Castletown survive Camross onslaught to lift Premier IHC crown
The Castletown team and management celebrate their Premier IHC final win over Camross at Laois Hire O'Moore Park on Saturday Photo: Denis Byrne
CASTLETOWN were made to work extremely hard to finally get their hands on the Laois Shopping Centre Premier IHC trophy against their old rivals Camross on Saturday evening.
It’s been a relatively comfortable route to the final for the victors, coming out on top by thirteen points or more in each of their four games along the way but Camross provided a much sterner test on Saturday evening and put it up to their neighbours from start to finish.
Camross held a five point lead in the first half with Ben Deegan and Ashton Keenan leading the line inside while Matthew Collier impressed in midfield and Darrell Dooley caused plenty of damage on the half forward line.
Castletown trailed by three at half time but came out strong after the break with goals from Kyron Cuddy and Jack Breen settling them to eventually go on to victory.
Tadhg Cuddy claimed man of the match honours with an excellent display in midfield for Castletown while Ryan Peters was also outstanding at half back and Dan Whelan made a massive impact off the bench with three points.
Camross made a bright start to the game with two scores in as many minutes via youngster Ashton Keenan and veteran Darrell Dooley.
Castletown got back on level terms thanks to an outstanding long range free from Tom Og Phelan followed with an effort from play out the field by Ryan Peters, though Camross were still looking the sharper of the teams.
A brace from Ben Deegan, one free and one from play, nudged them two ahead and that became three with a fantastic second score from Keenan on the left wing.
Phelan launched over another free from well inside his own half on the right wing and followed it up from play, the same distance but on the left wing.
Jack Breen levelled the sides with a well taken point from play, but Camross would score six of the next seven points to take a commanding lead coming into the closing stages of the half.
Matthew Collier launched one from range and Deegan followed with a free before an excellent score in reply from Tadhg Cuddy.
The next four scores all went over the Portlaoise end bar, starting with two fine efforts from Darrell Dooley and Robbie Delaney and the hits kept coming with Deegan and Bryan Bredin on target to put five between the teams with five minutes left in the half.
Tadhg Cuddy got Castletown back on track with a second good score and Ryan Peters added two more white flags with strikes from well inside his own half.
Camross did get a couple of scores back through Josh Hynes, but a fourth point of the half from Tom Og Phelan kept the gap at 0-13 to 0-10 in favour of Camross.
There was fire and brimstone in the opening minutes of the second half and it kicked Castletown into gear as Kyron Cuddy landed his first score from a free and he found the net just a minute later after outstanding work by Conor Walsh tog et the ball out of danger and into the forwards.
Jack Breen and Tom Og Phelan then traded points with Deegan and Delaney before points from Martin Phelan and Breen edged Castletown into a three point lead.
That lead was cut to two with a first point from Kevin Byrne before Jack Breen was on hand to finish off a great move by Gearoid Gaughan and Conor Phelan with a rocketed finish into the net for their second goal.
A brace of frees from Deegan brought the gap back to three and despite two excellent replies from Tadhg Cuddy and first half sub Dan Whelan, the game was far from over with fifteen minutes left to play.
Camross were still threatening up front with their physicality causing issues and they also introduced Rob Tyrrell off the bench who chipped in with a good score.
Matthew Collier also landed his second score as Camross reduced the deficit to five points and began to launch balls in on top of Castletown stopper Gearoid Gaughan in attempts to apply as much pressure as possible but Gaughan stood to the task alongside his full back Shane Phelan.
Dan Whelan continued his excellent cameo off the bench with two scores bulleted over the bar from the right wing on the run and Martin Phelan added another to put Castletown seven clear with five minutes left and all appeared to be now going to plan for the favourites.
As ever, Camross weren’t dead yet as Deegan pointed a free and followed that up with an excellent strike from close range from a free straight into the net past the blue wall on the line to make Castletown sweat once again.
Ashton Keenan increased the pressure with a point to put two between the teams heading into injury time and Casteltown again had to thwart a free from Deegan and defended with their lives to deny the rebound efforts.
They cleared their lines and got an insurance score from a Phelan free and the young man added another in the depths of injury time to put them four clear and secure the win.
Castletown: Tom Og Phelan 0-7 (0-4fs, 0-1 65), Jack Breen 1-3, Kyron Cuddy 1-2 (0-1f), Ryan Peters, Dan Whelan and Tadhg Cuddy 0-3 each, Martin Phelan 0-2.
Camross: Ben Deegan 1-8 (1-5fs, 0-1 65), Ashton Keenan and Darrell Dooley 0-3 each, Matthew Collier and Robbie Delaney 0-2 each, Josh Hynes, Bryan Bredin, Kevin Byrne and Rob Tyrrell 0-1 each.
Gearoid Gaughan; Killian Cuddy, Shane Phelan, Rory Kelly; Ryan Peters, Ryan Mullaney, John Gaughan; Tadhg Cuddy, Conor Walsh; Martin Phelan, Tommy Goode, Jack Breen; Conor Phelan, Kyron Cuddy, Tom Og Phelan.
Subs: Daniel Whelan for Goode (28m), Joe Phelan for K Cuddy (ht), Aaron Phelan for C Phelan (46m), Conor Doran for Breen (59m).
Thomas Dunphy; Josh Hynes, Dan Breen, Joe Phelan; Eoin Dowling, Andrew Collier, Lorcan Burke; Matthew Collier, Bryan Bredin; Robbie Delaney, Darrell Dooley, Kevin Byrne; Ashton Keenan, Ben Deegan, David Mortimer. Subs: Rob Tyrrell for Mortimer (40m), Ryan Cuddy for Dooley (47m), Ciaran Keenan for Delaney (47m), Scott Coyle for Burke (50m).
Kieran Bowe (Rathdowney/Errill)
