Castlebar Celtic crush Ballina Town

Celtic crush champions


Castlebar Celtic   5
Gavin 10, O’Reilly 16, 32,
R O’Boyle 22, Cunningham 77
Ballina Town 0

Daniel Carey
Castlebar

WE don’t have a word in English (or Irish) for a 5-0 win, but the Spaniards have something more specific than ‘thrashing’ or ‘hammering’. Barcelona’s whitewash of Real Madrid last November had players and fans waving their hands in the air with fingers spread in celebration of the five goals – la manita, or ‘little hand’.
If last Sunday’s result is anything to go by – Castlebar Celtic’s second 5-0 win in three games – the Hoops mean business. As children played on a nearby slide, their fans had something to cheer besides the weather inside ten minutes at Celtic Park. Ballina goalkeeper Emmet Peyton, playing his first Super League game of the season, advanced bravely to deny Ioseph O’Reilly, but from the resultant corner, Gerard O’Boyle caught the ball with a super volley. The left back’s delight was clear as the ball hit the net, though the word from a few Celtic legends was that Stevie Gavin got the last touch.
Six minutes later, O’Reilly bested Peyton in a one-on-one situation, slipping the ball to the ’keeper’s left. Add another six minutes, and – incredibly – Celtic were three up. Alan McDonnell played the ball from close to the halfway line, Ronan O’Boyle stayed strong in the tackle, and suddenly he was through. It may have been a soft one for Town to concede, but the striker made the most of the opportunity.
The red-haired O’Boyle soon had the ball in the net for a second time following a through pass from Gavin, but assistant referee Martin Regan flagged it offside. The first of two memorable – if R-rated – exchanges between the respective managers came soon after, and referee Damien McGrath told both Declan Kilkelly and Alan Gough that they were on their last warning.
Ballina had a couple of half chances – a Declan O’Connor free kick and a Ross Kenny shot on the turn – but when the game’s fourth goal came after 32 minutes, it was a second for Celtic’s O’Reilly, who flicked home a cross from the left. The visitors almost got one back on the stroke of half time after Castlebar surrendered possession easily, but Gary Byrne saved after Eugene Gorman and Brendan Lavelle combined.
A fifth Celtic score seemed likely on the resumption, but Peyton managed a flying save to keep out Gavin’s snapshot, and then smothered the ball when Martin Owens had a sight of goal. Gavin had a penalty appeal turned down, while O’Reilly limped off to applause from the Celtic bench after a collision.
Ross Kenny and Michael Duffy went close as Gough urged his charges to “keep going”, but Celtic scored their final (and perhaps most popular) goal 13 minutes from time. Stephen Jennings got the ball off Malachy McCarron, Gavin’s chip came off the crossbar, and sub Ollie Cunningham netted the rebound.
The only threat to Celtic’s victory came when referee McGrath warned Kilkelly that if one Hoops supporter didn’t “shut up”, he would “stop the game”. Assistant manager Harry Jennings was deployed as an emissary and a premature end was avoided. The gauntlet, it’s fair to say, has been thrown down.

Castlebar Celtic
G Byrne, M Owens, G O’Boyle, S Ryan, J Minogue, A McDonnell, I O’Reilly, J Fallon, R O’Boyle, S Gavin, A Neary.
Subs used: S Jennings for R O’Boyle (63 mins); O Cunningham for O’Reilly (67 mins); K Hopkins for Minogue (78 mins).

Ballina Town
E Peyton, D Helly, D O’Hara, D O’Connor, M McCarron, T O’Connor, J Durkan, R Kenny, M Duffy, B Lavelle, E Gorman.
Subs used: D McCormack for O’Hara (h-t); D Gorman for D O’Connor (58 mins); T Duffy for McCarron (85 mins).

Referee: D McGrath