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SHC Final 16/9/01 @ O' Moore Park
Castletown 2-19 Tinnahinch 1-8
From Irish Independent
Castletown on top!
Castletown experienced little difficulty overcoming the challenge of newcomers Tinahinch in the Laois SHC final at Portlaoise yesterday.
Aided by a strong breeze, the newcomers got off to a dream start when their midfield pairing of James Young and Declan Conroy shot three points in the opening five minutes.Castletown, who won their first title in 1995, were hoping to win their third in succession, whilst Tinahinch, a combination of Rosenallis and Clonaslee, were making their first appearance in a county decider.
However, six minutes into the game Pat Phelan placed Brian Ferns for an equalising goal.
A minute later Phelan gave the champions the lead for the first time, but when Mark Rooney shot a Tinahinch goal his side led 1-6 to 1-4.
However, at the interval the sides were level at 1-6 apiece
On the change-over, the reigning champions took complete control. They hit four unanswered points in the opening five minutes, and although James Young cut the deficit in half, the champions never looked like surrendering their title.
They led by 10 points with five minutes remaining. Then, teenage substitute James Hooban made his championship debut a memorable one, scoring 1-2 to put the icing on the cake.
SCORERS Castletown: P Phelan 0-7, J Hooban, B Ferns 1-2 each, D Cuddy 0-4, S Lyons, P Cuddy, D Keenan, F O'Sullivan 0-1 each. Tinahinch: J Young 0-6, M Rooney 1-0, B McEvoy, D Conroy 0-1 each.
CASTLETOWN John Lyons; Martin Phelan, Robert Delaney, Tom Phelan; Declan Keenan, Paul Cuddy, John O'Sullivan; John Palmer, Cyril Cuddy; Brian Ferns, David Cuddy, Michael Butler; Fionán O'Sullivan, Paudge Cuddy, Patrick Phelan. Subs: Seamus Lyons for Palmer; Patrick Mullaney for Butler; James Hooban for Keenan.
TINAHINCH S Corcoran; E McEvoy, S Dooley, E Fitzgerald; P Bennett, R McEvoy, R Conroy; J Young, D Conroy; B McEvoy, M Rooney, J Conroy; W McEvoy, Darren Rooney, J Dooley. Subs: J Bates for J Conroy; Declan Rooney for J Dooley; S Flynn for B McEvoy; C Bates for R Conroy.
REF A Stapleton (Rathdowney).
O' Brady Cup Final 16/10/01 @ Mountrath
Leinster Championship 1st Round @ Aughrim
Castletown 2-12 Kiltegan 0-4
From Laois GAA Website
The picturesque setting of Aughrim Co. Wicklow was the venue for this game between Kiltegan and Castletown. This game saw Castletown dominate with David Cuddy scoring 0-3 in the early stages of the 2nd half to set Castletown off for a famous victory. Kiltegan failed to score in the second half.
Castletown were in front after 5 minutes of the first half when John Palmer scored a point. Brian Ferns and Padraig Cuddy added points before John Kehoe pointed for Kiltegan. Castletown 0-3 Kiltegan 0-1 after 12 minutes. Then Brian Ferns latched onto a ball and crashed it to the back of the Kiltegan net. Tony Kelly in the Kiltegan goals had no chance. John O'Toole added a point for Kiltegan. Castletown 1-3 Kiltegan 0-2. Patrick Phelan scored a point from a free after 18 minutes for Castletown. Into the closing minutes of the half and scores came from Gavin Wynne and John Kehoe for Kiltegan. Padraig Cuddy got the final score of the half deep into injury time for Castletown.
