Castlebar Celtic thrash Ballina Town in FAI Junior Cup

FAI Junior Cup Round 1

Castlebar Celtic 6
Brennan 32, Loftus 40 pen, 56 pen, Kelly 52, 61 Hughes 85

Ballina Town 0

In Celtic Park

Castlebar Celtic mercilessly thrashed an understrength Town side to advance to the second round of the FAI Junior Cup on Sunday.

It took Celtic longer than perhaps it should to register their superiority. The first goal came from ex-Town player, Niall Brennan, who jumped to head Luke Kelly’s cross past Emmet Peyton after thirty-two minutes.

Peyton and Kelly clashed near the edge of the box resulting in a penalty for Celtic – five minutes before the break. Jordan Loftus sent the ’keeper the wrong way from the spot.

Loftus beat the Town’s offside line to turn provider for Kelly to add the third on fifty-two minutes, and four minutes later, Loftus scored his second penalty after Jamie Moyles handled the ball on the line, in an attempt to prevent a goal. Moyles received a straight red card.

Kelly scored again after Hunt broke, following a rare Ballina attack, and Eoghan Hughes, off the bench, added the sixth near the end, after confusion in the Ballina defence. Returning boss, Mick Duffy, knows he has work to do in Ballina.

A full report will be carried in Tuesday’s Mayo News.