Celtic crush Manulla to go top of the Mayo Super League table

Castlebar Celtic moved to the summit of the Super League on this evening with a commanding 7–1 win over Manulla.

From the first whistle, it was all one-way traffic as the away side, led by captain Mark Cunningham, harried and harassed their opponents.

Celtic started with real intent, with Dylan Edwards testing the Manulla goalkeeper early, and Johnnie Cocozza going close with a header from an Oran Groarke cross.

Manulla, who are hovering dangerously close to the drop zone, were second best throughout and were lucky to keep the score level for over half an hour.

But Celtic’s pressure told on 35 minutes when Fionn Mahon opened the scoring with a stunning strike into the bottom corner after a flowing move started by Dylan Edwards.

Celtic doubled their lead moments later when Eoghan Hughes met a Luke Kelly delivery with a neat glancing header.

Just before the break, Cocozza’s scissor-kick attempt broke kindly for Hughes, who toe-poked home for his second of the evening to give Celtic a 3–0 cushion at half-time.

Cocozza made it four shortly after the restart, this time with a cheeky back-heel, before adding his second following a rebound from a Hughes effort. Celtic’s sixth came courtesy of Kelly himself, who turned sharply before rifling home, a fitting reward for his stellar performance on the night.

Despite a late rally from Manulla, including a thunderous 35-yard strike from Shea Benson that denied Basquelle a clean sheet, there was no way back.

Substitute Ronan O’Boyle rounded off the scoring after a clever assist from Ben McHale.

The result sends Celtic top of the table at least until Westport United’s fixture tomorrow and leaves Manulla facing a tense run-in as they look to avoid the drop.