Westport united round off season in fine style

Westport United completed a remarkable season on Saturday evening with a convincing 4-1 win over arch rivals Castlebar Celtic in the final league game of the campaign.

The win meant that United finished the season unbeaten, winning 17 out of their 18 games and taking 52 points from a possible 54. The only blip on the near perfect season was a draw against Straide & Foxford United in the 13th game of the series.

While the league was decided some weeks ago, this game was always going to be a stand out fixture with both teams anxious to round off the season in style.

It started with a touch of class from Celtic when they formed a guard of honour to welcome the champions onto the pitch and it finished nearly two hours later with United captain Joe Lawless accepting the Tom Kelly Cup from the CEO of Elverys Sports, Patrick Rowland.

In between, the decent sized crowd was treated to five goals and a closer game than the scoreline suggests. Darren Browne put United ahead after 20 minutes but shortly after the restart James McGauren equalised for Celtic. United responded well though when David Hoban converted a penalty to regain the lead.

Jamie Fallon then added a third before Hoban capped a fine personal performance with an outstanding goal that brought the perfect end to a superlative season for United.

Next up for both teams is the second round of the FAI Junior Cup on Sunday, with Westport making the short trip to Partry Athletic but Celtic facing a perhaps trickier trek to Skyvalley Rovers.