Five-star Celtic cruise past Cloonfad
Jason Hunt of Castlebar Celtic gets in front of Cloonfad United's Darragh Flynn. Pictures: John Corless
There was a tremendous atmosphere at Cloonfad on Sunday for this FAI Junior Cup match. A group of about twenty-five children – the ‘Cloonfad Ultras’ – armed with a drum, flags, a loud-hailer, music and flares, chanted, waved and sang. There was a great crowd too in attendance, making a real sense of occasion about this cup-tie.
It was difficult to tell if the smell of sulphur was coming from the flares or the early tackles, as the sides got stuck in from the off. Referee Ger Carmody who had an excellent game, was busy. He waved his yellow card seven times, four for Cloonfad, in the first half to keep the reins on the players’ enthusiasm for a place in the fourth round.
Celtic had the best of the opening exchanges with man of the match, Jordan Loftus, sending in a trademark cross, but Jason Hunt was in front of the ball and couldn’t keep his acrobatics on target. Hunt did the business, however, on 15 minutes, when his shot from thirty metres unexpectedly made its way past PJ Donellan in the Cloonfad goal Cloonfad responded, but without the injured Conor Flynn, their marquee forward, they lacked a cutting edge, up front. They had a couple of half chances. Darren Keadin and Andrew Glennon came close, but Celtic are a tight outfit at the back and never looked like conceding.
Dylan Edwards doubled the visitors’ advantage with a sweet free kick direct to the net on twenty-three minutes. Johnny Cocozza, Oran Groarke and Loftus (two) had chances but couldn’t convert them. Eventually Paul Walsh go the inevitable third just before the whistle, when he pounced on the rebound of Cocozza’s shot off the upright, to send Celtic to the dressing room, in control of the tie.
There was to be no second-half turnaround from Cloonfad. Indeed, they only got the ball into Celtic’s half, four times in the closing 45.
While Cloonfad didn’t threaten, they didn’t give up either. They defended grittily, with Cameron Costello, Andrew Glennon, David Freyne, Aidan Sloyan and replacement goalkeeper Richard Miskell, putting in solid performances to try and keep the brakes on the Celtic steamroller. They kept their shape and challenged Celtic for every ball. They were overrun in midfield, however, and Celtic threatened constantly.
Jason Hunt narrowly beat the offside line to add his second on 53 minutes, and substitute Eoghan Hughes finished well for a fifth ten minutes later. Celtic had other chances too but were denied by last-second tackles or good goalkeeping. They sprayed the ball around majestically and often teased Cloonfad, with ‘come and get it’ passing across the middle in an attempt to draw them out. But Cloonfad stayed firm, a despite the scoreline, defended well for the most part.
Celtic never moved above second gear but manager Stevie Gavin, did run the bench bringing in Mark Howley, Bahso Hay, Fionn Mahon, Dylan Felle and Eoghan Hughes. Hughes and Howley looked the pick of the subs, while Hunt and Cocozza challenged Loftus for the man of the match accolade.
“We’re delighted to be through and looking forward to the next round,” Stevie Gavin told the . “We have a trip to Limerick now in the next round, to Ashling Annacotty and we can’t wait for it. Last year we travelled to Limerick (to Pike Rovers) in hope; this year we are travelling in anticipation. We want to get into the next round. It will be a challenge, but it will be a challenge for them too. We hope we come out the right side of it.”
Dylan Edwards said it is always a tricky affair, facing Roscommon sides, away from home.
“We controlled the game from the get-go and we took our chances,” he told the . “We’re very happy with the result. We’re missing a few players. Niall Brennan and Stefan Hester were out today and others too. We have a big squad and plenty of quality to come in. You need players at the same level if you want to do well, and we want to go far in the FAI Cup, which we have. Cloonfad played with pride today. They kept going and tried to defend and that’s what you’re going to get at these games. We were disciplined, we kept the ball and we took our chances. We’re going back to the training ground this week and we’ll be ready for the next round in two weeks.”
A minutes’ silence was observed before the match, as a mark of respect for the victims of recent accidents and tragedies in Cloonfad. Jordan Loftus, on behalf of Castlebar Celtic, made a presentation to Cloonfad’s Matty Freyne before kick-off.
