Celtic get the Green as Ballinrobe see red
Castlebar Celtic's Brian Walsh, left, pictured with club legend and Mayo league Hall of Fame recipient Pat Gavin after the club's Connacht Cup win. Picture: John Corless
A rampant Castlebar Celtic sauntered to a comfortable victory against ten-man Ballinrobe Town, on what was a wet and windy Sunday afternoon at The Green.
Before kick-off the Ballinrobe Town players and management staged a guard of honour for Castlebar Celtic as the visitors entered the pitch in recognition of the guests being crowned Connacht Cup champions on Sunday week last.
Celtic began the joust in a sprightly fashion and the ‘Hoops’ almost snatched an early lead inside the first minute, but Jordan Loftus’ header flashed wide.
Indeed, Loftus would go on to have an impressive outing and the aforementioned striker was left ruing his luck on six minutes when another of his header’s flew wide, after he latched on to Mark Howley’s inch-perfect delivery.
However, the visiting supporters didn’t have to wait too long for the opening goal, which arrived on seven minutes. Ballinrobe failed to clear the ball out of the danger zone, and Howley was lurking inside the 18 yard box and he applied a clinical finish past the beaten Sean Shaughnessy.
The home defence were under some stern pressure, and had to rely on some astute defending from Aaron McDonnell and Sean Hughes, with Luke Duddy also mopping up any loose ball.
However, the eager visitors mustered a second goal on 23 minutes. Loftus was the playmaker, as his neat lay-off set-up Johnnie Cocozza and the latter’s smashing finish rustled the back of the net.
The industrious Lerlah Hay was denied a certain goal by Ballinrobe’s Shaughnessy, but the visitors did manage to add a crucial third goal on 25 minutes, when Loftus’ daisy-cutter strike from outside the box flew into the bottom corner of the net.
Hay continued to try and get his name on the score-sheet and the striker was most unlucky to see his scorching drive whistle wide on 31 minutes.
An under-siege Ballinrobe then suffered a major set-back on 34 minutes, when their left-back Luke Duddy received a straight red card.
The hosts tried to circle the wagons and maintain their weakened team structure until the half-time break; however, Castlebar effectively ended the game as a contest on 38 minutes. Mark Cunningham produced a tidy display at right-back and he set-up the roving Dylan Edwards and the latter finished with aplomb.
Celtic could have added a fifth goal on 40 minutes, with Cocozza blazing a gilt-edged opportunity over the crossbar, before the same player was thwarted by Shaughnessy on 44 minutes.
The Hoops began the second half in a productive fashion, with Loftus seeing his volley whoosh inches wide on 46 minutes. A dominant Castlebar refused to step off the gas and Stevie Gavin’s troops pinched a fifth goal on 51 minutes to galvanize their lead, courtesy of Edwards.
The Robesiders did manage to pull a goal back on 55 minutes, as Celtic conceded a rare goal from a set-piece. Theo Bellanger’s in-swinging corner-kick found McDonnell and the latter’s towering header rustled the back of Stefan Hester’s net.
However, two minutes later, Ballinrobe’s McDonnell scored an unfortunate own goal as he inadvertently diverted Ben Murphy’s dangerous delivery to the back of the Ballinrobe net.
As the game petered out to its inevitable conclusion, Celtic could well have added further gloss to the score-line, with Loftus seeing his looping header from an acute angle clip the crossbar.
Indeed, Loftus continued to chase and harry every inch of possession and in a goalmouth scramble on 86 minutes he was unlucky to see a close-range effort parried by Shaughnessy, before the former’s rebound clipped the upright.
Celtic substitute Fionn Mahon nearly added a seventh goal for the visitor’s seconds before the full-time whistle, but his header flew over the crossbar.
