Second half dominance sees Castletown win with a bit to spare

Castletown Geoghegan 1-18, Lough Lene Gaels 2-10

By Gerry Buckley

A barrage of quickfire points midway through the second moiety put Castletown-Geoghegan firmly on the way to a comfortable win against last year’s Westmeath senior hurling championship finalists, Lough Lene Gaels, in a generally disappointing third round robin game in TEG Cusack Park last Sunday afternoon.

After a memorable first contest in Westmeath GAA headquarters, the second match was always likely to suffer by comparison. As it transpired, this was very much the case. In the end, Alan Mangan’s side, even short the services of a couple of key players, were far from flattered by their five-point winning margin.

Ironically, given that they were well beaten in the final analysis, it was the men in purple and gold who were straight out of the blocks, racing into a six-point lead by the eighth minute courtesy of some fine hurling all over the pitch.

The half-dozen white flags were raised by Marcus Kennedy, Aaron Kennedy (two from play), David Williams (two frees), and Micheal Daly.

The black and amber-clad outfit responded with four unanswered points by the 18th minute, from the sticks of Aonghus Clarke, Niall O’Brien, Peter Clarke, and Liam Varley (a routine free). Williams opened his account from play in the 22nd minute.

O’Brien was wide from a ‘65’ at the other end, with the Gaels almost bundling home a goal following the resultant puck-out. However, the losers were very profligate from a range of chances and half-chances at this juncture. On the half-hour mark, Varley pointed neatly from play, but his side still trailed by 0-7 to 0-5 at the interval.

A classy point from O’Brien halved the deficit just 40 seconds after the change of ends. A minute later, the same player did very well to tee up Jack Gallagher who duly found the net to edge his team two points clear. A fine brace of frees from Williams had the sides tied (1-6 to 0-9) by the 35th minute.

A great move in the 41st minute ended with O’Brien spurning a great goal chance, but a point was belatedly awarded for his powerfully-struck shot. Sub Cormac Jackson and O’Brien (a free) tagged on points, but great work by Tommy Doyle set up his brother Brendan for a well-taken goal for the 'Yellow Bellies', to leave the teams tied at 1-9 apiece at the midpoint of the second half.

However, that was as good as it got for Joey Williams’ troops, with their opponents more or less completely dominating the final quarter. Castletown-Geoghegan rattled over five quality points in as many minutes via O’Brien (two, the first from a free), Johnny Bermingham, Peter Clarke, and Gallagher. Williams then broke the monotony from a free.

A somewhat niggly end to normal time saw the winners add points from Varley, O’Brien (a very good free), and Aonghus Clarke. A minimum of three minutes’ added-time was announced, at the start of which O’Brien converted another free to round off his side’s total. A lobbed free from Williams ended up with a penalty award for a third-man tackle, and the same player buried the ensuing puck from the spot for what merely amounted to a consolation score.

Scorers – Castletown-Geoghegan: N O’Brien 0-8 (4f), J Gallagher 1-1, L Varley 0-3 (1f), P Clarke, A Clarke 0-2 each, C Jackson, J Bermingham 0-1 each.

Lough Lene Gaels: D Williams 1-6 (1-0pen, 0-5f), B Doyle 1-0, A Kennedy 0-2, M Kennedy, M Daly 0-1 each.

Castletown-Geoghegan: Ciaran O’Brien; David Maloney, Aaron Glennon, Naoise McKenna; Johnny Bermingham, Jack Murphy, Morgan Gavigan; Peter Clarke, Padraig Kane; David Fennell, Aonghus Clarke, Liam Varley; Peter Murphy, Niall O’Brien, Jack Gallagher. Subs used: Cormac Jackson for Kane (inj., h-t), Mick Heeney for Fennell (53), Conor Lynch for P Clarke (blood, 57).

Lough Lene Gaels: Noel Conaty; Dan Reilly, Dan Higgins, Daire Daly; Philip Reilly, Dara Qamar, Shane Williams; Micheal Daly, Brendan Doyle; John Egan, David Williams, Aaron Kennedy; Derek McNicholas, Tommy Doyle, Marcus Kennedy. Subs used: Jason Malone for A Kennedy (36), Thomas Kennedy for Reilly (inj., 42), Jordan Williams for M Kennedy (53).

Ref: James McGrath (Turin).