HALF TIME : Castletown 1-5 Kiltegan 0-4
In the second half Kiltegan put on all the pressure but after 5 minutes David Cuddy added a point. He added two more in the 6th and 7th minutes Castletown 1-8 Kiltegan 0-4. Pat Phelan added another Castletown point in the 8th minute. David Cuddy added another point and two more points for Castletown came from Padraig Cuddy in the 14th and 23rd minutes. The final score of the game came from David Cuddy when he crashed a penalty to the back of the Kiltegan net. Castletown take on the winners of the Louth v Wexford champions in about 3 weeks time
FULL TIME SCORE Castletown (Laois) 2-12 Kiltegan (Wicklow) 0-4
CASTLETOWN: John Lyons; Martin Phelan, Robert Delaney, Tom Phelan, Cyril Cuddy, Paul Cuddy, Declan Keenan, John Palmer, David Cuddy, Brian Ferns, John O' Sullivan, Michael Butler, Patrick Phelan, Padraig Cuddy, John Richard
From Irish Independent
So easy for Birr and Castletown
BIRR (Offaly) 2-18, NAAS (Kildare) 0-5 OFFALY champions Birr led all the way to claim a place in the Leinster club SHC semi-final at the expense of home side Naas yesterday.
Three minutes after the restart Gary Hanniffy put an end to any prospect of a Naas recovery with the first goal of the game and it was followed by three more points before Naas scored again.Birr piled on the pressure throughout the half and led by 0-9 to 0-3 at half-time.
Rory Hanniffy sealed Birr's win with a goal in the 51st minute to send his side through to face newly-crowned Kilkenny kingpins O'Loughlin Gaels.
SCORERS Birr: R Hanniffy 1-4, G Hanniffy 1-4 (3f), S Whelahan 0-4 (3f), J Pilkington 0-2, Brian Whelahan, D Franks, C Hanniffy and D Pilkington 0-1 each. Naas: P Rohan, E Denieffe, J Kinlon, J Ryan and N Swan 0-1 each.
BIRR B Mullins; G Cahill, J Errity, JP O'Meara; D Franks, Brian Whelahan, N Claffey; J Pilkington, Barry Whelahan; D Pilkington, L Power, R Hanniffy; P Molloy, G Hanniffy, S Whelahan. Subs: S Brown for S Whelahan, D Hayden for Molloy, C Hanniffy for Power, A Guinan for Barry Whelahan and J O'Loughlin for O'Meara.
NAAS B Murnane; M Byrne, C Boran, E Leamy; M Hennessy, E Denieffe, P Rohan; N Swan, J Brennan; P Brennan, R Coyle, M Boran; J Kinlon, J Ryan, L Moloney. Subs: T Shanahan for P Brennan and J Dowling for Moloney.
REF A Stapleton (Laois).
CASTLETOWN (Laois) 2-12, KILTEGAN (Wicklow) 0-4
VERSATILE Castletown hurler David Cuddy capped a dazzling display with 1-4 in the second half to send the Laois side through to the semi-finals of the Leinster Club SHC at Aughrim.
Cuddy, who moved from midfield to centre-forward on the changeover, over really cut loose in the No 11 position and his man-of-the match performance inspired Castletown's much improved showing in the second period.
Lucky to be ahead 1-5 to 0-4 at the break, Castletown racked up a further 1-7 after the break while keeping Kiltegan scoreless at the same time. Cuddy put the final nail in Kiltegan's coffin in the 55th minute when he blasted a penalty to the net.
SCORERS Castletown: D Cuddy 1-4, B Ferns 1-1, Padraig Cuddy 0-4, P Phelan 0-2, J Palmer 0-1. Kiltegan: J Keogh 0-2, J O'Toole and G Wynne 0-1 each.
CASTLETOWN J Lyons; M Phelan, Paul Cuddy, T Phelan; C Cuddy, R Delaney, D Keenan; J Palmer, D Cuddy; B Ferns, J O'Sullivan, M Butler; J Kingston, Padraig Cuddy, P Phelan. Subs: O Dooley for D Keenan, J Hoban for M Butler, S Lyons for P Phelan, D Brophy for M Phelan, T Dooley for J Sullivan.
