Mervue United 0

Castlebar Celtic 1

By Mike Rafferty in Headford

No doubt many post-mortem examinations have been held on the outcome of this Connacht Junior Cup final in Headford on Sunday, but few would find any injustice at the outcome as Castlebar Celtic made it back-to-back wins at the expense of a Galway side for the second year in succession.

True, the penalty awarded for the matchwinner was of the soft variety, but the goal apart, the Mayo League side looked to be a step above what Mervue had to offer on the day.

If such a thing is possible, the early goal killed off a lot of the competitiveness in the game, for as the contest progressed, the more Castlebar retreated, the more Mervue advanced, but at the same time they seldom looked like they had a recovery in their armoury.

They certainly went chasing the game in the latter stages, but be it wide on the flanks or in central attack, Mervue could not just buy an inch, as Celtic full-backs Mark Cunningham and Brian Walsh never gave any latitude to wingers Kody McCann nor Adam Healy; while in central defence, Ioseph O’Reilly and Cathal Coyne generally reigned supreme over Lewis Waweru and Mark O’Halloran.

Such big occasions as this rarely produce a feast of goals and this was no different as defences dominated for the duration, while the respective goalkeepers, Peter Healy and Stephen Hester, were only occasionally called upon to impress.

In fact, Hester had his only save of the day to make in the first chance of the game on 14 minutes when an Adam Healy corner was powered goalwards by McCann, but the big custodian got down to save comfortably.

Ollie Neary and Damien Brennan’s charges were pretty comfortable in the early exchanges as Oisin Coyne and Luke O’Gorman held their own in the middle of the park, and a few set-plays presented opportunities.

At the other end, Castlebar hadn’t really threatened before they made the breakthrough on 33 minutes. With Darragh McGrath ruled out through injury, Ben O’Gorman slotted into a central defensive role, but the young defender was caught in possession at the corner flag.

Attempting to win the ball back in a duel with Eoghan Hughes in the box, the midfielder went down, but there was no reaction from referee Glen Campbell. However, the linesman flagged for a penalty, and the senior official duly pointed to the spot.

Pictured: The Mervue United team which was defeated by Castlebar Celtic in the Connacht Junior Cup final in Headford last weekend. Back row, from left: Mark O’Halloran, Kody McCann, Conor Keady, Peter Healy, Ben O’Gorman, and Lewis Waweru. Front: Daniel Brennan, Adam Healy, Luke O’Gorman, Josh Molloy (mascot), Oisín Coyne (captain) and Kacper Zatonski. Photos: Iain McDonald.