Super Celtic outclass rivals to retain the cup
Castlebar Celtic players, management and backroom staff celebrate another Mayo Super Cup win. Pictures: John Corless
Castlebar Celtic outclassed Westport United to claim Sunday’s Super Cup, with a win that highlighted the superiority of the Celtic side.
The Hoops simply wanted it more, and all their ‘big players’ put in a big performance. Westport, on the other hand, were flat throughout – except for a short spell immediately after the break. None of their key players shone, as Celtic let them have the ball, and waited for opportunities to strike.
Jordan Loftus was outstanding throughout. Not only did he score the three goals, but he also ran the show for Celtic and was a very deserving recipient of the player of the match award.
“I really, really enjoyed it. Very proud of the boys,” Loftus told the . “It’s just a feeling of overwhelming pride because we execute game plans so well. We trained on Friday, and it couldn’t have been more perfect today. It was exactly, exactly what we practised. Frustrate them. They were kicking balls out over the sidelines. We wanted them to play. So, the possession was probably about 66-33. Two thirds of possession to them I'd say. But we wanted to punish them on the break and look what we've done.
“Look at the goals. For the first one, the ball came in, I went up with Noah Massey. I gave him a shoulder, he hit me a shoulder, I came out better and the ball dropped, and we’re a goal up. Then the second goal, I was one-on-one and they switched off. The ball came in and I just kept the eye on it and headed it down low, it's all you do, it's what all strikers are told to do. The third goal, Peter Basquelle’s long kick, Gary Cunningham's positioning was off, and I hit it from outside the box half volley.
“I wasn't fired up for this game at all, all week. I don't know what it was, busy and working, back from holidays last week. And we'd done the team talk today and just as we were finishing, Stevie Gavin put up one of the team sheets and it went through all our cup finals, and the last six cup finals I've scored in four of them, and it got me going. It was an hour and a half before the game, it was the only time I thought about the game all week, and I went, okay let's go, and that's what we've done.
“Stevie made a point earlier on as well, we've won nine trophies in the last three years, they've won one. It was 8-1 before the game, of course, and we said we want to make it 9-1, not 8-2, and that's what we've done. There was tears there from Westport players. Look, I don't want to see anyone upset, but in a small part, like at the end of the day, someone has to lose, and we know that could have a huge blow on them mentally going into next year. So we'll see what happens, but yeah, it meant a lot, and mental warfare going into next season as well.”
On Sunday’s showing, Westport are a long way behind Celtic, despite finishing second to them in the league. The Castlebar outfit were without Stefan Hester, Mark Cunningham, Eoghan Hughes and Oran Groarke, to add to the injured Jason Hunt and Niall Brennan. But it made no difference as the players they brought in, all looked they were born into the side.
Westport were toothless up top, with Dylan O’Malley and Darren Browne both operating too far back, and wingers Kevin Kitterick and Cian Halpin, were ineffective against Celtic’s full backs, Brian Walsh and Mark Howley. The centre-backs, Cathal Coyne and team captain Ioseph O’Reilly, hadn’t that much to do, but they were flawless, and behind them minding the house, Peter Basquelle had an excellent final.
In the middle of the park, Fionn Mahon, Johnnie Cocozza, and Dylan Edwards, were outstanding, totally dominating that area, and tackling ferociously when required.
“We simply didn’t turn up,” said Westport manager Anthony O’Neill. “We didn't turn up in the first half which was disappointing for us because we spoke a lot during the week in training about being ourselves and playing at a high tempo, but for whatever reason it just didn't happen for us, and we were very disappointed with the performance.”
Westport were sluggish and passed the ball incessantly without any noticeable penetration. They do this. Their players are comfortable on the ball, with a good first touch. Which is fine, of itself. But goals win matches, and few are ever scored by passing the ball over and back, across the park, in your own half. For long periods of this match, this is what they did. The only variation involved ambitious shots from distance that sailed over or wide.
Westport were underwhelming all over the park, and apart from full back, Mikey O’Brien, offered very few ideas. Their key players were largely anonymous. They struggled to defend set pieces and conceded twice from dead balls. They struggled too, to beat the first defender when they took set pieces. Manager Anthony O’Neill has improved the side defensively, since he took over at the start of the season, but his side made the mistakes of old for all three Celtic goals.
Celtic’s policy was to let Westport have the ball and then pounce and try and get the ball to Luke Kelly, who has ferocious pace and knows where the goal is. Twice early on, Edwards thumped the ball wide down the right, to Kelly whose pace tormented Harrison Quinn.
A Dylan Edwards free kick let to the opener after 16 minutes. Loftus and Noah Massey challenged for the ball with the striker first to react when the ball broke. This was a cheap goal for Westport to concede, especially in a cup final, and they never recovered from it. Loftus got a second from another set piece on 39 minutes, when he finished nearly when the defence switched off briefly.
Westport were brighter after the break, and Mikey O’Brien’s shot from way out was a fine goal, but it failed to ignite Westport as five minutes later, Loftus raced on to a long clearance from Basquelle, and volleyed it past Gary Cunningham, to put the result beyond all reasonable doubt.
Dylan O’Malley and Darren Browne had shots and Westport’s best chance fell to their captain, Jack Dawson, who sent it over, when scoring seemed a much simpler ask.
Both sides brought a huge following with a carnival atmosphere and plenty of colour, but it was the Castlebar fans who went home with smiles on their faces, as Celtic captured their third trophy of the season.
