Maughan’s pure magic

Maughan’s pure magic

ROUND 6
Illies Celtic             0
Castlebar Celtic     4

John Grant
Inishowen

JOHN Maughan grabbed a hat-trick as Castlebar Celtic edged into the last 16 of the FAI Junior Cup after a comprehensive away victory over Inishowen Football League side Illies Celtic. Gavin Dykes’ side outplayed their fellow Celtic in every department, although Illies showed effort and determination throughout.
In truth, the Donegal side never really found their rhythm and were on the back foot from the off. Their very narrow pitch suits a side that plays neat, passing football on the deck; unfortunately for the home side, this is exactly the type of football Castlebar specialise in.
The home side  managed to weather the storm of attacks for all of four minutes – and then the pantomime started. Castlebar’s mercurial striker John Maughan was tackled clumsily in the box following a through ball from Pat Fitzgerald. His team mates’ appeals for a penalty were loud. The Illies goalkeeper Noel McDermott saw the ref dismiss the claim and, thinking the ref had awarded his side a free kick, grabbed the ball and placed it on the ground a few yards in front of his net. But the ref hadn’t awarded a free and John Maughan picked himself up, nicked the ball away from the keeper and slotted home. Easy-peasy for 1-0.
Castlebar’s centre backs were put under no pressure from the Illies strikers. That allowed the away side space to flood the midfield, but they were profligate in failing to capitalise on five free kicks in promising positions.
Indeed, Illies were lucky to go in at the break just the one goal down. Russell Gibbons and John Maughan both had penalty appeals turned down in the first half. Maughan’s chip came off the crossbar after 32 minutes, and the man who prove the hat-trick hero was denied by McDermott soon after. The locals’ best opportunity came when William McLaughlin’s cross found Niall McDaid, but Mick Wallace made a miraculous save. His goal would not be breached all day.
Nine minutes into the second half, Castlebar predator Maughan was upended in the box. Seán McHale blasted the resulting penalty into the top left-hand corner of the Illies net. At 2-0 up, the travelling side were already looking home and hosed. A minute later, the match was effectively over. After Gibbons was fouled, Castlebar took the resultant free kick quickly. Maughan latched on to a superb reverse pass from Gerry Burke, rounded the keeper and slotted low into the Illies net.
Illies brought on substitutes Dominic Coyle and Graeme Doherty. They added a bit of pace and guile to their side but Castlebar’s defence was solid. Coyle and Paddy Doherty both tested Wallace, but the Mayo netminder was in good form. Illies earned some frees in the closing stages but were wasteful with them.
Castlebar added to the Donegal side’s woes with a fourth goal nine minutes from time. And it was that man Maughan again who did the damage. He accepted Declan Flynn’s quick throw just outside the box and slotted under the keeper for a well-deserved hat-trick.
“In my opinion, he’s the best centre-forward in Mayo,” Gavin Dykes told this newspaper yesterday (Monday). “He’s exceptionally quick, and when he’s on that sort of form, there’s nobody that can handle him. But it’s not about individuals, it’s about the team. Everybody did well and we were missing a few on Sunday as well, so I’ll have major [selection] headaches [when everyone is back]. Conditions were fairly tough, the pitch wasn’t great, but we had a very good second half, and we could have won by a wee bit more.”
Gary Price, Shane Hynes, Iosaf O’Reilly, Gerard O’Boyle and Aidan Walsh didn’t feature on Sunday. Illies Celtic were fortunate not to have played Dykes’ full-strength squad. Who knows what the scoreline would have been?

ILLIES CELTIC
N McDermott, D Doherty, Paddy Doherty, Paul Doherty, C McCann, N McDaid, O O’Donnell, A Doherty, A Fletcher, M McLaughlin, W McLaughlin. Subs used: J Doherty for Paul Doherty (60 mins); G Doherty for M McLaughlin (65 mins); D Coyle for Paddy Doherty (74 mins).
CASTLEBAR CELTIC
M Wallace, N Walsh, A Neary, S Kelly, S Reilly, S Ryan, S McHale, P Fitzgerald, J Maughan, R Gibbons, G Burke. Subs used: J Minogue for Burke (60 mins); D Flynn for Fitzgerald (71 mins); F McHale for Gibbons (79 mins).

Referee: E Doherty.