Heroic Hoops complete Connacht Cup double
Castlebar Celtic players lift the Connacht Cup following Sunday's narrow win over Mervue United in the final played in Headford. Already the most successful club in the history of the competition, it's the third time Celtic have won it back-to-back. Pictures: John Corless
Castlebar Celtic retained their Connacht Cup with a 1-0 win over Mervue United in the final, in tropical conditions on Sunday, in Headford. A 32nd minute penalty by ace-marksman Jordan Loftus was enough to see off a Mervue side that couldn’t break down an outstanding Celtic rearguard.
Celtic boss Stevie Gavin made a big call before kick-off, favouring Eoghan Hughes over Jason Hunt for a starting berth. Hughes was outstanding the previous week in Wexford, when Celtic overcame local side North End United in the first round of the FAI Senior Cup.
The Hoops got off to a thunderous start, winning heavy tackles, greatly encouraged by their huge and vocal, travelling support. It was obvious that this was going to be tough, bruising and close encounter, which it turned out to be.
Loftus sent one over for a corner in the opening minutes. Player of the match Ioseph O’Reilly had a free header from Edwards’s corner, but was off target and the ball was cleared.
After the opening five minutes the game settled down to a fairly dull affair as both sides checked each other out, with little chances. Kody McCann, Mervue’s best player, fired a shot straight at Stefan Hester in the Celtic goal, and a few minutes later McCann saw another shot cleared by Cathal Coyne.
Loftus sent another effort over, before Hughes won the penalty after breaking down the touchline and cutting inside, drawing a foul off Mervue full back, Kasper Zatonski, just inside the box. Roscommon referee Glen Campbell pointed to the spot and Loftus stepped up to blast low to the goalkeeper’s left and into the net.
Zatonski had the ball in the Celtic net a few minutes later when he met McCann’s low cross, but an offside flag kept the scoreline intact. McCann fired over from distance as Mervue tried to get back into the game before the break. At the other end, Loftus had the ball in the Mervue net, but this was ruled out too. A disagreement immediately afterwards between Loftus and Mervue goalkeeper Peter Healy, resulted in both seeing the referee’s yellow card.
Mervue sub, Kieran O’Connor shot wide on the restart, but Dylan Edwards kept the Galway defence on their toes, with a super diagonal ball to Johnnie Cocozza, but nothing came of it, and when Hughes saw the goalkeeper off his line, he fired wide from distance. Hester collected from the advancing Mark O’Halloran, before play switched to the other end where Mark Cunningham fired over from Cocozza’s corner. Edwards found Loftus but the shot was saved, and Cocozza had a wide before substitute Jason Hunt sent a long ball into the Mervue box to Loftus in the 74th minute. The Celtic man went down and the ball trickled wide.
Referee Glen Campbell rushed in and the expected decision was a second yellow for Loftus or a penalty for Celtic. Amazingly, the referee gave a lecture to Loftus and nothing more. It was a difficult decision to understand. If the referee had intended not to punish Loftus, why highlight the issue by rushing in?
Hunt had a free kick saved and had another wide. At the other end, Brian Walsh, Niall Brennan, Oran Groarke, Ioseph O’Reilly and Cathal Coyne doggedly denied Mervue any time on the ball to build any momentum. Hester made another save from McCann, and there was nobody to attack Adam Healy’s low cross, before Walsh cleared it. The last threat came from Conor Keady’s head, but Hester was behind it and that was it.
“We’re delighted to win it. Delighted,” said Celtic manager Stevie Gavin. “It was a very tough game. It was a bit like last week, a warm day, warmer than last week down in Wexford. The pitch was good; the pitch was big, too. Tough opposition and that's what we expected in the cup final. We came out the right end of it and I felt we deserved it as well.
“Eoghan Hughes deserved to start. He was amazing last week. And, there has to be that fairness when someone comes in and does well like that. Eoghan's been brilliant for a long time for us. He's an amazing player, an amazing guy.” Celtic coach Declan Flynn praised the impact the late substitutions made when they came on as well as the large travelling support.
“I thought we were doing well. I thought we were doing alright with what we had on the pitch. Mervue really didn't have much joy in towards our goal, but I thought when Jason came on it kind of gave us a bit more of a lift. It gave us more width. All the subs did well when they came on.
“It didn't warrant changing anyone, before we did. Everyone that went out played really, really well, so we were happy enough with that. We didn't feel we needed to change it, so it wasn't until the end when we started seeing guys getting a bit tired-looking, that's when we started to say, now's the time. It was a warm, warm day out there to be playing football and we're delighted for them.
“We travel well. We sing well. The support has been fantastic. No matter where we go, there's always people coming to support the boys, and they're brilliant. They're absolutely brilliant. So as much as it is for us today, a lot of it is for them as well.”
Ioseph O’Reilly was awarded the player of the match for the second Connacht Cup Final in a row. Cathal Coyne, Brian Walsh and Mark Cunningham at the back, were outstanding, with Stefan Hester in top form behind them. Celtic’s midfield duo of Oran Groarke and Niall Brennan were terrific too, and Jordan Loftus, operating deep, caused numerous problems for Mervue. Dylan Edwards, Eoghan Hughes and Johnnie Cocozza were excellent too.
Kody McCann was the pick of the Mervue players on a day when they got little room on the ball.
