Castletown flattered by ten points winning margin

Castletown-Geoghegan opened their second phase losers" group campaign in the Westmeath senior hurling championship with a deserved win over Ringtown at St. Loman"s Lakepoint Park on Monday evening last, but the black and ambers were flattered by their ten-points winning margin.Indeed, midway through the second half of this competitive game, the men in the green and gold stripes trailed by a mere two points and looked poised to cause a shock. However, a brace of goals from Joe Clarke and Robbie Jackson in a three-minute period, allied to consistently good freetaking from Ronan Whelan, saw Castletown pull away in the closing stages. To add to the losers" woes, Niall Kilcoyne received a straight red card towards the end of the game, which had been devoid of any unnecessary rancour up to that point.The playing surface at Lakepoint Park was in excellent shape despite all the weekend rain. Both sides missed early opportunities to go in front before Christy Fanning opened the scoring for Ringtown with a terrific strike from 55 metres. Castletown-Geoghegan soon equalised courtesy of a Ronan Whelan free and then took a lead they would never relinquish when the latter player buried the sliotar to the net, after playing a one-two with Joe Clarke. Robbie Jackson increased their advantage with a great point, but this point was cancelled out by a fine solo score from Niall Kilcoyne.Castletown-Geoghegan looked by far the better balanced outfit at this juncture and they tacked on five unanswered points by the 22nd minute. Paddy Maloney, with a fine individual effort under pressure nabbed the first, before Ronan Whelan took centre stage with four points of his own (including two frees). Indeed, it could have been worse for David Kilcoyne"s charges but for brave goalkeeping by Pat Burke, who needed attention before resuming his place between the sticks. Niall Kilcoyne spurned a great chance of a Ringtown score while, at the other end, Martin Cunningham did very well to keep out Joe Clarke"s goalbound effort. With four minutes of normal time remaining in the first moiety, the Whitehall-based side got an unexpected lifeline when Darren Kilcoyne"s angled shot from 30 metres deceived Alan Mangan for a fortuitous goal. Castletown-Geoghegan responded with points from Mark McDermott and Ronan Whelan, before Darren Kilcoyne rounded off first-half scoring with a lovely point from a tight angle. This left the scoreboard at the interval reading: Castletown-Geoghegan 1-9 Ringtown 1-3.Half-time substitute Fintan Clarke almost made an instant contribution on the change of ends but his batted effort, from Ronan Whelan"s lineball, flew barely wide. Colin Murtagh, who was to have a fine second half overall, reduced the gap with a wonderful point from 65 metres. Ringtown came more and more into the contest and they added three points without reply between the sixth and tenth minutes from the sticks of Niall Kilcoyne, Colin Murtagh (a 65-metre free) and Christy Fanning, to leave just two points between the sides.However, that was as good as it got for the green and golds and Castletown-Geoghegan well and truly sealed the points in the next quarter of an hour. Ronan Whelan started the scoring spree with a brace of points from frees. Pat Burke did extremely well to make no less than three rapid-fire saves in the 20th minute, but he was powerless to prevent Joe Clarke tapping in the last rebound. Ronan Whelan converted yet another free and, availing of good play from Paddy Maloney, Robbie Jackson followed up with a well-taken goal in the 23rd minute. The latter player soon added one of the points of the hour but Ringtown, to their credit, never threw in the towel and they scored the last two points of the match from James Boylan (within seconds of their introduction) and a Darren Kilcoyne "65". Sandwiched between these points, the latter"s brother Niall was sent off for striking.Castletown-Geoghegan: Alan Mangan; Kevin Jackson, Emmet Dalton, Ronan Corcoran; Ian Corrigan, David Langan, Eamonn Óg Clarke; Keith Gorry, Derek Gallagher; Ronan Whelan 1-9 (0-6 from frees), Mark McDermott (0-1), Robbie Jackson (1-2); Paddy Maloney (0-1), Gary Jackson, Joe Clarke (1-0). Subs: Fintan Clarke (for G.Jackson, half-time), Sean Whelan (for McDermott, 43 mins), Pat Clarke (for Gorry, 48 mins), Davin Clarke (for Corrigan, 57 mins).Ringtown: Pat Burke; Tossy Brady, Martin Cunningham, Anthony Blacoe; Keith Melia, John Hardman, J.P. Creggy; Niall Kilcoyne (0-2), Dermot Cafferty; Martin Burke, Willie Murphy, Christy Fanning (0-2); Colin Murtagh (0-2, 0-1 from a free), Darren Kilcoyne (1-2, 0-1 from a "65"), Aaron Corrigan. Subs: John Boyhan (for Burke, 49 mins), James Boylan (0-1) (for Fanning, 56 mins).Referee: Richie Heffernan (Turin).