KILTEGAN T Kelly; D Hayes, Lar Byrne, Lorcan Byrne; J Whelan, G Bermingham, C O'Keeffe;C O'Toole, N Byrne; M Moran, J O'Toole, K Furlong; A Furlong, G Wynne, J Keogh. Subs: T Byrne for A Furlong, M Cullen for D Hayes, S Byrne for M Moran.
REF P Dunphy (Kilkenny).
From Irish Times
Cuddy is let off his Laois
VERSATILE hurler David Cuddy starred as Castletown routed Wicklow's Kiltegan by a 14 points margin at Aughrim yesterday to book their place in the Leinster Club hurling championship semi-finals.
Cuddy started at midfield for the Laois champions in the first half but switched to centre-forward at half-time, hammering home 1-4 to underpin his team's victory.
Play was a lot more even in the first half with Kiltegan a shade unlucky to be 1-5 to 0-4 behind at the break having shot eight first half wides to their opponents three.
However Castletown's players always looked the more polished hurlers in this match.
Indeed, Kiltegan failed to score in the second half as Paul Cuddy, Robert Delaney, John Palmer, Brian Ferns and Padraig Cuddy all turned on the style for the Laois champions.
David Cuddy though proved the inspiration as he banged over four points in the first 11 minutes. He then converted a late penalty to extend the winning margin which could have been worse but for great saves from the Kiltegan keeper Tony Kelly.
Leinster Championship Semi Final @ Nowlan Park 25/11/01
Castletown 1-10 Faythe Harriers 1-5
From Irish Independent
Hoban Castle King
IT WAS the hurling equivalent of David versus Goliath, and Laois underdogs Castletown felled Wexford giants Faythe Harries at Nowlan Park yesterday in a keenly fought AIB Leinster Club senior hurling semi-final.
Gavin Buggy equalised for the losers in the 43rd minute, but Castletown took back the lead when John Palmer pointed a 65.With the game delicately poised, and Faythe trailing by a point, the winners drew their slingshot. They brought on diminutive 17 year-old James Hoban, who went in against Harriers' towering full-back Nicky Lambert.
Hoban helped himself to 1-1, which rocked the Slaneysiders. With 10 minutes remaining he delivered his first stroke. Brian Ferns drove in a ball from 50 yards and the full-back lost sight of it. Hoban pulled first time on the dropping ball and crashed Castletown into a 1-6 to 0-5 lead.
Two minutes later he showed brilliant control to beat Lambert and shoot a point. All of a sudden the game was virtually gone from Harriers.
"Hoban is a proven score getter, and shot 1-2 in a four minute spell to help us win the county final," said Castletown manager Paddy Kirwan.
The youngsters' intervention was crucial in a game made difficult by heavy conditions.
Castletown can now look forward to a Leinster final clash with Offaly's Birr next Sunday.
The winners were backed by the wind during the opening half, but were unable to make much headway.
Gavin Buggy and Patrick Phelan swopped points early on.
Scores from Finan O'Sullivan and Phelan took the winners 0-3 to 0-1 clear after nine minutes. By half-time, their advantage was cut to the minimum, 0-4 to 0-3.
When Harriers drew level through a Barry Goff point early in second-half, the game looked theirs for the taking.
However, against disciplined Castletown defence in which Paul Cuddy and Martin Phelan were brilliant scoring chances were at a premium.
David Cuddy and Gavin Buggy traded scores before Palmer's 47th minute point left the Harriers 0-5 to 0-6 behind.
Up popped Hoban to shoot 1-1 and take his team 1-7 to 0-5 ahead. Things got worse for Harriers in the 53rd minute when Lambert was sent off after an incident involving O'Sullivan.
Although the losers scored a fine 57th minute goal through Mick Mackey, the game was already gone from them.
From Irish Independent
THE majority of the 2,500 crowd erupted in laughter twenty minutes from the end of last Sunday's Leinster club hurling semi-final between Castletown and Faythe Harriers.
The reason? A tiny figure standing just 5ft 4ins in height had emerged from the safety of the sidelines into the white heat of battle.
