Castletown hit six as they cruise into Premier IHC semi-finals

Castletown 6-23 

Clough/Ballacolla 1-16 

CASTLETOWN booked their place in the Laois Shopping Centre Premier IHC semi-finals after they ran out comfortable winners against Clough/Ballacolla in Trumera on Saturday evening.

The victors were at their ruthless best in the second half after running in five-goals in that period with Kyron Cuddy and Martin Phelan getting two each while Tom Óg Phelan also found the back of the net.

Clough/Ballacolla did battle hard but like Castletown's previous opponents in the opening two rounds proved no match for them.

Castletown opened up the scoring from a free from Kyron Cuddy who was excellent again, it was quickly cancelled out by a point from Canice Coonan.

Castletown then started to flex their muscles and would hit the next five points, Conor Walsh, Jack Breen, Conor Phelan and Ryan Mullaney all on target to put their side in control.

Kevin Hyland did respond for Clough/Ballacolla, but Castletown started to move through the gear and would finish this contest in the next 15 minutes.

Cuddy added another free, before Castletown struck for their first goal, which came from Cuddy with a well taken shot.

They then reeled off four more scores in a row through Callum Peters, Tom Óg Phelan, Conor Walsh and Kyron Cuddy to leave it 1-10 to 0-2 midway through the first half.

Hyland would nail a 65 for his side, but again Castletown would respond with two more points through Tadgh Cuddy and Tom Óg Phelan.

Clough/Ballacolla then started to settle after the Castletown onslaught by hitting two points in a row through John Dwyer and Kevin Hyland.

But again Castletown had an answer as John Gaughan and Tom Óg Phelan added more points for Castletown.

Just before half-time, Clough/Ballacolla hit another two points through Padraigh Brennan and another Hyland free.

It was the victors to hit the last point of the half through Kyron Cuddy as they led 1-15 to 0-7.

Ryan Mullaney opened up the scoring in the second half for Castletown, but the next few minutes was about Clough/Ballacolla as they found a purple patch of sorts hitting three points in a row.

Chris Rafter fired over a fine effort while Kevin Hyland who was Clough/Ballacolla's best player hit over two more points.

Both teams then traded points through Martin Phelan for Castletown while Sean Corby added another point for Clough/Ballacolla.

Castletown then hit their second goal of the game as Martin Phelan's influence started to grow after his point, he finished coolly into the back of the net.

Kevin Hyland was really on form as he hit two points, one from a free and the other from a brilliant effort from play.

The third goal soon arrived as Tom Óg Phelan got on the goal scoring trail as Castletown were now picking scores off at ease.

But to the credit of Clough/Ballacolla they remained fighting and got their reward as John Coonan found the back of the net as he smashed it to the net.

They then followed it up with two more points through Coonan and CJ Brennan. But this sparked Castletown to hit back once more.

Kyron Cuddy and Martin Phelan would fire in two more goals as Castletown were at their ruthless best.

CJ Brennan grabbed another point with ten minutes remaining and it would be their last score.

The scoring didn't end there for Castletown as Conor Walsh and Tadgh Cuddy added further points, with the next score of the game to be sixth goal for Castletown.

Kyron Cuddy finished the ball into the net empathically to complete his hat trick to round off a brilliant individual performance.

Martin Phelan and Ryan Peters completed the scoring as Castletown cruised through to the semi-finals.

SCORERS:

Castletown: Kyron Cuddy 3-4 (0-4fs), Martin Phelan 2-4, Tom Óg Phelan 1-3 (0-2fs), Conor Walsh 0-3, Ryan Mullaney and Tadhg Cuddy 0-2 each, Jack Breen, Conor Phelan, Callum Peters, John Gaughan and Ryan Peters 0-1 each.

Clough/Ballacolla: Kevin Hyland 0-8 (0-5fs, 0-1 65), John Coonan 1-1, CJ Brennan 0-2, Canice Coonan, John Dwyer, Padraigh Brennan, Chris Rafter and Sean Corby 0-1 each.

CASTLETOWN: Gearoid Gaughan; Rory Kelly, Shane Phelan, Killian Cuddy; John Gaughan, Ryan Mullaney, Ryan Peters; Tadgh Cuddy, Conor Walsh; Martin Phelan, Callum Peters, Kyron Cuddy; Tom Óg Phelan, Conor Phelan, Jack Breen.

Sub: Tommy Goode for J Gaughan (46m).

CLOUGH/BALLACOLLA: Peter Rafter; Emmet Saunders, Evan Cassin, Sean Hayes; Paddy Meade, Kyle Handcock, Canice Coonan; Padraigh Brennan, Ben Delaney; John Coonan, Sean Corby, Kevin Hyland; CJ Brennan, John Dwyer, Chris Rafter.

Sub: Jim Hyland for Saunders (47m).

Referee: Jamie McDonald