Castlebar Celtic return to Mayo summit with win over Glenhest

ELVERYS SPORTS SUPER LEAGUE

Glenhest Rovers 0

Castlebar Celtic 2

M Cunnigham 15, L Kelly 70

In Beltra

In the midst of a typical swirling wind in Glenhest, it appeared that it was going to be neck and neck going down the home stretch as Castlebar Celtic aimed to head into the weekend at the top of the Mayo Super League.

Mark Cunningham’s early header had them ahead, but even against a ten-man (at the time) Glenhest Rovers, there was still jeopardy.

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That was, before Luke Kelly rolled the ball into the left corner to add vital breathing room, and make it 13 wins from 13 games for a stupendous Castlebar Celtic side.

The game started at lightning pace, with Celtic looking to cause all sorts of problems with the Beltra breeze at their backs. Three minutes in, a probing Cunningham ball had to be scrambled away by ‘keeper Eoghan McManamon. He was fortunate as Eoghan Hughes sent his rebound straight at him.

The hosts were causing some quagmires for the champions early doors, though. Two minutes later, a low Pat Mulchrone effort had Stefan Hester beaten when it came back out off the upright. Connor McCarthy found the ball at his feet, but just couldn’t deflect it goalwards to inch his men ahead.

Corners and aerial offensives were the name of the game for the Hoops, and with 15 minutes played, their perseverance paid dividends. A fine corner from Dylan Edwards, who was proving a bit of a threat on the flank, found Cunningham, who guided the ball in for his fifth goal of the season.

The venom in Stevie Gavin’s men, in terms of piling on the pressure, subsided somewhat after they found scoreboard superiority.

That being said, there was plenty of needle in the air as proceedings wore on, and Jimmy Cawley would have been running out of space in his notebook to write down all the infractions which were piling up.

Ten minutes before half time, Edwards and Cunningham almost linked up to devastating effect once more. This time, when a pinpoint free found the full back at the back stick, he just couldn’t get a firm touch to deflect home.

That previously mentioned tension came to the fore in the 58th minute, when Ethan Barrett saw red and was sent off.

Celtic still found it difficult to craft a plethora of clear-cut chances in Act Two, even with the numerical advantage.

That changed in the 70th minute, when Luke Kelly raced at the Rovers rearguard before slotting into the far left corner.

If it wasn’t nigh-on impossible for the men in navy to mount a comeback after going two down on the scoresheet, it definitely was after they went two down in terms of personnel on the field.

When whistler Cawley spotted skipper Pat Mulchrone getting a little too involved with a Castlebar Celtic man in the box before a penalty, he flashed a second yellow, making the mountain Glenhest would have to climb even steeper.

From there, it was game, set, and match, meaning Celtic’s flawless run was extended to thirteen, seeing them top the table with games to spare heading into the weekend.

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A full report will be carried in Tuesday’s edition of The Mayo News