Champions get the job done over Claremorris
Castlebar Celtic's Jordan Loftus tucks away his penalty in the second half. Picture: Castlebar Celtic FC
Understrength and under par, but the Castlebar Celtic machine kept rolling on after seeing off a dogged Claremorris at a wet and windy Celtic Park last Sunday.
The Connacht Cup champions, playing their first home game since their victory over Maree/Oranmore last month, were far from their best for much of the 90 minutes. Regulars Stefan Hester, Ioseph O’Reilly, Oran Groarke and Luke Kelly were all away and the Hoops were also missing Eoghan Hughes and Neil Douglas in attack, while Cathal Coyne is serving suspension after picking a straight red card the previous week against Westport United and he will also sit out the home and away clashes this coming week against Ballinrobe Town.
But a trio that has done so much damage to Super League teams over the years did so again as a brace from Jordan Loftus, who was wearing the captain’s armband in O’Reilly’s absence, and goals from Jason Hunt and Liam Flatley saw off a stubborn Claremorris side.
The visitors were in this game until the final 15 minutes and will be left to rue not making more of the possession they second in the second half. Surprise wins for Crossmolina and Ballinrobe Town last weekend have heaped the pressure on Simon Collins’ side but there is evidence to suggest that can escape the drop should they find their touch in front of goal.
Claremorris must have thought they were bang out of luck at the weekend, especially given the manner of Celtic’s opener on 10 minutes. Mark Cunningham’s long pass inside his own half was overhit but bounced over Claremorris goalkeeper Keith Saunders, and Liam Flatley took no chances to ensure the South Mayo custodian was not going to rescue the situation.
If the first goal had a large degree of fortune, Celtic’s second three minutes later was sheer class as a Jordan Loftus through ball split the Claremorris backline and Jason Hunt fired it past Saunders at the near post.
The duo were proving nearly impossible for Claremorris to deal with. The roles reversed on this occasion, Hunt then put through Loftus minutes later but the centre-forward shot wide, with Rokas Mikuckis doing enough to put Loftus off. They combined once again shortly after but Loftus shot straight at Saunders.
Claremorris began to find some joy and Ryan McLoughlin should have worked Jack Jensen more after he got on the end of Oisin Brady’s cross. Saunders would then deny Dylan Edwards before Claremorris pulled a goal back five minutes before half-time when Mark Maloney, unmarked on the edge of the box, fired a low drive into the bottom corner. The tricky winger was proving a nuisance to deal with and a clever through ball set up a chance for Maloney to equalise but Jensen was equal to it.
The away side had much of the ball early in the second half but did not do enough to trouble the Celtic backline. At the other end, Loftus saw another two chances go abegging as a sense of uneasiness began to creep around the ground.
Celtic put this game to bed on 71 minutes after Loftus was impeded by Keith Saunders in the penalty area and he converted the resulting spot kick before he added another with 12 minutes remaining after he headed in from a Dylan Edwards corner.
