Celtic draw Douglas Hall

Celtic draw Douglas Hall in FAI Senior Cup

Daniel Carey

CASTLEBAR Celtic have been drawn away to Cork side Douglas Hall in the first round of the FAI Senior Cup. The draw, which took place at the Grand Hotel in Malahide last night (Monday), means Gavin Dykes’ side must travel south to meet the Cork intermediate side on the weekend of March 29-30.
Should they advance from that fixture, they would face a home tie against Dublin outfit Belgrove on Sunday, April 20 in round two.
Meanwhile, Celtic face another long journey to play Carrick United from Carrick-on-Suir in the FAI Junior Cup semi-final. The date of that game has yet to be confirmed, as has the other semi-final, which sees Corduff United host fellow Dubliners Killester United.
It promises to be a hectic few weeks for the team from the county town. A Connacht Cup quarter-final away to Ballinasloe Town is just around the corner, as is the start of the Super League season here in Mayo.
Manager Gavin Dykes said that it was ‘a huge achievement’ to have qualified for the competition officially known as the FAI Ford Senior Challenge Cup, following Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Tipperary side St Michael’s.
“It’s where this club wants to be. It’s where I’d like to be, and hopefully we can push on,” he told The Mayo News.
“But we’ve got to start back again next week and do things right. We’re delighted to be in the [Junior Cup] semi-final. It’s the second time in three years we’ve been here, so hopefully we can go on now a step further than what we did.”
The Sligo man described St Michael’s as ‘a very good side’ with ‘a couple of smashing players’, but was pleased the effort of his own side, who spent the night before the game in a Kiltimagh hotel.
“We played a certain way. It mightn’t have been pretty at times, but we set ourselves out right, scored from a set-piece, and defended bravely. I’m delighted for the lads. I’m delighted for everybody in the club. It’s been a huge effort ... They’re such a special bunch of lads.”
Celtic lost midfielder Stevie Ryan and goalkeeper Mick Wallace to injury on Sunday, but defenders Seán Reilly and Simon Kelly will be available for the next round having served their one-match bans.