Oran Groarke to injury but manager Stevie Gavin will be delighted to see Ben Murphy back in action in a similar holding midfield role.

Three minutes before the break, Celtic were three-up when Maree/Oranmore goalkeeper James Murphy was badly caught on his near post, after Kelly was set up by Hughes. And that should have been it.

The visitors made two changes at the break and the introduction of Darragh Cleary and Adam Lavelle freshened them up and they began to take the game to Celtic. As the pitch was cutting-up, the tackles were getting heavier and 12 minutes in the game threatened to overheat, but the calm control of the vastly experienced referee Jimmy Cawley restored manners and the game progressed in a sporting fashion. Well, until the end, anyway.

Niall Brennan found Jason Hunt with a clinical diagonal pass but the winger, who was quieter than usual, sent a tame shot straight to Murphy.

The Celtic midfield of Brennan, Cocozza and Murphy dropped off and Maree/Oranmore pushed on. Liam McDonagh had a half-chance but shot over. Then on 75, the visitors finally got some reward for their industry. Lavelle connected with an uncleared ball to narrow the gap.

Celtic had a chance to restore their three-goal lead when Tom Lillis upended Jason Hunt in the box but Murphy guessed the correct side to deny Luke Kelly – and Celtic – a fourth. Four minutes later, Whelan, who should have been closed down, drove home from the edge of the box, to reduce the margin to the minimum.

It was no surprise that things boiled over in stoppage time as the visitors pressed for an equaliser, with Celtic dangerous on the break. An exchange of views right beside the dug-outs threatened to get ugly and involved the backroom staff and substitutes of both sides, expressing opinions from close range. Maree/Oranmore substitute Hamsley Okomah was shown a red card for his part in proceedings.

Kelly shaded the man of the match award for his hat-trick but O’Reilly’s reading of the game and timing of his interruptions are exemplary and he too was outstanding. Liam McDonagh and Lavelle were best for the Galway side.

“I thought we were the better team in the first half,” O’Reilly told the Western People. “Obviously there would be a bite to it after the Connacht Cup final last year and us coming out victorious. I though we dropped off way too much in the second-half and we conceded two sloppy goals. We need to work on this now and nullify these mistakes and not let teams back into it.” Stevie Gavin, the Celtic manager, thought Celtic played well in tough conditions for both sets of players. “We adapted better overall and Luke’s finishes were excellent. We had several chances, including the penalty, to finish it off but we saw it out and we’re into the next round. Teams don’t stop against us. It was competitive.

“I’m disappointed that there was a lot of stuff shouted at me and the lads on the bench – derogatory comments – and I am disappointed at that. I think Galway teams don’t like coming up here and getting beaten, but we’re not going to lie down. We’re allowed to compete too, and to tackle.” Castlebar Celtic: Stefan Hester, Mark Cunningham, Ioseph O’Reilly, Cathal Coyne, Brian Walsh, Oran Groarke, Niall Brennan, Johnny Cocozza, Jason Hunt, Eoghan Hughes, Luke Kelly. Subs: Ben Murphy (for Groarke 35), Paul Walsh (for Hughes 75), Fionn Mahon (for Cocozza 76), Mark Howley (for Kelly 88).

Maree/Oranmore: James Murphy, Jack Morrissey, Tommy Lillis, Shane Cox, Cian Horgan, Eoghan McDonagh, Malachy Black, Liam McDonagh, Fruid Butros, Colm Whelan, Ciaran Black. Subs: Adam Lavelle and Darragh Cleary (for Butros and C Black 46), Hamsley Okomah (for M Black 72), Jay Martin (for E McDonagh 78), Jack Greaney (for Horgan 86).

REF: Jimmy Cawley