Castlerahan show true grit to land U20 crown

U20 Division 3 Championship final

Castlerahan 2-11

Knockbride 1-10

Kevin Óg Carney

Two goals in a four minute spell either side of the half-time break proved crucial as Castlerahan held off a stiff challenge from Knockbride to secure the U20 Division 3 Football Championship title after a fine contest at Dolan Park, Virginia on Saturday last.

On a predictably yielding sod and in cold but dry conditions, the tone of the game was established from the get-go with punch being met by counter punch in what turned out to be a very fine sporting and open game which enthralled the small but vocal attendance.

The sides were level three times inside a frenetic opening 14 minutes and the tit for tat nature of the match continued unabated ‘till the final whistle.

Knockbride created the first goal scoring opportunity in the 11th minute when Philip McCabe found Glen Clarke but the midfielder’s palmed effort only found the mid-ribs of Castlerahan ‘keeper Cian Hanney.

Just before the sides retired for the first sos uisce at 0-3 apiece, Knockbride had a second goal chance when McCabe’s free dropped short but Conor Shanley’s palmed attempt was cleared by the Castlerahan defence.

Knockbride enjoyed arguably their best spell of the match at the start of the second quarter when they used the breeze to good effect to notch three unanswered points courtesy of Liam Fay, Conor Shanley and Jason Reilly.

Castlerahan almost nabbed the first goal of the game in the 25th minute but Mark McCabe’s stinging effort was deflected over the bar.

The eventual winners did hit the jackpot though in the 31st minute when Sean Óg McGearty passed to his brother Thomas who made no mistake and when the stand-out Cian McCabe converted a free moments later, suddenly Knockbride were facing into a 0-5 to 1-7 deficit at the interval.

Castlerahan proceeded to heap the pressure on their opponents when grabbing a second goal two minutes after the restart with Mark McCabe laying the ball off to Sean Óg McGearty who fired a low angled shot into the Knockbride net.

Knockbride refused to lie down though and a great fetch by Niall O’Reilly saw Jason Reilly nip in and flash the ball into the net to cut Castlerahan’s lead to 2-7 to 1-5 after 34 minutes.

The men from the east of the county went hunting for a second goal in the 38th minute but ‘keeper Hanney was equal to Philip McCabe’s drive. Five minutes later, the chasing team missed out on another goal when Niall O’Reilly’s effort was deflected wide for a fruitless ’45.

Castlerahan remained on the back foot as they sought to retain their 2-7 to 1-7 three-quarter hour lead with their think-tank minded to move Rory Smith and Sean Óg McGearty in a straight switch.

The run-in to the finishing line was hectic and gung-ho and although Mark McCabe (58) cancelled out Liam Fay’s converted free six minutes earlier, Castlerahan’s 2-10 to 1-9 lead looked anything but copper-fastened.

However, the Ballyjamesduff-based crew dug in admirably and saw the game out to the delight of the players, backroom team and hard core support.

Castlerahan: Cian Hanney; Matthew Wilson, John Linnane, Luke Caldwell, Conor Farrelly, Conor Caffrey, Thomas McGearty (1-0), Cian McCabe (0-8 6f), Joe Gaffney, Rory Smith, Jason O’Gorman, Mark McCabe (1-2), Sean Óg McGearty (0-1).

Subs; Josh Murdoch for C Caffrey.

Knockbride: Alan Murray; Morgan Hall, James McGuinness, Jamie Shanley, Liam Fay (0-5, 2f), James O’Reilly, Fergal Smith, Ben Mulvey (0-2) Glenn Clarke, Conor Shanley (0-1), Noel O’Reilly, Philip McCabe (0-1 f), Jason Reilly (1-1).

Subs; Luke Carolan for M Hall; Sean Ratcliffe for J Reilly; Gavin Smith for G Clarke.

Ref: Paddy Clarke