*Eoin Hayes in action for Newmarket Celtic. Photograph: Joe Buckley
NEWMARKET CELTIC captain Eoin Hayes has said they have been strengthened by the setbacks of last season which saw them lose their titles as Premier Division and Clare Cup titles.
Celtic qualified for the semi-finals of the FAI Junior Cup on Sunday following a 2-0 win over Dublin side Crumlin Utd. He scored the second goal, a beauty of a free kick from the edge of the box which is doing the rounds on Twitter and serving as a wonderful endorsement for junior soccer in the country.
It will be the second time Hayes lines out in the semi-finals of the national competition. Alongside, Shane Cusack and David McCarthy, they are the only members of the starting eleven to have featured in the 2018 3-2 extra time defeat to Pike Rovers, Stephen Kelly who has recently returned to the squad formed a centre-half partnership with Paddy Purcell who is the current manager.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Eoin admitted, “We lost to Pike Rovers a number of years ago and if you were to tell me I’d be back in an FAI semi-final I don’t know if I’d have believed you, this team has been through a lot in the last few years, we’ve had a lot of ups and sometime downs and you need them too, it needs to ground you and make you realise where you are at so that you come back and work harder.
“To be fair that is what happened at the start of the year, since Paddy Purcell, Eoin O’Brien and Steve Austin got together we’ve just worked so hard all year. I just mentioned to the lads after the game, Harvey’s penalty hits the post, sometimes it goes out but it goes in when you work hard, I always believe in those things, I hit a shot there at the end I don’t know what I was trying to do but it goes into the top corner, those things happen because you work hard throughout the year”.
Bringing an attack-focused mindset was important in laying down a market from the off against Crumlin Utd, Hayes maintained. “The way we play it is attacking but it is designed towards getting on the ball, it didn’t happen today I won’t lie, it was just that type of a game, it was nervy and lads were afraid to make a mistakes on both sides, I think we had a lot of chances early doors and then when you get the goal, what happens is you can sit in and get a bit nervy, just have to work hard, these things happen and the lads defended unbelievably, we had two 6s inside Conor (McDaid) and Jack (Kelly) and they were like animals inside there which was unbelievable to see. You work hard up top and get these small things, I didn’t get much today but you have to work hard and it’s something that just works out then”.
Eoin who has been an ever-present part of the Republic of Ireland amateur squad since 2016 certainly enjoyed the occasion in Newmarket-on-Fergus and was pleased to see their growing band of supporters. After their warm-down, his uncle Briany Sheedy was quick to reunite Eoin with his niece and nephew at McDonough Memorial Park.
He said, “There’s no doubt that there’s bigger crowds at bigger games, this is what Newmarket Celtic is all about, the support was unbelievable, people love it, we love seeing them here. I’m looking at my niece and nephew, they’re from The Bridge and they are wearing Newmarket Celtic gear, can you believe it! It’s unbelievable for the club”.
A home semi-final with Ballynanty Rovers is the reward for Eoin and Newmarket Celtic, a tie that will be anything but easy. “We’ve played Regional already and really there is very little between the teams, a lot of the games are decided on the odd goal, Ballynanty won on penalties yesterday, we played Killarney Celtic before and Balla on penalties, they are a good team but these games are really decided the smallest of margins, we can’t wait, they’ve been to the final before so they’ve pedigree, I know some of the players who play with them and they are unreal so we’ll be looking forward to that challenge too”.
