Celtic go to Town and complete title hat-trick
Luke Kelly scores one of his five goals at Celtic Park last Sunday. Picture: John Corless
Castlebar Celtic retained their Mayo Super League crown on Sunday afternoon when a one-sided win over a depleted Ballyhaunis Town at Celtic Park put them out of reach. This latest title marks the club’s third in succession under the management of Stevie Gavin and Declan Flynn. With back-to-back Connacht Cups also secured, Celtic continue to set the standard in both county and province.
Ballyhaunis were missing several first-team players and were unable to contain the strong Celtic team that filleted them repeatedly. By half-time, the scoreline read 11-0. They added three more before they went home.
In a strange twist of fate, the last time these two met in the league – back in September 2022 – the scoreline was identical. In the intervening period, Ballyhaunis dropped out of the top tier and returned while Celtic have continued to accumulate silverware.
Ballyhaunis were without regular goalkeeper Spajic and relied on 16-year-old Jason Powers, playing out of position in an emergency role. With Celtic in complete control, Powers was replaced at the break by Adam Noone, who started the, match at centre forward. Noone, a reluctant goalkeeper, made several stops in the second-half as Celtic turned to more speculative efforts from range.
The opening goal came after just 45 seconds. Mark Cunningham broke down the right and Jordan Loftus finished the move. Celtic’s second arrived via Dylan Edwards after a mishit goal-kick fell straight to Loftus, who squared for his strike partner. The third came after seven minutes, with Eoghan Hughes converting from close range.
By the quarter-hour, Luke Kelly had scored the first of his five. Celtic added several more in quick succession, with Edwards, Kelly and Loftus again involved. Hughes notched Celtic’s eighth, Kelly tapped in again soon after, and there were further goals from both Hughes and Kelly before the break. Ballyhaunis failed to register a shot on target during the opening half. Celtic goalkeeper Stefan Hester touched the ball once — to clear a routine back-pass from Brian Walsh.
With the result already settled, Stevie Gavin rotated his team. Three substitutions were made at the interval, with Peter Basquelle replacing Hester in goal, Ben Murphy coming in for Fionn Mahon, and Cathal Coyne taking over from Oran Groarke. With next weekend’s FAI Cup fixture against Longford Town in mind, Stevie Gavin wanted as many players to get game time as permitted.
There were three more goals in the second-half. Loftus added another, heading home from a precision cross by Hughes. Defender – and captain – Ioseph O’Reilly got on the scoresheet when he reacted first to a loose ball in the penalty area. Kelly then completed his afternoon’s work with a fifth goal, set up by Edwards, who remained a threat throughout.
Though thoroughly outmatched, Ballyhaunis did not stop trying. Their attacking moments were few, but Basquelle was called into action late on, making two straightforward saves. When referee Jimmy Cawley blew the final whistle, there was no doubt about the outcome of the league season.
The trophy presentation was brief. Seamus Hughes, chairman of the Mayo League, handed the cup to O’Reilly — who had to leave quickly for work.
Kelly’s five-goal haul brings his tally to 31 in all competitions this season, including 20 in the Super League. His impact is all the more notable given that he has frequently started so many games on the bench.
Dylan Edwards said the result was comfortable.
“We prepped well,” he told the . “We trained hard this week and wanted to get over the line. Once we got onto that pitch, it’s 11 v 11. It doesn’t matter who we are playing. We showed up today, and we were clinical. It was a fast start. You can only play who’s in front of you, and Ballyhaunis were there. They gave it everything. We took our chances. I came here three years ago hoping to win something – but three in a row? Two years ago unbeaten, last year we lost once, and now 15 from 15. It’s relentless. Credit to everyone involved.”
Their attention now turns to Longford Town. Celtic have home advantage for the glamour tie which kicks off at 6pm on Sunday.
“We’re buzzing,” Edwards said. “We’re not going out just to take part. We’re going to compete. Longford are a semi-pro side. They are fit and organised but we believe in our squad. We’ll give it everything.” Seamus Hughes, Mayo League chairman, paid tribute to the champions.
“They’ve done it again, third time in a row. Fair play to them. They’ve stuck together, built every year. Unbeaten again with two games left.”
On the margin of victory, Hughes agreed that it was a big scoreline.
“It’s been a tough season for a lot of club,” he said. “Celtic have consistency; they have the same eleven nearly every week. Not many others can say that.”
Celtic manager Stevie Gavin acknowledged the significance of the win.
“It’s a great achievement,” he said. “This group has shown consistency all season. We came out of a tough game in the FAI Senior Cup and followed it with a Connacht Cup win. We’ve taken care of business week in, week out, and now we’ve sealed the league with games to spare. That speaks volumes for the squad. We got going straight away today. That opening goal gave us a lift and we just pushed on from there. We know Ballyhaunis are struggling this season, but all we can do is control what we do. It’s not our place to ease up – we respect every team we play."
Richie Crinnigan, manager of Ballyhaunis Town, admitted it was a tough afternoon.
“We thought about conceding, but it’s always better to play,” he told the . “Congratulations to Celtic. After going 3–0 down in five minutes, there was no way back for us. We knew it would be tough. But the lads kept playing. The season isn’t over yet. We’ve two games left. We’ll get eleven out and finish it. We might be in a play-off, depending on the league.”
Castlebar Celtic: Stefan Hester; Mark Cunningham, Ioseph O’Reilly, Brian Walsh, Mark Howley; Oran Groarke, Fionn Mahon, Eoghan Hughes; Luke Kelly, Jordan Loftus, Dylan Edwards. Subs: Peter Basquelle, Cathal Coyne and Ben Murphy (for Hester, Groarke and Mahon ht), Ben McHale and Daniel Ajenippa (for Howley and Hughes 65).
Ballyhaunis Town: Jason Powers; Talah Tayyab, Evan McNamara, Pat McGee, Ajyebiah Benjamin; Seán Moran, Mohamed Abdouni, Eman Fasanmi; Adam Noone, Isaac Owusu, Mohamed Alom. Subs: Mohamed Hindawi (for Tayyab ht), Mohamed Kezze and Adnan Khan (for Powers and Moran 55), Osam Ayinla (for Benjamin 63), Richie Crinnigan ( for Owusu 79).
REF: Jimmy Cawley