His name? James Hooban. It's one worth remembering.
As the fresh-faced youngster jogged towards the square he was met by six foot plus Nicky Lambert - a Wexford county star.
No contest you'd imagine. You'd be wrong.
Hoban crashed home 1-1 in the space of two minutes, and Lambert's forgettable afternoon ended up with him being sent off.
The laughter had turned to near incredulity at the end of the game as the Laois champions progressed to Sunday's Leinster club final against Birr - all thanks to pint-sized Hooban, who only turned 17 last month.
Boss Paddy Kirwan recalls: "Everybody laughed when we brought him on - except the Castletown supporters.
"I heard one wag saying 'they must be getting desperate - they're bringing on the midget' but we had the last laugh.
"He's such a brave lad and to mark a guy like Nicky Lambert takes guts but he took it all in his stride.
"And I remember he got an awful belt with five minutes to go but just got up and got on with the game."
Hooban's rise has been nothing short of meteoric.
He was part of Castletown's minor and under-21 teams this year with varying degrees of success.
Castletown lost the minor county final, but won the under-21 championship.
Kirwan was impressed by Hooban's contribution and drafted him into the senior set-up.
He recalls: "He played full-forward for the under-21s and almost single-handedly brought them success.
"I decided to bring him onto the senior panel to see how he'd do and some of the things he can do with the ball would mesmerise you.
Hoban's chance came in the county final against Tinnahinch.
After hopping from the bench, he blasted 1-2 as Castletown clinched a third successive title.
"He's just a natural talent, and equally at home off either side," Kirwan observes.
"But my biggest job at the moment is trying to keep him away from the drink and the women," he laughed.
Hooban himself went to school in St Aengus, Mountrath, where he began to hone his natural skills.
During his first year, the school won the county title, but lost out in the provincial decider.
But Hooban was on his way, and not long after was making waves with the minors.
"I've been hurling since I could walk," Hoban explains.
But fame like this must be something else.
"Last Sunday is only sinking in now but I'm feeling ok," he says.
"But I was a bit embarrassed when I saw all the headlines on Monday morning.
"I've been getting a fair bit of slagging from my friends during the week," he smiles.
The next step on a rapid upward curve comes against Offaly specialists Birr in Sunday's final.
He won't start the game, "it would be unfair," Kirwan points out.
But it's odds on he'll play a part at some stage.
"I'm really looking forward to the Birr game," says Hoban.
"You dream about days like this - playing against the biggest names in the game."
Kirwan adds: "His performances are even more remarkable when you take into account the fact that it's not his time of year with the wet conditions.
"But the goal he got last Sunday was something else - doubling on the ball from 20 yards."
It's fairytale stuff for one so young and club secretary John Quinn adds: "As far as senior hurlers go he's absolutely tiny."
Tiny he may be, but he's got a huge heart.
And one thing's for certain, there'll be no giggles from the crowd if Hooban is sprung into action once again next weekend.
Faythe Harriers fans learned their lesson the hard way.
Leinster Championship Final @ Nowlan Park 2/12/01
Castletown 1-7 Birr 0-10
From Irish Independent
Brittle nerves halt Castletown's victory parade
PADDY KIRWAN'S anger bounced off the sodden, stone floor as Castletown's hurlers wrestled with a curious kind of grief in Nowlan Park yesterday.
Indeed, they did not register a single score from the 35th minute on, at which point the Offaly men looked to have already run aground, trailing 0-3 to 1-7.The Laois champions, chasing their first ever Leinster club hurling title, led Birr for 56 minutes of this riveting provincial final, yet ended the day seemingly paralysed with dread.
Brittle nerve was their primary undoing, though Kirwan himself a former Birr and Offaly stalwart preferred to focus on the reputed inconsistencies of Wexford referee Dickie Murphy.
Expressing himself "disgusted" with Murphy's performance, Kirwan also declared that Castletown would not fulfil a replay obligation next Sunday "there'll be only one team here if it's next Sunday" and rounded on those, who he believes, routinely disregard the merits of Laois hurling.
