Castletown show their mettle to keep Laois interest alive in Leinster

CASTLETOWN are the only hurling club out of Laois left in their respective Leinster Club Championship after the weekend’s action and by God did they have to work hard for the honour.

The Laois Premier IHC winners travelled to St Loman’s Park in Trim to tackle Kilmessan, the Meath SHC winners on Saturday afternoon and eventually came back down south with a two-point win in the bag after an almighty tussle.

While in theory the Laois Premier IHC, or formerly Senior ‘A’, champions should be well equipped to handle teams at this level in Leinster due to their often being a “big” team dropping out of the SHC, it doesn’t tend to happen.

Castletown last competed in this competition after winning the Senior ‘A’ crown in 2016 and were knocked out in the quarter-final by Wicklow senior champions Bray Emmet’s, and since then just two Laois teams have gotten past the quarter-final stage.

Borris/Kilcotton were tipped to go well in 2024 before narrowly losing out to Kilkenny’s Lisdowney in a semi-final, while Portlaoise came close to going the whole way in 2018 but lost to Graigue-Ballycallan in the final.

Ballyfin, Portlaoise (2023), Abbeyleix, Ballinakill, Rosenallis and The Harps all failed to make it past a quarter-final in the last decade in this championship, so wins are not to be taken lightly.

Kilmessan certainly didn’t welcome Castletown with open arms to Trim and tore into them from the off an no doubt had plenty of confidence in their own chances, and why wouldn’t they with six players on the Meath panel.

Referee Brian Kearney advised the respective backroom teams beforehand that he would be letting the game flow as best he could and he rightly did that, meaning players had to earn their frees and there would be nothing handy.

That outlook from the referee provided a thrilling contest, the ones you only really see in November where there’s battles all over the pitch and new grievances formed as the players don’t know one another’s family tree like you do when you’re hurling the parish down the road.

There’s no shortage of youth in the ranks of this Castletown team with the likes of Kyron Cuddy, Dan Whelan and Tom Og Phelan all part of the starting six forwards, three lads who became accustomed to winning at underage level and they ran the Kilmessan backs ragged in the early stages.

The more experienced of the travelling contingent knew that Kilmessan wouldn’t take too kindly to that and the hosts began to ramp up the physicality by getting in the faces of their opposing men and leaving in a few late ones which slowed down the youthful exuberance, allowing their own forwards to tack on a few scores and get themselves back level.

Castletown held a four point lead by half time despite it all, but as they knew themselves from the PIHC final against Camross, four point leads at half time aren’t worth much at full time.

Kilmessan turned the screw in the second half and began to find the range with shots that they were screwing wide in the first half and they eventually got themselves back on level terms.

If it was speed and pace that got Castletown into the lead in the first half, it was strength and power that got them over the line at the death.

Conor Phelan sprang off the bench in the second half along with Conor Doran and Joe Phelan and it was the first two that combined for three excellent points from play in the second half at crucial stages that ultimately secured a big win on the road for Castletown.

Given the ease at which they got through the PIHC until the final, it would have been a huge disappointment for the players and management to fall at the first hurdle in Leinster but now that they’ve successfully cleared that they’re looking on to the next.

They’ll be on their travels up the country again on Saturday week where Westmeath IHC champions Oliver St Plunket’s lie in wait after they defeated Carlow Town by four points at the weekend, and Castletown will be relishing the chance to make it to a Leinster final.