13 August 1997
CHARLESTOWN FIGHTBACK EMBELLISHES EPIC DECIDER. . .
Celtic rediscover their golden touch
Castlebar Celtic ..4 Charlestown Athletic ...3
Milebush Report by Tom Kelly
The words consistency and conquest are becoming part of Castlebar Celtic's vocabulary again. The most successful club in the history of Mayo football have started to put the lean times firmly behind them. But they flirted with complacency before securing a dramatic Mayo F.A. Cup victory over Charlestown Athletic at Milebush on Sunday in a final rich in skill and honest endeavour.
Celtic, unbeaten in seventeen matches since the start of the season, went astonishingly close to committing football suicide by losing concentration after establishing a three-goal winning margin in the early moments of the second half. Charlestown's gifted young side produced the most sensational of fight-backs before stopping short of snatching the equalising goal they probably deserved on the quality of their second half performance.
Two goals in the space of two minutes by Brendan Towey and Enda Casey brought Athletic back into contention after they had fallen 4-1 in arrears three minutes into the second period. Celtic, apparently sensing they had the title all but won, dropped their guard and almost paid the price.
Steve Gavin's brilliant individual goal in the 68th minute seemed to suggest that Castlebar were literally going to run away with the Robert Kilkelly Cup. In fact, they could easily have registered a fifth goal two minutes after Gavin's strike when the unlucky Darragh Ainsworth lifted the ball over the crossbar from eight yards following splendid play on the left by Sean Reilly.
Charlestown, to their credit, found inspiration when disaster appeared to be staring them in the face. Brendan Towey, one of several members of the Charlestown team who has come up through the ranks of schoolboys and youth football, grabbed an unexpected lifeline when he directed a 20-yards drive past Celtic goalkeeper Niall Gallagher from a tight angle.
hen, before Celtic had time to regain their defensive composure, Charlestown struck again. In what was arguably the finest move of the match, Frank Conway's incisive delivery from the back found Michael Taylor in space on the right.
Taylor, whose pace and ability to find space was causing the Celtic rearguard serious trouble, turned inside before laying off the ball to Enda Casey who scored in style.
GROWING THREAT
Celtic made two changes at that point which helped turn the game back in their direction after a poor spell. Brian Malone was introduced to man-mark the industrious Taylor, and the experienced Kevin Ryan was switched from attack to midfield to combat the growing threat of Towey.
Celtic's refusal to panic served them in good stead in the closing stages, although Kevin Giblin had a glorious opportunity of equalising eight minutes from the end. The foundation of Castlebar's second Mayo F.A. Cup triumph was established in the first half. Steve Gavin gave them the lead in the third minute following Reilly's clinical pass into the six-yards box.
Charlestown equalised in the sixth minute. They were awarded a penalty when Adrian O'Brien was adjudged to have fouled Casey, and central defender Kevin Duignan made no mistake from the spot.
Fintan McHale, having a quiet game by his high standards, restored Celtic's lead in the 20th minute when he headed Gavin's cross to the net at the near post. It was poor defending from Charlestown's point of view, but worse followed when goalkeeper Eugene Marren dropped the ball into his own net after failing to hold a long range free-kick by Castlebar right-full, Ollie Cunningham.
Charlestown, because they were always full of ideas pushing forward, never looked to be out of the game. They would have been on level terms, in fact, had Kevin Giblin not missed two clear-cut chances with the Celtic defence at sea.
HEALTHY VOTE
By the same token, however, Celtic also tossed away further scoring chances at the other, most notably two which fell to the feet of Darragh Ainsworth. Celtic may have made hard work of winning, but few could question their credentials as winners of the Mayo League's most prestigious cup competition.
The key Castlebar performances were produced by Steve Gavin, Sean Reilly, Kevin Ryan and Ollie Cunningham. The victory represented Celtic's first major title since they last won the Robert Kilkelly Cup in 1988.
From a Charlestown point of view, the display represented a healthy vote of confidence in the club's future. Even without influential midfielders Ollie Conway, Mark Caffrey and the suspended Donal Healy, they went amazingly close to causing a major upset. Particularly outstanding for them were left-full Paul Henry, Frank Conway, Brendan Towey, and Michael Taylor. They can start taking themselves seriously as a force in the Mayo game.
Castlebar Celtic: N. Gallagher, O. Cunningham, D. Kearney, B. Redmond, A. O'Brien, D. Ainsworth, S. Reilly, S. Gavin, F. McHale, K. Ruane, K. Ryan. Res: B. Malone (used); B. Duffy, C. McNulty and K. Boyle.
Charlestown Athletic: E. Marren. T. Maloney, P. Henry, K. Duignan, F. Conway, B. Towey, K. Giblin, M. Taylor, E. Casey, B. Doherty, F. Durkan. Res: D. Maloney (used); N. O'Connor, R. O'Connor.
Ref: P. Concannon (Kiltimagh).
* Star Rating: Steve Gavin. . .the principal difference between the two teams.