"I'm sick of listening to Laois people getting insulted as they have been for the past fortnight," said Kirwan. "Everyone thought we were going to come down here today and get destroyed. It breaks my heart to see this bunch of guys getting done by harsh refereeing decisions.
"He (Murphy) has a lot to answer for this evening."
The Castletown boss was speaking with great emotion and it must be said that, from a neutral perspective, Murphy's refereeing seemed largely even-handed, though two second-half decisions against Paul and Cyril Cuddy were mildly puzzling.
The curse of any team seeking history is the weight that search brings to bear on tender nerves. For close to 40 minutes yesterday, Castletown were magnificent, hunting and hurling their esteemed opponents into a gloom of confusion.
Their only previous Leinster final appearances ('97 and '99) had ended in failure against Birr, but last year's quarter-final win over the same opponents (even if followed by capitulation against Graigue-Ballycallan) looked to have rid them of subservient impulses.
Laois-Offaly hurling battles are traditionally spiky engagements and Birr should have understood the texture of hurling required for survival here.
A sticky pitch, a blinding sun and opponents willing to sacrifice skin on the bás of flying hurls made Nowlan Park an inhospitable place for any men with dillettante tendencies. For more than half of this contest, Birr's desultory air looked out of place beside the raw earnestness of Castletown.
Success may fatten the belly but, sometimes, it pares the resolve too. Many of this Birr team have campaigned together for the guts of a decade, winning two All-Ireland and four Leinster crowns. Castletown are emaciated by comparison. Yet, for much of the day, hunger obliterated guile here.
Paul Cuddy was a tower of maturity at full-back though, in truth, the defence was such a tightly stitched coalition that no one individual had a conspicuous edge above another.
Birr's decision to site Declan Pilkington on the 'forty' and his brother, Johnny, at full-forward did not work. Indeed, Castletown centre-back Cyril Cuddy hurled more ball in the first period that he was ever entitled to anticipate.
Liam Power did fluff a third minute goal chance for the Offaly men and John Lyons made a fine parry from Rory Hanniffy in the eighth minute but, after a brace of David Cuddy frees, Castletown began to assert their own, commanding rhythm.
They already led by 0-6 to 0-3 when, on the stroke of half-time, JR Kingston struck for the day's only goal.
Substitute Patrick Mullaney cut in from the right wing and his drive was parried high by goalkeeper Brian Mullins, only for the alert Kingston to bat to the net, almost in slow motion.
Birr were now in deep trouble, manager Pat Joe Whelahan remarking later "We had lost our way. We were totally unsettled."
They looked to be on their way out of the championship too when, having recalled Johnny Pilkington to midfield, two early chances of scores were spurned by Gary Hanniffy and Barry Whelahan. Five minutes into the half, Fionan O'Sullivan's sweet point stretched Castletown's lead to seven and history seemed imminent.
But, with Brian Whelahan pushing forward and 18-year-old Stephen Brown hurling up the kind of storm at midfield that can scarcely have gone un-noticed by new Offaly boss Father Tom Fogarty, Birr came with an inevitable surge.
It was a slow-burner to begin with, three wonderful scores from Brown pivotal in bringing them to within a goal of the Laois men. But there were now just ten minutes remaining.
Then a critical moment. Eight minutes from time, Gary Cahill was deemed to have fouled the ball and, from a scoreable position David Cuddy pulled the free wide. Suddenly, the sirens began to wail and in quick succession three Birr runs produced three frees from Dickie and Brian Whelahan was unerring from each one. With two and a half minutes remaining, the sides were level, Castletown supporters in the 5,000 attendance patently fearing the worst.
But Birr could not administer the cruel (and unjust) deed in time and, so, the sides are due to meet again in Nowlan Park next Sunday (1.30 pm) unless Kirwan's call is heeded.
"They can hurl in Laois, can't they?" said the Offaly man rhetorically. No-one contradicted.
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