Castlebar Celtic 6
Price 19, Hynes 26, 55, Douglas 44, 74, Dravins 86
Monaghan United1
McKenna 10
Daniel Carey
Celtic Park
“A JUNIOR club in the League of Ireland,” one man mused aloud before kick-off at Celtic Park, Castlebar on Saturday evening. “I think it’s absolutely crackers!” Two hours later, the same individual was rejoicing in a 6-1 victory for the home side, before queuing up to sample a slice of humble pie.
Castlebar Celtic’s debut in the land of the big boys could scarcely have gone better. Tougher tests lie ahead, for sure, but this was a serious statement of intent. Celtic played wonderful flowing football and worked exceptionally hard throughout.
Their superiority was obvious from the off, despite falling behind to a 10th minute goal. Before that, Celtic might have scored no fewer than three times. The outstanding Shane Hynes shot narrowly wide on two occasions, while Gary Price beat the offside trap only to take the ball too far left. Then, entirely against the run of play, Monaghan’s Gary McBride got a touch on the ball, and Danny McKenna fired into the net from the right hand side of the box.
The lead lasted nine minutes. Then Shane Hynes floated in a cross from the left and Gary Price connected with the deftest of headers to deflect the ball into the far corner. By the 26th minute, Celtic were ahead. Monaghan goalkeeper Ronan McGunn, who had earlier done well to keep out Neil Douglas’ effort, made a hash of an attempted clearance after leaving his goal. Shane Hynes took full advantage and curled the ball into the empty net.
In the position which their play merited, Gavin Dykes’ side began to find their feet. McGunn failed to hold Hynes’ next effort, while Douglas’ attempt from a corner kick was just too high. Ioseph O’Reilly was unsuccessful in his first one-on-one, but all the indications were that there wouldn’t be long to wait for a third Celtic goal. Pat Fitzgerald sprayed the ball around with purpose. Aidan Walsh put in a huge sliding tackle.
Then, on the stroke of half time, Gerard O’Boyle’s cross put the Monaghan rearguard under pressure and number three arrived when Neil Douglas finished from close range.
The AC/DC song ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ got an airing at half time, and on the resumption, there was little sign of Celtic letting up either. Simon Kelly sent a downward header goalwards, and James Mingoue was lucky not to redirect the ball into the net. Ten minutes into the second half, Shane Hynes added his second goal. Ioseph O’Reilly battled hard on the right to secure possession, Gary Price sent a dinky ball across the box, and Hynes controlled it with his left before sticking it into the net with his right. Magic.
As both sides began to introduce substitutes, Celtic continued to carve out half chances. Ioseph O’Reilly turned provider again after 74 minutes, floating over a cross from the right which Neil Douglas met with a diving header. That made it 5-1 and the urgings of a Monaghan sub (‘Keep talking, boys, we’re gone quiet!’) sounded very forlorn indeed.
Celtic were obviously enjoying themselves by now but few felt the scoring was over. That suspicion was confirmed four minutes from full time after two substitutes combined to apply the coup de grace. Danny Fallon, only on the field for two minutes, played a great cross from deep, and Peter Dravins’ neat header closed the scoring.
The announcement of Castlebar Celtic chairman Colm Hynes as man of the match caused some amusement – it was quickly corrected to Shane Hynes, a worthy recipient of the honour. Shane Smyth might have made it 7-1, but Monaghan goalkeeper McGunn kept the sub’s effort out. Not that it mattered.
When managing Shamrock Rovers, Damien Richardson commented after a trip to Monaghan that it was hard to instil professionalism in his players when there were cows staring at them from the field adjacent to Century Homes Park. Somehow, after this performance, you get the impression Castlebar Celtic will cope when they make the long trek to the border county – cows or no cows.
CASTLEBAR CELTIC
N McNicholas, A Walsh, G O’Boyle, S Kelly, J Minogue, I O’Reilly, N O’Hara, P Fitzgerald, N Douglas, G Price, S Hynes. Subs used: S Smyth for O’Hara (72 mins); P Dravins for Price (75 mins); D Fallon for O’Reilly (84 mins).
MONAGHAN UNITED
R McGunn, M Corrigan, T Toal, P Finnegan, G Reilly, A Breslin, G McKenna, S Finnegan, G McBride, M O’Connor, M McGarrell. Subs used: N Flynn for McGarrell (61 mins); Jimmy Folan for Corrigan (61 mins); S Reavey for O’Connor (75 mins).
Referee: D McGrath (Inver)
