Holders hang on in gripping championship opener

Castletown Geoghegan 0-28, Lough Lene Gaels 3-17

By Gerry Buckley

A repeat of last year’s Westmeath Examiner Cup final proved to be a fitting opening to senior ‘A’ hurling fare in the 2025 championship on a pristine, if understandably slippery, surface at TEG Cusack Park last Friday evening. Castletown-Geoghegan repeated their success from last October, albeit in a game which had a number of crucial talking points late on.

Runners-up for the past two years, Lough Lene Gaels felt aggrieved with the disallowing of ‘Jogger’ Doyle’s 53rd-minute ‘goal’. The latter’s brother Brendan was red-carded after a skirmish in injury-time, while an insurance point from a Castletown free with time almost up was debated, with the losers feeling they might have been awarded a potential equalising free seconds earlier.

Indeed, their level of frustration was such that manager Joey Williams was sent off following the final whistle after exchanging words with Barry Kelly, the four-time senior All-Ireland final referee having replaced the original appointee Caymon Flynn.

However, the general consensus among neutrals in the good-sized crowd was that the champions were deserving winners, despite some untypical profligacy in the first half. Overall, both sides look certain to be there or thereabouts once again come the business end of the championship.

Castletown-Geoghegan opened the defence of their title in whirlwind fashion with a point apiece from David O’Reilly (13 seconds) and Aonghus Clarke (41 seconds). The Gaels levelled by the fourth minute with scores from Derek McNicholas and David Williams, with Tommy Doyle (operating at full forward) already an influential figure. Indeed, the latter nudged his side ahead in the sixth minute after a great catch.

However, Alan Mangan’s troops dominated the next ten minutes, outscoring their opponents by eight points (three – a ‘65’, a free, and open play – from Niall O’Brien, Jack Gallagher, Liam Varley, an O’Reilly brace, and Peter Murphy) to one (David Williams in the ninth minute) in the process. This left Castletown-Geoghegan ahead by 0-10 to 0-4 midway through the first moiety.

The teams equally shared four points by the 24th minute – David Williams (a ‘65’) and Shane Williams (a great score from the halfway line) for the ‘Yellow Bellies’, and O’Reilly and O’Brien (a free, after a rare error from Noel Conaty almost yielded a goal) for Castletown. The respective number 13s, John Egan and O’Brien, traded well-worked points, as did David Williams (a free) and O’Brien (play) by the end of normal time. A minimum of one minute added-time was signalled, and in this an O’Brien free stretched the lead for the men in black and amber to 0-15 to 0-8.

A second successful David Williams ‘65’ in the 31st minute was quickly cancelled out by Varley from open play. Lough Lene Gaels came right back into contention with an unanswered 1-2 between the 34th and 37th minutes. A great one-handed goal from Tommy Doyle, after another trademark catch from the versatile ‘Jogger’, preceded points from Eoin Daly and McNicholas to leave the men in purple and gold just two points in arrears (0-16 to 1-11).

Aonghus Clarke settled the champions’ nerves with a neat point. Conaty pulled off a great save from Gallagher, before O’Brien (the score belatedly awarded) and Shane Williams traded points. Aonghus Clarke and David Williams (completing a hat-trick of ‘65’s) also exchanged points, leaving Castletown-Geoghegan ahead by 0-19 to 1-13 at the end of the third quarter.

The holders scored four unanswered points by the 50th minute to give them a little breathing space. The men on target were sub Dean Slevin (two, the first very shortly after his introduction), O’Reilly (a great shot) and O’Brien. However, the Collinstown men were not going down without a fight and a quickfire 1-1 from Brendan Doyle left the deficit at three points (0-23 to 2-14) with nine minutes of normal time remaining.

The closing stages were filled with drama. A debatable ‘square ball’ call by the officials deprived Tommy Doyle of a potential second goal. Sub Jordan Williams scored a low-trajectory point before two converted frees by O’Brien and Aonghus Clarke’s fourth from play put Castletown-Geoghegan five clear (0-26 to 2-15). A David Williams free left the gap at four when a minimum of three minutes injury-time was indicated.

Peter Clarke opened his account with aplomb in the first of these. A couple of minutes later, a brief skirmish near the Castletown-Geoghegan goalmouth ended with Brendan Doyle being dismissed. David Williams’ goal attempt from a close-range free was deflected over the crossbar.

Nobody present was too sure how much more time would be played, but over five minutes past the stipulated hour another Tommy Doyle catch set up Jordan Williams for a goal. With the deficit now at the bare minimum, the Gaels were claiming a free out, but the winners were awarded a free in and O’Brien coolly slotted over the insurance point.

Man of the match: David O’Reilly (Castletown-Geoghegan). A haul of five points from play showed that the talented full-forward is returning to his best form after an injury which greatly curtailed his side’s chances of reaching last year’s Leinster final.

Scorers – Castletown-Geoghegan: N O’Brien 0-12 (7f, 1‘65’), D O’Reilly 0-5, A Clarke 0-4, L Varley, D Slevin 0-2 each, P Clarke, P Murphy, J Gallagher 0-1 each. Lough Lene Gaels: D Williams 0-8 (3f, 3‘65’), T Doyle, B Doyle, J Williams 1-1 each, D McNicholas, S Williams 0-2 each, E Daly, J Egan 0-1 each.

Castletown-Geoghegan: Ciaran O’Brien; Naoise McKenna, Aaron Glennon, David Maloney; Morgan Gavigan, Jack Murphy, Johnny Bermingham; Shane Clavin, Peter Murphy; Aonghus Clarke, Peter Clarke, Liam Varley; Niall O’Brien, David O’Reilly, Jack Gallagher. Sub used: Dean Slevin for Gallagher (46).

Lough Lene Gaels: Noel Conaty; Daire Daly, Dan Higgins, Philip Reilly; Tommy Doyle, Micheal Daly, Daragh Qamar; Brendan Doyle, Shane Williams; Jason Malone, David Williams, Eoin Daly; John Egan, Marcus Kennedy, Derek McNicholas. Subs used: Jordan Williams for McNicholas (46), Thomas Kennedy for Qamar (53), Aaron Kennedy for M Kennedy (58).

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