Dunphy’s brace decisive as 14-man Castletown-Geoghegan are eliminated

Clough-Ballacolla 2-16, Castletown Geoghegan 0-20

Just 12 months after being the talk of the country when they hammered Thomastown from Kilkenny in the Leinster quarter-final, Castletown-Geoghegan exited the race for provincial honours at the same stage in very disappointing fashion in near-perfect conditions for hurling at Laois Hire O’Moore Park last Sunday afternoon.

The Westmeath champions were narrowly beaten in a rousing contest by a physical and skilful outfit from Clough-Ballacolla, Laois.

Backed by a very large and vocal band of supporters, the visitors can have no real complaints about this somewhat unexpected reversal, even if the red card issued to Peter Clarke at a crucial juncture initially appeared to be a harsh call. They seldom played with the fluency that epitomised their garnering of a first two in-a-row in Westmeath in almost seven decades, largely because of tough and uncompromising tactics by their battle-hardened opponents who now face Ballyhale Shamrocks in the semi-final. The losers also took wrong options from play and frees at key moments, with experienced full forward Willie Dunphy proving to be the Laois men’s match-winner as he popped up with opportunist goals in the 33rd and 45th minutes.

Any foolish notions that this might be a handy game for Castletown-Geoghegan were quickly dispelled when the home team deservedly raced into a three-point lead in the opening five minutes, courtesy of scores by Stephen Bergin (a huge free) and from play by team captain Aidan Corby and Lee Cleere. The men in black and amber then settled and were on level terms by the tenth minute via a well-worked score finished by Morgan Gavigan and two from Niall O’Brien (the first of them from a free).

Clough-Ballacolla then took control again and rifled over four unanswered points between the 12th and 17th minutes from the hurls of Bergin (three frees, the first of these after O’Brien had strangely gone short from a scoreable free) and Cleere (a wonderful score under pressure). Exchanges were niggly at this stage as Alan Mangan’s troops had their most consistent spell with David O’Reilly opening his account prior to O’Brien hitting the next four points (the third of them in the 24th minute from open play, prior to putting his team ahead for the first time from a free three minutes later).

Robbie Phelan neatly levelled the scoring in the 28th minute, but the throngs of away fans enjoyed their half-time refreshments in upbeat mood some four minutes later after their heroes raised the last three white flags of the first moiety via two tricky frees from O’Brien (from either side of the pitch) and a delightful score from Jack Gallagher. Some confusion as to whether the winners were to be awarded a ‘65’ – they ultimately weren’t – wrapped up the first half, with Castletown-Geoghegan leading by 0-11 to 0-8.

The men in blue and gold opened the second half impressively with points from Cillian Dunne and Bergin (a free) prior to a vital goal from Dunphy in the 33rd minute (after he had fielded the sliotar from a probing delivery by Cormac Hogan). The O’Moore County champions now led by 1-10 to 0-11 and they never subsequently relinquished that lead. Point exchanges ensued between Conor Murphy and Bergin (a free), and Peter Clarke and Dunne.

Peter Clarke was dismissed for a high challenge on Joe Corby in the 43rd minute, making the visitors’ task all the more daunting. However, there was no shortage of spirit in the losers’ camp, vociferously backed all the way to the final whistle. O’Reilly doubled his points’ tally, but Dunphy doubled his goals’ haul in the 45th minute when he whipped the ball to the net after Dunne’s initial attempt had come back off the butt of the post. This left Willie Hyland’s charges ahead by 2-12 to 0-14 at the end of the third quarter. Impressive sub Mick Heeney made an immediate impression with a fine point. As had happened in the first half, O’Brien again went short from a scoreable free which yielded no reward. Bergin converted a ‘65’ prior to Dunphy fluffing a hat-trick opportunity in the 50th minute. Castletown-Geoghegan battled on bravely and they had the deficit down to the bare minimum (2-13 to 0-18) by the 57th minute via two O’Brien frees – Aonghus Clarke also missed two long-range placed balls – and another from play by Heeney. Great defending prevented O’Brien from getting a touch when a goal briefly beckoned in the 58th minute.

Jack Murphy was short from a shot from play before the teams twice exchanged points - Bergin (a free) and Heeney (completing a fine hat-trick), and sub Padraig Brennan and O’Brien (a free). Trailing by a point with just a minute of the minimum three minutes of added-time remaining, a Castletown-Geoghegan defender was penalised for touching the sliotar on the ground and Bergin slotted over the resultant free. A last-gasp effort to manufacture a potential winning goal failed when Gallagher’s lobbed free was cleared. Seconds later, Castletown-Geoghegan’s provincial dream was over for another year.

Scorers – Clough-Ballacolla: S Bergin 0-9 (8f, 1 ‘65’), W Dunphy 2-0, L Cleere, Cillian Dunne 0-2 each, R Phelan, A Corby, P Brennan 0-1 each.

Castletown-Geoghegan: N O’Brien 0-11 (9f), M Heeney 0-3, D O’Reilly 0-2, C Murphy, M Gavigan, J Gallagher, P Clarke 0-1 each.

CLOUGH-BALLACOLLA: Cathal Dunne; Joseph Pearson, Darren Maher, Eoin Doyle; Lochlainn Conway, Lee Cleere, Diarmaid Conway; Aidan Corby, Cormac Hogan; Mark Hennessy, Robbie Phelan, Kevin Mulhall; Cillian Dunne, Willie Dunphy, Stephen Bergin. Subs used: Joe Corby for Doyle (h-t), Padraig Brennan for Hennessy (51), Brian Corby for Phelan (54).

CASTLETOWN-GEOGHEGAN: Ciaran O’Brien; Aaron Glennon, Naoise McKenna, Johnny Bermingham; Shane Clavin, Jack Murphy, Peter Murphy; Morgan Gavigan, Peter Clarke; Aonghus Clarke, Conor Murphy, Liam Varley; David O’Reilly, Niall O’Brien, Jack Gallagher. Subs used: Mick Heeney for Gavigan (45), Dean Slevin for C Murphy (45).

Ref: Adam Kinahan (Offaly).