Castledaly withstand Maryland's

Castledaly managed to hold off a spirited Maryland challenge at a wet Hogan Park, Moate, last Sunday evening. Whilst the gradually worsening inclement weather at Hogan Park made for a lot of errors throughout the game, it still didn't take away from what was a highly entertaining encounter, particularly in the second half when Maryland threw everything they had at the county champions in an eventually fruitless attempt to grab victory. Callum McCormack and John Reilly were outstanding throughout the sixty minutes, particularly Reilly who, aside from scoring three points from play, never stopped showing for the ball, despite the expected close attention Ciarán Henson was affording him. Philip Rainey was also terrific in getting through a huge amount of work all over the field despite being named at corner-back. For their part, Castledaly never really looked like losing the game. Despite coming under huge pressure in the second half, it was wing-back Niall O'Neill's first-half goal that always looked like being the difference. And in the end it proved to be the case as Maryland's best efforts fell just short. With senior and intermediate champions going head to head, it was the latter that had the better start. A run and shot from centre-forward Kieran Martin yielded the game's first score inside sixty seconds. John Reilly doubled that lead a minute later when a deft pass from David Martin found him with the time and space to shoot over. From the very next attack Castledaly very nearly had a goal when Tony Heavin collected the ball in behind the Maryland defence and shot for goal only to see his shot blocked away to safety by John Murray. But the champions were finally up and running on four minutes MJ McLoughlin, in keeping with his rich vein of free-taking form recently, tapped over his first of the day. This was quickly followed by another point for the centre-forward after Enda Kelly, with a surging run up from corner-back, had carved out the opportunity. Niall Duffy then made use of the strong wind at his back to land a huge score from outside the 45 on 11 minutes to give Castledaly the lead for the first time. MJ McLoughlin then stretched that lead out to two on 14 minutes with his second free of the day. So far Maryland had been very sloppy in possession with a number of hand-passes going astray. Castledaly were quite dominant at midfield at this point and looked to be in a strong position. Callum McCormack managed to grab his first score of the day on 18 minutes, off his left foot, having shrugged off the challenges or three Castledaly players. But, on 21 minutes, Maryland were made pay for their errors in possession. A routine ball was dropped by Maryland defender Trevor Farrell coming out with the ball. Paul Kelly, on as a 17th minute substitute for the injured Alan Fitzgerald, picked up the stray ball and popped to Niall O'Neill who skipped around the challenge of two defenders before firing to the corner of the net, despite Maryland keeper John Murray getting a touch to his shot. Within two minutes, impressive corner-forward Brendan Kelly had tagged on two excellent scores to put six between the sides and Castledaly into a commanding position. Both teams exchanged points before half-time to ensure Castledaly would take the six-point advantage into the second half. And once again Maryland got off to a flyer, this time with two expertly taken points by full-forward David Martin. Castledaly replied with a Paul Kelly point after a swift hand-pass from Brendan Kelly but, again, Maryland hit back when John Reilly won the ball out in front his man, turned and pointed from distance. Tony Heavin and Kieran Martin traded scores for their respective sides to leave the gap at four points with ten to play. With Maryland throwing everything they could muster at Castledaly, it was the champions who went down the other end to register a crucial score from the left boot of substitute Michael Duffy. Callum McCormack replied with another for Maryland but when MJ McLoughlin landed his fifth of the day on 59 minutes, it looked as though Castledaly were home and dry. Not quite though, as Maryland launched one final assault. Two points in quick succession from David Martin and Callum McCormack meant that a goal would salvage a draw for Maryland. And they very nearly got it deep into injury time when John Reilly floated a ball toward the square with Callum McCormack rushing onto it. But in attempting to fist the ball to the net, McCormack was unable to do so and with that went Maryland's last hope of getting something from the game. SCORERS - Castledaly: MJ McLoughlin (0-5, 4f), Niall O'Neill (1-0), Brendan Kelly (0-2), Niall Duffy (0-1), Tony Heavin (0-1), Paul Kelly (0-1), Michael Duffy (0-1). Maryland: Callum McCormack (0-3), David Martin (0-3), John Reilly (0-3), Kieran Martin (0-2, 1f). CASTLEDALY: James Kinahan, Ciarán Henson, Russell Casey, Enda Kelly, Liam Fitzpatrick, Derek Heavin, Niall O'Neill, Gordon Duffy, Niall Duffy, Alan Fitzgerald, MJ McLoughlin, Alan Stone, Tony Heavin, James Galvin, Brendan Kelly. SUBS: Paul Kelly for A. Fitzgerald (17 mins), Michael Duffy for A. Stone (44 mins), Stephen Kavanagh for N. O'Neill (50 mins), Alan Stone for E. Kelly (59 mins). MARYLAND: John Murray, Philip Rainey, Eoin Farrell, Trevor Farrell, Conor Farrell, John Cunningham, Darren Malynn, David Reynolds, Liam Reilly, Callum McCormack, Ciaran Martin, Ronan Moran, James Reynolds, David Martin, John Reilly. SUBS: Ronan Farrell for T. Farrell (22 mins), Damien Reynolds for L. Reilly (22 mins), Christy Grimes for R. Moran (49 mins), Aidan Reynolds for R. Farrell (49 mins). REFEREE: Michael Gordon (Shandonagh).