SPORT Five on the bounce for unstoppable Celts

FINAL Killarney Celtic 3 Killarney Athletic 1 Mounthawk Park

Reigning champions prevail in all-Killarney league final

The kingpins of Kerry soccer are celebrating yet another league title after seeing off a resilient Killarney Athletic side in last Friday’s decider.

Celtic have been unstoppable since Athletic’s sole Premier A triumph of 2017 and this latest victory seals a remarkable five-in-a-row. It also makes it three consecutive league final wins over their fiercest rivals, a brilliant record that will surely go down as one of the proudest runs in the club’s history.

Athletic went into the match as slight underdogs and they left themselves with a mountain to climb when they gave up possession and allowed Witness Odirile to sneak in for a well-taken goal in the second minute of play. A goalkeeping error after 12 minutes made life even more difficult – Wayne Sparling was left with the easiest of tasks when Athletic failed to clear their lines.

The Blues have shown plenty of spirit throughout the campaign and to their huge credit they fought their way back into contention. On the hour-mark Eoin Moynihan’s cross/shot was saved and as Athletic looked to pounce on the rebound, a Celtic player handled the ball. A penalty was awarded and Cian Tobin converted it at the second attempt (the Celtic keeper saved the first effort but was adjudged to have stepped off his line). With 30 minutes still to play, Stuart Templeman’s side were in with a real shot, but try as they might they were unable to tie things up.

A nervy period for Celtic came to an end when another

Athletic mistake gifted them a penalty. Cathal O’Shea stepped up in the 87th minute and coolly tucked it away to make it 3-1, and the Celts had two hands on the trophy.

Unfortunately, some unruly scenes on the pitch and on the touchline followed but thankfully it all blew over by the time the final whistle sounded.

Captain John McDonagh accepted the silverware on behalf of his teammates. They can now look forward to Sunday’s Greyhound Bar Cup final against Dynamos, a match that kicks off at Mounthawk Park at 4pm on Sunday. Five league titles in a row is sweet, but five doubles in a row would be even sweeter.