2007

SHC Round 1 9/5/07 @ O' Moore Park

Portlaoise 5-12 Castletown 1-7

From Laois Nationalist

Portlaoise slay Castletown in 17 point shocker

THIS 17-point winning margin says more about the losers than it does about the winners as Castletown sank to their worst defeat since winning their first senior title in 1995.

The first question to be asked is if this is the end of this great Castletown team. It would appear from this display that it would seem to be.

Whether it heralds a new era for Portlaoise remains to be seen.

Certainly Portlaoise were in a different league than the once mighty champions but Castletown were so poor it is hard to read too much into the Town’s victory. 

Former star Niall Rigney had his side in prime condition and they hit some lovely scores as they completely dominated from start to finish but Tommy Buggy had only taken over the Castletown side a week earlier and that certainly showed as well.

Whether or not the Castlecomer man can work the miracle with Castletown remains to be seen as well even if he did succeed in bringing Carlow to a Leinster minor hurling final last year.

He has his work cut out in Castletown however as the older players seem to have their best days behind them and on this display the younger ones are not up to the task yet.

Portlaoise on the other hand were flying and played an attractive brand of team hurling with play-ers working well on and off the ball.

They also had the benefit of having the outstanding player on view in Cahir Healy as he gave a powerful exhibition of defence and in particular first touch hurling of the highest standard.

Healy was just magnificent in everything he did and showed what a class performer he is just days after the heartbreak of losing the all-Ireland under 21 football final. 

Portlaoise had more star performers than that however and their defence, apart from Healy, was just too good for their opponents.

Colm Clear has been converted into a goalkeeper in the absence of long serving John Hanniffy and on the basis of this display he will do a fine job indeed.

He dealt with some tricky low shots; was assured and was confident on high dropping balls while his clearances were top class. 

Keith Murphy, Derek Delaney and Mick Bowe were all outstanding at the rear while Joe Phelan and Niall Fitzpatrick were on top in the middle of the field. 

Up front Tommy Fitzgerald was first class and gave Paul Cuddy a complete run around in front of the goals. Paul has been a great servant to Laois and Castletown but he was way off the pace of the game in his first championship outing of the year. 

Portlaoise had youth on their side and in Tony Byrne and minor David O’Mahony two players with skill and scoring ability. Byrne hit 2-1 from play while O’Mahony chipped in with three superb points and Barry Fitzgerald too was more than a handful for the Castletown defence. 

Robbie Delaney, Seamus Lyons and John Gaughan were the only Castletown players to match their opponents. 

Castletown opened the scoring with a Seamus Lyons point but after 13 minutes The Town were five points clear with a Tommy Fitzgerald goal, two magnificent scores from O’Mahony and a Noel Costelloe free.

Castletown fought back and when Seamus Lyons caught a high ball and buried it in the net and James Hooban added a point it looked like we were in for a close contest but alas that was the only burst that the Village team made. 

Tommy Fitzgerald turned and twisted Paul Cuddy and the Castletown defence inside out and finished to an open net. Six minutes later Tony Byrne cut a path through the middle and lashed home goal number three as Portlaoise went on to lead at the break by 3-5 to 1-5. 

Amazingly Castletown were to score only twice more in the second half, both from Seamus Lyons frees as Portlaoise took complete control. 

A lightning run and perfect pass from Tommy Fitzgerald set up Tony Byrne for his second goal as Portlaoise raced ahead with fine points from Mick Bowe, Eoin Browne, David O’Mahony, Barry Fitzgerald (two) and Noel Costelloe. 

Castletown were run ragged and poor defending allowed Barry Fitzgerald to intercept a passing movement and race through for goal number five and a 17-point lead after 19 minutes of the half. 

The standard deteriorated completely in the final ten minutes and with both teams only scoring a point each in the final 13 minutes Portlaoise retained that 17-point advantage at the end of a one sided and very disappointing encounter. 

PORTLAOISE: Colm Clear, Keith Murphy, Brian Mulligan, Cahir Healy, Derek Delaney, Diarmuid Costelloe, Mick Bowe (0-1), Joe Phelan, Niall Fitzpatrick, Tony Byrne (2-1), Eoin Browne (0-1), David O’Mahony (0-3), Barry Fitzgerald (1-2), Tommy Fitzgerald (2-0), Noel Costelloe (0-4, 1f). Subs: Eoin Fitzpatrick for Derek Delaney.

CASTLETOWN: Paddy Mullaney, Robbie Delaney, Paul Cuddy, John O’Sullivan, John Gaughan, David Cuddy (0-2), Declan Keenan, Brian Ferns, Fionan Cuddy, Darren Ferns, Joe Delaney, Owen Dooley, Seamus Lyons (1-4, 1f), Fionan O’Sullivan, James Hooban (0-1). Subs: Mick Butler for F O’Sullivan, Kevin Conroy for Owen Dooley.

REF: Anthony Stapleton (Rathdowney)

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