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Goals Do Trick for Celtics

Celtics 2-7  Monaghan 0-11

TWO goals midway through the second half were the springboard to success for Celtics in the first John Joe McGovern Cup game on Sunday at Gaelic Park.

John McArdle had the first in a man of the match performance, with his full forward line partner John O’Connell getting the second.  They were a two pronged strike force that Monaghan had no answer for.

Monaghan immediately jumped into the lead with points from Pascal Doran and Paul McGlynn in the first five minutes.  McGlynn added a free a minute later after further good work by Ross Connolly and his namesake James.

Celtics started the comeback trail with long balls into the big full forward line. Shane O’Connor was fouled for a free that Gary Nugent slotted over from the front of goal.

Moments later a long ball to O’Connell was caught and slipped to a charging McArdle. The corner forward had the goal at his mercy and drove hard over the bar. He fouled it with his second again with the same assister the full forward O’Connell.

Three each then at the 15 minute mark, and surprisingly all Monaghan to the break at least on the score board. McGlynn again had a free when James Connolly was fouled before two excellent points by Shane McKenna and Connolly again.

While McGlynn added a point to open the second half, it preceded a sustained period of Celtic dominance, 1-4 without reply, to power the side into the lead with McArdle getting the 1-1 in the mix.

McGlynn again added two points from frees, but he was the lone Monaghan danger man with the Celtics weathering the storm and grabbing a further point from Adrian Mullins before Monaghan had two scores again from McGlynn at the end.

The final minutes were marred by some unsavory incidents that did nothing to help the GAA in its promotions.

For the Celtics, Dermot O’Sullivan battled all day against Paul McGlynn. Derek McKenna did well but was booked in his third consecutive game with three different teams at the Mecca. John Smith, John McArdle, who was excellent when given opportunity, and John O’Connell all had leading roles.

Monaghan will look at the performances of Fergal Mulvanny’s first half, James Connolly, Shane McKenna and Paul McGlynn as their best.

Celtics: 1 Kevin McArdle, 2 David Haught, 3 Dermot O’Sullivan, 4 Sean Wally, 5 Rui Kelly, 6 Brian Greene, 7 Chris O’Connor, 8 Shane O’Connor (0-1), 9 Derek McKenna (0-1), 10 John Smith, 11 Adrian Mullins (0-1), 12 Gary Nugent (0-1), 13 John McArdle (1-3), 14 John O’Connell (1-0), 15 Danny Sullivan. Sub: Tommy Gee.

Monaghan: 1 C. Madden, 2 H. McKenna, 3 N. McKenna, 4 Hugh Clerkin, 5 Fergal Mulvanny, 6 Bonnie Duffy, 7 P. Murphy, 8 Ross Connolly, 9 Pascal Doran (0-1), 10 Shane McKenna (0-1), 11 Rory O’Neill, 12 James Connolly (0-1), 13 Mickey McEntee, 14 Paul McGlynn (0-8), 15 E. Philips.

Man of the match: John McArdle (Celtics).

Referee: Tommy Fahey (Waterford).

Junior Football

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