Newcastle West park fixture frustration for 'sweet' victory

It is 21 wins in a row for the Magpies, who have now won eight Fr. Casey Cups.

Mon, 06 Nov, 2023 - 08:30

Tom Clancy

"Sweet", is how Jimmy Lee described the historic three-in-a-row achieved by his Newcastle West side. The manager has overseen each of those wins, all without losing a single game. It is 21 wins in a row for the Magpies, who have now won eight Fr. Casey Cups.

Jimmy was flanked by brother Joe, coach while another brother, Billy was on co-commentary duty at the final. The Lee family have served the club so well down the years and Jimmy was the most thrilled man in the Gaelic Grounds when John O'Halloran called a halt after 67 minutes of frantic action.

Normally, calm and level-headed, he let the relief and joy out at the final whistle. Clenching his fists, the Bainisteoir jumped up and down several times, oblivious to the puddles which had formed during a final that could have been ruined entirely by the weather.

"They are an incredible bunch of lads. Iain said it there (in his speech), they turn up and they nearly kill each other at training, but that is the intensity they bring. It is easy enough deal with - they are an amazing bunch of lads, so I'm absolutely thrilled for them. Mike McMahon at 37 working his socks off, you can ask for no more”, said Lee of his charges.

“Adare are a formidable outfit. We got a lucky break with the first goal, but we started working hard and we got better as it went on. Our work rate came up in the second half. There has been nothing between the two teams, we are lucky to come out three years in a row.”

Hurley kicks Newcastle West to three in a row

There was a time when the largest town in Limerick watched with envy as others led the way, but the club now look extremely strong across the underage and adult grades.

"We are going to celebrate this, we are going to then talk about next week and see where we go, small steps. We have a junior final, a re-fixed junior final. Probably inappropriately re-fixed from my point of view. We were disappointed with the way the chair of the CCCC dealt with it. We have a game next Friday (U21 hurling), Saturday (Junior football final) and a game Sunday (Munster Club). But until the CCCC start thinking about player welfare we are at nothing, that goes for every club in Limerick, that isn't just Newcastle”.

The issue around the postponement of the third-tier Premier Junior A final on Saturday caused plenty of anger for Newcastle West, with Feenagh Kilmeedy to provide the opposition next weekend. That frustration will be parked for now as they are kings of Limerick for another year.