Butler on call as Greens sweep to Clare’ cut victory

Tuohy Cup Final 

Claremorris 1 

Castlebar Celtic ‘B’ 0 

John Corless in Umbro Milebush Park 

A goal after 31 minutes by player of the match, Simon Butler was enough to capture the Tuohy Cup for Claremorris, in the Saturday evening drizzle of Umbro Milebush Park. Butler was in the right place to meet James Morley’s pass after Castlebar Celtic goalkeeper Jack Jensen had parried Mark Maloney’s free-kick.

Claremorris deserved their goal and their win. They were hungrier and fitter than Celtic, despite going into the game as underdogs – if there is such a thing in a cup final. They were by far the better side over the 90 minutes and could have scored more. They outplayed Celtic in midfield and anything that got through was dealt with majestically by Claremorris captain, Calvin Joyce, at centre-back.

“It was a tricky, tight game,” Joyce, told the Western People, amongst the post-match celebrations. “Simon’s goal gave us a cushion to work off and I thought we defended well, and it’s nice to get the win. The size of the pitch made a huge difference for us. Concannon Park (the Claremorris home ground) is very tight for the type of football we want to play and this surface suited us to a tee. We got wide, we attacked with pace and it was brilliant. It really made a difference.” Claremorris pressed from the off and forced an early corner. Joyce went up and came close with a header. At the other end, Celtic striker Jake Daly came close with a shot. From then on it was all Claremorris.

Ryan McLoughlin, who was a threat throughout, had a shot stopped by Jensen, and Mark Maloney came close after 13 minutes. Then, five minutes later, McLoughlin had a real opportunity to open the scoring when Maloney’s perfectly weighted pass set him up to break the Celtic high defensive line. It was the first real chance of the match and probably should have gone in. But cup finals can be nervy affairs and chances can be missed in the heat of the moment. Butler’s goal, just after the half hour, sorted all that.

Celtic now had to take risks to try and get back in the game, and when they pushed up they left space in the vast expanse of Milebush, for Maloney, Butler and McLoughlin, all of whom had chances to extend the Claremorris lead before half-time.

Dylan Howley came close for Celtic, but his shot didn’t really trouble Keith Saunders, minding the house for Claremorris. With seven minutes to the break, Maloney had the ball in the Celtic net, but was denied by an offside flag in a tight call. Diarmuid Aherne, Declan Ruane and Eoin Keane all tried their luck from distance as Celtic desperately tried to get something before the break.

David McCracken was unlucky for Claremorris after the restart and McLoughlin had a pot from distance that sailed over. Gerry Hunt tried one from way out as Celtic were running out of options in the middle. And when a half chance fell their way, Daly couldn’t keep his header down from Ben McHale’s cross.

Maloney, substitute Danny Barry and Butler (twice) went close to scoring again for Claremorris as they pushed to try and double their lead. But it wasn’t to be. Butler could have got a second late on but, with only the ’keeper to beat, he couldn’t beat the ’keeper. At the death, Hunt fired a free-kick over from distance.

“We’re obviously delighted with the win,” said Claremorris coach Simon Collins afterwards. “I thought we dominated the first-half and we could have scored a few more. But overall, we’re delighted to get over the line. We were very sound defensively. For spells we played some of the best football we have played all year. We made it hard for them to play. We had the lads up top on the counterattack with the ball over the top and we were unlucky not to score more. But we’ll take the one-nil all day.” To the neutral, Castlebar Celtic looked poor throughout and seemed to lack ideas. In truth, however, they weren’t let play by a well organised Claremorris side that had the measure of them all over the pitch. In the middle, Fionn McLoughlin and James Morley were dominant for Claremorris and their replacements, Evan Gannon and Danny Barry, continued to outplay a Celtic midfield. Hunt, Ruane and Ruairi Nevin, all good players, just couldn’t keep with the Claremorris midfield on the day.

“It means a lot to bring a bit of silverware back to Claremorris,” Joyce said. “This will give us a boost now for our three remaining league games, and hopefully we’ll push on there and get back to the Super League where we want to be and test ourselves against the best.” Claremorris: Keith Saunders; Brandon Walsh, Jason Murphy, Calvin Joyce, Oisin Brady; David McCracken, Fionn McLoughlin, James Morley; Ryan McLoughlin, Simon Butler; Mark Maloney. Subs: Evan Gannon (for F McLoughlin 73), Danny Barry and Daniel Murphy (for Morley and McCracken 74), Cathal Maloney (for R McLoughlin 87).

Castlebar Celtic ‘B’: Jack Jensen; Dylan Tighe, Ciaran Gavin, Diarmuid Aherne, Eoin Keane; Declan Ruane, Gerry Hunt, Ruairi Nevin, Dylan Howley; Jake Daly, Ben McHale. Subs: Harry McHale (for Tighe 63), Tiernan Brady (for Ruane 73), Conor Joyce (for Daly 83).

REF: Alan English