Goals the difference for final-bound Castlelyons

'The two goals just came at a brilliant time. They were the difference really,' said selector Brendan Hoare.

HUNTING IN PACKS: Castlemartyr's Eoghan Martin attempts to grab the sliothar ahead of Colm Spillane and Colm McCarthy of Castlelyons. Pic: Howard Crowdy

Cork Premier IHC semi-final: Castlelyons 2-10 Castlemartyr 0-10  

History didn’t repeat itself on Saturday afternoon as Castlelyons and Castlemartyr did battle in the last four of the Co-Op Superstores Cork PIHC for the second successive year. 

Last year in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Castlemartyr edged a shootout for the ages, but on a gloomy afternoon in the beautiful environs of Midleton’s Clonmult Memorial Park, it was Castlelyons who won a battle that earned them a shot off Kilworth in a final that will be their third in four years.

In the final analysis, this victory boiled down to three fundamental factors. Firstly, there were the two first half goals in two minutes from Anthony Spillane, who swapped the sun of the Middle East for the rain of East Cork for the weekend, and David Morrisson. They led by 0-5 to 0-4 at the time, and their selector, Brendan Hoare, knew how important they were.

“The two goals just came at a brilliant time. They were the difference really. The score at half time was 2-5 to 0-5 and it was five points apiece in the second half. They literally were the difference. Even though we had the cushion, we knew Castlemartyr were going to come and throw the kitchen sink at us, which they did.” 

That brings us to the second major factor of the game – the Castlelyons defence. Colm Barry, Colm Spillane, and Niall O’Leary were awesome, and didn’t concede a score for the final twenty minutes of the game and limited the Castlemartyr attack to 0-4 from play across the hour. 

Spillane was particularly prominent at centre-back, but Hoare was more interested in the team effort.

“Three big players back there that everybody knows about. But we’d other fantastic performances. Shane Moroney came in there today, hadn’t played the last few games and was absolutely outstanding, so I think we defended really well collectively, especially in the second half against the wind.” 

That brings us to the final factor, composure. Castlemartyr hurled up a storm after the break, winning the third quarter by 0-5 to 0-1, with Ciarán Joyce driving them on from midfield. Barry Lawton started the comeback, Mike Kelly landed two frees, Conor Whyte fired over from distance and Andrew Kelly pinged one over from a tight angle. 

They then had four chances to increase the pressure on Castlelyons but missed them all. In contrast, when Castlelyons were presented with their chances, they were ruthless as Anthony Fenton knocked over three points and Morrissey one to give them the win that they thoroughly deserved.

With one battle won, Hoare’s thoughts drifted to the next one against a Kilworth team that they know well.

“They’re a brilliant team, well seasoned, very experienced. It will be a huge battle. We’ll look forward to us, we’re delighted to be there and involved in it. We’ll enjoy the next few weeks, work hard, and get ourselves ready.” 

Scorers for Castlelyons: A Spillane (1-2), A Fenton (0-5, 0-3 frees), D Morrisson (1-1), J Kearney and L Doocey (0-1 each).

Scorers for Castlemartyr: M Kelly (0-5, frees), Barry Lawton (0-2), E Martin, C Whyte and A Kelly (0-1 each).

CASTLELYONS: J Barry; J O’Leary, C Barry, N O’Leary; D Spillane, C Spillane (c), S Moroney; J Kearney, A Fenton; P Roche, L Doocey, C McCarthy, D Morrisson, A Spillane, O Hallihan.

Subs: L Sexton for Moroney (blood, 30-h/t), L Sexton for McCarthy (41), B Murphy for Roche (44), R Fenton for Hallihan (55), S Cotter for Murphy (64).

CASTLEMARTYR: D Coughlan; C Martin, J Lawton, B Ó Tuama; D Joyce, C Joyce, M Cosgrave; Brian Lawton, C Whyte; C Sice, E Martin, Barry Lawton (JC); A Kelly, J Stack (JC), M Kelly.

Subs: J McGann for Sice (h/t), D Leahy for E Martin (54) Referee: Mark Maher (St Finbarr’s).