Debutant Corrigan shines as champs make winning start

Castletown Geoghegan 1-21, Fr Dalton's 1-11

By Rodney Farry

Debutant Dylan Corrigan was the standout performer as Castletown Geoghegan began their quest for three-in-a-row with a comfortable if far from impressive victory over a limited Fr Dalton’s side in Cusack Park on Saturday evening.

It took the champions well into the second half before they got into gear, but when they did, their opponents struggled to live with them. In mitigation, Castletown are missing several key men from last year’s team through injury and travel, including their captain Aonghus Clarke and David O’Reilly. They did however, welcome back David Lynch, who recently returned from Australia, and after a quiet first half by his own standards, the midfielder became increasingly influential as second half progressed.

Dalton’s hopes of adding a famous championship win over Castletown Geoghegan to their league victory earlier this year suffered a major blow in the first 20 minutes when their most potent scoring threat Owen McCabe and his fellow attacker Conaire Martin had to go off injured. Despite this major setback, at the end of a low-scoring and error strewn first half, there was, however, only the bare minimum between the sides.

Just two of Castletown’s seven first half points came from play, one of which was Corrigan’s first senior championship score. While he pointed five frees in the first 30 minutes, even the normally metronomic Niall O’Brien was far from his normal self, missing two frees and a penalty.

As the second half wore on, O’Brien, who has not played much hurling this year, began to find his rhythm as did the rest of his teammates, including Lynch and Liam Varley, who hit 0-3 from play.

Fr. Dalton’s did well to retain their Senior A status last year and, if Saturday’s performance is anything to go by, it will be an achievement if they do so again in 2026, particularly if McCabe is out for an extended period.

The team from the south of the county began Saturday’s game on the front foot and after O’Brien opened the scoring for Castletown, they hit three points on the spin courtesy of a converted free from McCabe and two overs from Leinster football championship winner Jack Duncan, who asked plenty of questions off the Castletown Geoghegan defence in the first half, but was starved of supply later in the game. As regulation time drew to a close at the end of a largely forgettable first half, the score was tied at six points apiece, but seconds before referee Mickey ‘Dan’ Murtagh blew the short whistle, Liam Varley’s point gave Castletown a scarcely deserved lead. A pointed free from Jack Kearney levelled the scores again at the start of the second half, before O’Brien and Colm O’Roarke, traded scores. That was as good as it got for Dalton’s as the champions dominated the remainder of the match.

Between the 36th and 57th minutes Castletown scored 1-11 without reply. After their lacklustre first half showing, Castletown’s normally efficient attacking unit finally started to click, and Dalton’s defence struggled to keep them at bay. Their one and only three-pointer came in the 45th minute and was scored by Dylan Corrigan. The debutant was put through on goal by the industrious Jack Murphy, who came into the game more in the second half, but it was Niall O’Brien’s deft hand pass to Murphy that made the move.

Corrigan followed his maiden championship under with a sweetly struck pointed effort, but the game was already over as a contest at this stage. Castletown continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over and if it had not been for the efforts of Eoin Moran in the Dalton’s goal, the final scoreline could have been a lot worse for his team.

Three late points from Dalton’s, which included a brace of pointed frees from O’Roarke and a fine effort from substitute Ivan Smyth, ensured that their team reached double figures, but it was a tough day in the office for the players in green and gold. Their new management duo of Enda Mulhare and Martin Buggy will be hoping that their charges can bounce back as they bid to retain their Senior A status for another season.

The champions have bigger fish to fry in the coming months but will know that their level of performance will need to improve significantly if the Westmeath Examiner Cup is to spend another winter in their care.

Scorers - Castletown Geoghegan: Niall O’Brien 0-9 (8f), Dylan Corrigan 1-2, Liam Varley 0-3, Jack Gallagher 0-2, Shane Clavin, Jack Murphy, Johnny Bermingham, David Lynch, Peter Murphy 0-1 each. Fr Dalton’s: Colm O'Roarke 0-5 (5f), Jack Duncan 0-2, Ronan McLoughlin, Ivan Smyth, Jack Kearney (f), Owen McCabe (f) 0-1 each.

Castletown Geoghegan: Sean Jackson; Aaron Glennon, Naoise McKenna, David Maloney; Morgan Gavigan, Jack Murphy, Johnny Bermingham; Shane Clavin, David Lynch; Peter Murphy, Liam Varley, Dylan Corrigan; Mick Heeney, Niall O'Brien, Jack Gallagher. Subs used: Alan Conlon for David Maloney, Mikey Lynam for Naoise McKenna, Neale Pierson for Mick Heeney.

Fr Dalton's: Eoin Moran; Eoin Ryan, Kenneth Kincaid, Eoghan Bannon; Ronan Hanley, Brian McCabe, Patrick Kiernan; Jack Kearney, Ciaran Clear; Ronan McLoughlin, Colm O'Roarke, Padraig Nester; Jack Duncan, Owen McCabe, Conaire Martin. Subs used: Eoin Nally for Owen McCabe, John Gilligan for Connaire Martin, Liam O’Neill for Eoin Ryan, Ivan Smyth for Ciaran Clear, Luke Smyth for Ronan McLoughlin.

Referee: Mickey Dan Murtagh. (Clonkill).