Castletown are final bound after withstanding Clonkill comeback

Castletown Geoghegan 3-14 Clonkill 2-13

By Paul Hughes

With Castletown Geoghegan leading by 14 points at half-time (3-9 to 0-4), nobody expected a humdinger of a finale to this premier Westmeath U19 hurling semi-final played in front of a decent-sized crowd at Castletown’s Páirc Mhic Eochagáin on Saturday afternoon.

With David O’Reilly, Seán Jackson and Neale Pierson on fire, the Black and Ambers oozed class in the first half and looked odds-on to book their spot against Na Piarsaigh in the forthcoming final. However, Clonkill refused to go down without a battle, bouncing back by firing 2-9 in the second moiety of this veritable game of two halves.

Ringing the changes at the interval, the Loughegar outfit emerged a different prospect on the restart, with a move outfield for starting goalkeeper Kian Loughlin and the introduction of Eoin Kenny giving them a new dimension up front.

At the other end, Castletown lost some of their pizazz, and by stoppage time, Clonkill had pared back what at one point seemed like an unbridgeable deficit to a goal (3-13 to 2-13). However, their opponents held on, and Clonkill will surely rue a string of first-half wides which, if translated into scores, might have made all the difference.

A lively start saw Jamie Kelleghan (Clonkill) and Andrew Dalton (Castletown) trade fine scores. Some meaty challenges and fast, skilful hurling left patrons salivating over what lay ahead, but from there, Clonkill lost their way somewhat and racked up a series of wides and shorts.

In contrast, Castletown Geoghegan were awesome to watch, and led 1-5 to 0-1 by the sixteenth minute. Seán Jackson (2), David O’Reilly and Adam Clarke found their range, and sub Neale Pierson made his presence felt after replacing the injured Shane Corcoran by drilling an angled shot just wide of the goalmouth.

On 16 minutes, the inevitable first green flag was raised when Castletown Geoghegan’s Peter Clarke finished off a fine run with a fierce shot that was saved by Clonkill’s Kian Loughlin, with Andrew Dalton on hand to nudge home the rebound.

After several mishits, Clonkill finally resumed scoring on 21 minutes with Kelleghan’s second point, but a more physically-imposing Castletown continued to dominate in all sectors. David O’Reilly underlined his massive potential for both club and county with two sublime scores either side of a long-range free from the excellent Peter Clarke.

A third point from Kelleghan followed after he was picked out from long range by Darragh Kenny, but it was no more than brief respite, as Castletown blew their opponents out of the water with 2-1 in the dying moments of the half.

Neale Pierson was at the centre of the action, soloing through the Clonkill defence on 29 minutes before shipping to Seán Jackson out left. Jackson rifled a spectacular shot to the net, and 40 seconds later, Pierson himself raised a green flag after seizing on a Clonkill defensive lapse and scything through to finish.

Castletown could do no wrong at this stage, and midfielder Shane Doran chipped in with a sublime puck from distance to make it 3-9 to 0-3 in stoppage time. Jack Murtagh converted a free for Clonkill before the short whistle, but it looked all but over for the Loughegar lads.

When Adam Cassidy pointed for Castletown shortly after the restart, it looked even more so, but Clonkill began to benefit from some canny personnel changes. Eoin Kenny’s introduction and the reassignment of Kian Loughlin outfield gave the visitors some badly needed firepower. Loughlin finished the half with eight points, including two from play.

Castletown had, perhaps, rested on their laurels but they were genuinely rattled by Clonkill’s new attacking shape. After David O’Reilly added a fourth classy score to make it 3-11 to 0-5 on 37 minutes, the Black and Ambers started to struggle.

Meanwhile, Loughlin’s accuracy continued to erode Clonkill’s half-time deficit, and their cause was greatly helped when Kenny soloed past two defenders and drove a low shot to the Castletown net on 40 minutes. Even then it looked like a tall order for the men in green and gold, but when Josh Murtagh found the net with a speculative shot five minutes later, they started to believe.

At the other end, impressive scores from Peter Clarke and Neale Pierson kept Castletown in the ascendant, and when Eoin Kenny was sent off after a 56th-minute schemozzle, Clonkill’s challenge looked doomed.

In the mean time though, Loughlin’s accuracy continued to eat into Castletown’s lead, and to add salt to the hosts’ wounds, they lost Seán Jackson to a second yellow card on 58 minutes.

In stoppage time, Loughlin pucked his eighth point – an excellent score from play – to leave just a goal between the sides, and only a brave man would have bet against Clonkill sneaking that crucial late major.

However, deep into time added on, Castletown Geoghegan sub Philip Reynolds conjured a superb insurance score to send his relieved teammates into a showdown with Na Piarsaigh.

Man of the match: David O’Reilly (Castletown Geoghegan).

Scorers - Castletown Geoghegan: S Jackson 1-2, D O’Reilly 0-4, A Dalton and N Pierson 1-1 each, P Clarke 0-2 (1f), A Clarke, S Doran, A Cassidy and P Reynolds 0-1 each. Clonkill: K Loughlin 0-8 (6f), J Kelleghan 0-4, E Kenny and Josh Murtagh 1-0 each, Jack Murtagh 0-1f.

Castletown Geoghegan: Seán Clarke; Alan Conlon, David Maloney, Dylan Corrigan; Ódhran Gavigan, Peter Murphy, Killian Jackson; Peter Clarke, Shane Doran; Adam Clarke, David O’Reilly, Shane Corcoran; Adam Cassidy, Seán Jackson, Andrew Dalton. Subs used: Neale Pierson for Corcoran (inj, 10), Aaron Jackson for Cassidy (53), Philip Reynolds for A Clarke (53), Jack Mulligan for Dalton (56).

Clonkill: Kian Loughlin; Carl McCormack, Scott Murray, Ross Murray; Conor Daly, Josh Murtagh, Darragh Kenny; Ciaran Egerton, Cillian Plunkett; Alex Smyth, Jack Murtagh, Luke Meyler; Senan O’Driscoll, Robert Cleary, Jamie Kelleghan. Subs used: Darragh Egerton for Smyth (h-t), Riley Sheahan for Meyler (h-t), Eoin Kenny for Kelleghan (38), Adam Brady for Sheahan (inj, 42).

Ref: Barry Kelly (St Oliver Plunkett’s).