Castletown storm into final with devastating display against Colt-Shanahoe

Laois Shopping Centre Premier IHC s/f 

Castletown 3-25 

Colt-Shanahoe 0-9 

CASTLETOWN'S road to redemption took another big step in Laois Hire O'Moore Park on Saturday evening as they thrashed Colt-Shanahoe by 25 points in a dominant display in their Laois Shopping Centre PIHC semi-final clash.

The sides met in Round 2 of the group stage in Borris-in-Ossory and Castletown ran out winners by thirteen points on that occasion, though not hurling at their best, but they were much more dangerous in this evening's contest and had total control from the outset and throughout.

Three goals in the opening ten minutes all but settled the game as a contest with Kyron Cuddy, Tom Óg Phelan and Jack Breen all on target and they continued to pile on the pressure throughout the game with some excellent point-taking.

While their forwards were indeed very impressive in their own right, arguably more impressive was Castletown’s defensive work in conceding just nine points in the game and Ryan Peters was one of the standout performers from the back six with an excellent display at half-back while also chipping in with two point from play himself.

When these sides met in the group stage Tom Óg Phelan netted within two minutes of the throw in, and he did the same here after a looping ball in from Conor Walsh made its way into Phelan in front of the goals.

Kyron Cuddy added a point from a free before raising a green flag of his own when Conor Phelan did great work out the field to find Jack Breen whose shot was blocked into the path of Cuddy to stroke home.

A point from James Keyes got Colt-Shanahoe off the mark but things would only get worse for the underdogs when Jack Breen broke inside himself and despite misfiring with his first attempt he reefed the rebound into the inside netting for a third Castletown goal.

Ryan Peters struck a long-range effort from midfield over the bar and Cuddy added another from a free while Ryan Mullaney raised two white flags in as many minutes as Castletown continued to dominate all over the field.

Any balls that did make their way into the Castletown danger zone were quickly snuffed out by Conor Walsh, John Gaughan, Shane Phelan or Rory Kelly and you could see the frustration and disappointment creep into the body language of the Colt-Shanahoe forwards with every failed attack.

Keyes did strike a rare score from a free, but Castletown fired back with the next five points in a row, a trio of frees from Cuddy along with a long range free from Tom Óg Phelan and a fine effort from play on the right sideline from Phelan also.

For the first time in the game Colt-Shanahoe broke the last line of defence with Keyes making a good run in behind, but he was then denied by a brilliant save from Gearoid Gaughan in the Castletown goals.

Castletown resettled themselves and Tadhg Cuddy and Jack Breen each struck excellent points before the whistle to make it 3-12 to 0-3 at half time.

Eighteen points separated the sides when they emerged onto the field for the second half, and the gap was cut to seventeen briefly with a Keyes free before Castletown hit back through Ryan Peters, Kyron Cuddy and Conor Phelan to increase their lead to 20.

Ben McDonald became the first non-Keyes scorer for Colt-Shanahoe and substitute Brian Guilfoyle followed minutes later but Castletown kept their lead intact with scores from John Gaughan and Kyron Cuddy.

It was evident that Castletown had all the heavy lifting done in the first half and they were much more content in the second half to take their points when the chances presented themselves, rather than trying to force the goal like they did at times early in the contest.

The Junior 'A' campaign coming to an end allowed more freedom to use their bench also and they used Joe Phelan, Dan Whelan, Conor Doran and Conor Ryan for the first time this year while also bringing Callum Peters into the action as well who has been at this grade all year.

Whelan and Doran both scored off the bench for Castletown while they wheeled away to victory with further points from Phelan, Kyron Cuddy and Tadhg Cuddy to head into the final off the back of a monstrous victory.

Castletown will now face Camross in the final on Saturday 3 October in the final after they defeated Clough/Ballacolla in their semi-final on Saturday evening.

SCORERS:

Castletown: Kyron Cuddy 1-10 (0-9fs), Tom Óg Phelan 1-3 (0-2fs), Jack Breen 1-1, Ryan Mullaney, Ryan Peters, Tadhg Cuddy and John Gaughan 0-2 each, Conor Doran, Conor Phelan and Dan Whelan 0-1 each.

Colt-Shanahoe: James Keyes 0-5 (0-4fs), Dylan Cuddy 0-2 (fs), Brian Guilfoyle and Ben McDonald 0-1 each.

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

Subs: Callum Peters for M Phelan (ht), Dan Whelan for Kelly (40m), Conor Doran for Breen (45m), Joe Phelan for C Phelan (50m), Conor Ryan for J Gaughan (55m).

COLT-SHANAHOE: Brian McDonald; Dan Butler, Niall Brennan, Darren Cuddy; Cullan Kirwan, Colm Kavanagh, Robert Delaney; Mark Hearns, James Keyes; Dayle Bergin, Aaron McGowan, Paddy Farrell; Franky McEvoy, Jack Delaney, Ben McDonald.

Subs: Dylan Cuddy for M Hearns (29m), Cian Moffitt for McEvoy (37m), Brian Guilfoyle for Bergin (40m), Billy Brennan for McDonald (40m), Joshua Hickey for McGowan (57m).

Referee: Brian Farrell (The Harps)