Classy Castletown advance to final as Clarke seals victory

Castletown Geoghegan 3-26 St Oliver Plunkett’s 3-15

On the day when Raharney lost their grip on the Westmeath senior hurling crown, Castletown Geoghegan advanced to this year's final with a convincing win over St Oliver Plunkett’s in Killucan on Sunday evening.

Castletown announced a statement of intent in their victory, as 3-26 is an impressive score to put up at any level and, in truth, they were that good. They are now one game away from adorning the Westmeath Examiner Cup with black and amber ribbons as they prepare for the county final against either Lough Lene Gaels or Clonkill, who will meet in the semi-final.

On the other hand, St Oliver Plunkett’s time in the Senior 'A' Hurling Championship has drawn to a close.

This match will be remembered as a fast-paced contest where no-one could draw breath for even a second. It only took 15 seconds for Niall O’Brien to register the game's opening point, before David Gavin and Liam Carey put the Saints a point ahead after two minutes.

In the sixth minute, Shane Ormsby's shot along the endline went beyond Ciaran O’Brien and into the Castletown net for a fortuitous goal.

The men in black and amber had seven on the board by the eighth minute, four before Ormsby’s goal, thanks to Niall O’Brien, Peter Clarke, David O’Reilly and Conor Murphy. Castletown were three in-front by the 17th minute when Plunkett’s struck for their second goal, when a two-on-two found David Gavin collecting the ball and sliding his effort into the net.

Castletown followed suit five minutes later, as David O’Reilly received possession, ran inside the Plunkett’s defence and fired past Conor Lynch to squeeze his team three to the good once again.

Patrick Lynam and Matthew Cunningham scored for Plunkett’s while Morgan Gavigan, Padraig Kane and Niall O’Brien left Castletown Geoghegan 1-15 to 1-9 ahead at half-time. Now everyone could take a breath.

Castletown Geoghegan had extended their lead out to four by the eighth minute, and the lead grew to seven when after losing his stick, David O’Reilly hand-passed the sliotar to Jack Gallagher, who fired low and hard for a goal.

A brace of frees in response from Patrick Lynam was met by five unanswered points from Castletown; Niall O’Brien with three of them, and the other two shared between Conor Murphy and David O’Reilly.

Hope was restored for the Robinstown side when Patrick Lynam showed good strength and skill to find Thomas Meehan, who made no mistake in-front of goal.

However, Aonghus Clarke assured Castletown Geoghegan of a county final place when he found the net in the 60 minute. Clarke’s goal was the killer blow as it extinguished any remaining hopes St Oliver Plunkett’s had.

Niall O’Brien and substitute Sean Jackson added points in added time for the black and amber men, and when the full-time whistle blew, Castletown could delight.

Man of the match: Niall O’Brien (Castletown Geoghegan). The corner-forward was in fine form, his accuracy from frees and from play ensuring his team stayed on top throughout the match. He gets the nod ahead of other contenders, with teammates Morgan Gavigan and Peter Clarke also having fine performances for the county finalists.

Scorers - Castletown: N O’Brien 0-11 (0-6 frees), D O’Reilly 1-3, A Clarke (0-1f) and J Gallagher 1-2 each, M Gavigan, P Clarke and C Murphy 0-2 each, P Kane and S Jackson 0-1 each. St Oliver Plunkett’s: D Gavin 1-3 (0-2 frees), P Lynam 0-6 (0-5f), S Ormsby and T Meehan 1-0 each, M Cunningham and C Lynch (1 free, 1’65) 0-2 each, L Carey and A Craig 0-1 each.

Castletown Geoghegan: Ciaran O’Brien; Padraig Kane, Johnny Birmingham, David Maloney; Peter Murphy, Jack Murphy, Morgan Gavigan; David Fennell, Peter Clarke; Conor Murphy, Aonghus Clarke, Liam Varley; Niall O’Brien, David O’Reilly, Jack Gallagher. Subs used: Shane Clavin for Varley (52), Naoise McKenna for P Murphy (55), Mark Keeney for Gallagher (58), Sean Jackson for C Murphy (62).

St Oliver Plunkett’s: Conor Lynch; Zach Aherne, Thomas Turks, Aaron Griffin; Liam Carey, Aaron Craig, Colm O’Leary; Patrick Lynam, Shane Ormsby; Cathal Craig, David Gavin, Nathan Cornally; Matthew Cunningham, Ciaran Curley, John Fry. Subs used: Sean Kelly for Cathal Craig (15), Stephen McManus for Aaron Griffin (28), Thomas Meehan for Nathan Cornally (48).

Referee: Barry Nea.