Castletown and Lough Lene Gaels to meet again after thrilling draw
Slevin's Coaches Westmeath Senior ‘A’ Hurling Championship final
Castletown-Geoghegan 1-23 Lough Lene Gaels 2-20
By Gerry Buckley
The game of hurling was the real winner in TEG Cusack Park yesterday afternoon (Sunday) as holders Castletown-Geoghegan and challengers Lough Lene Gaels could not be separated in what was a really pulsating Westmeath senior championship final played in remarkably pleasant conditions.
Such conditions looked highly unlikely just a few hours earlier in Mullingar when torrential rain caused the postponement of the minor final curtain-raiser. Indeed, 12 months after the abandonment of the senior final between the same two teams, a repeat scenario looked ominously possible as the morning progressed until, thankfully, Mother Nature belatedly smiled down on the midlands.
The game turned out to be a classic, very well refereed by Barry Nea and played in a great spirit. Drama came in bucket loads, and a draw was an eminently fair outcome between two very talented and committed outfits.
David Williams produced an outstanding display for Lough Lene Gaels. Joint-top scorer on the day with 1-12 but more of his scores came from play – in addition to a sublime sideline cut – than Niall O’Brien, who scored 0-15 for the 2024 champions. For the first three-quarters of the contest, David O’Reilly also stood out for Castletown.
The replay has been confirmed for next Monday, a bank holiday, October 27 at the same venue (throw-in 2pm). Barry Nea will again officiate, not usually the case with replays in recent years.
Castletown-Geoghegan were full value for their five-point lead (0-16 to 0-11) at the break, but goals from Tommy ‘Jogger’ Doyle and the aforementioned Williams (a free) put the underdogs ahead by 2-14 to 0-17 early in the second half.
Castletown responded in the style of champions and were aided by a scrappy goal when Lough Lough Gaels keeper Noel Conaty unluckily deflected the sliotar into his own net. It was nip and tuck thereafter with the lead changing hands on a few occasions.
A neat point under pressure from Marcus Kennedy (59th-minute) looked like it might end a 23-year famine for the Collinstown outfit, but O’Brien kept his composure to equalise in the first minute of injury-time from a tricky free.
Among the talking points afterwards was the question of whether the Gaels have blown their chance. It is unlikely that a couple of marquee men in black and amber will be as anonymous again next Monday but, of course, the Collinstown men will again bring great hunger to the replay.
Scorers – Castletown-Geoghegan: N O’Brien 0-15 (13f, 1‘65’); D O’Reilly 0-5; N Conaty 1-0 (own goal); P Murphy, S Clavin, J Murphy 0-1 each. Lough Lene Gaels: D Williams 1-12 (1-7f, 1 sideline, 1‘65’); T Doyle 1-0; M Kennedy 0-3; E Daly 0-2,;M Daly, B Doyle, A Kennedy 0-1 each.
Castletown-Geoghegan - Ciaran O’Brien; Aaron Glennon, Naoise McKenna, David Maloney; Morgan Gavigan, Jack Murphy, Johnny Birmingham; Shane Clavin, Peter Murphy; Aonghus Clarke, Peter Clarke, Liam Varley; David O’Reilly, Niall O’Brien, Jack Gallagher. Subs used: Conor Murphy for Gallagher (46), Mick Heeney for P Murphy (60+1).
Lough Lene Gaels - Noel Conaty; Daire Daly, Dan Higgins, Philip Reilly; Micheál Daly, Daragh Qamar, John Egan; Brendan Doyle, Shane Williams; Derek McNicholas, David Williams, Tommy Doyle; Aaron Kennedy, Marcus Kennedy, Eoin Daly. Subs used: Jason Malone for McNicholas (42), Thomas Kennedy for D Daly (inj., 60).
Referee - Barry Nea (Clonkill).