Castlelyons go that extra bit and strike in time to advance in Football Championship

Castlelyons 1-13 Glenville 1-11 (AET).

Heading down to historic Cloyne for a football game today the Radio was full of 1916 Commemorative stuff and this guy was talking about the Irish playing a football match in prison and one of the warders “said if they are that rough in sport they must be fairly tough in a fight”.  Well the East Cork JAFC game was not like that but played out in cold, wet conditions with a freezing wind chill it was tough and heart-warming stuff with a lot of good football.

Castlelyons were slow starters and were down 1-3 to 0-0 despite playing with a strong breeze.  Aidan O Sullivan, our top hurling scorer, registered our first score a nice point from play.  We gradually grew into the game and began to play with skill and great commitment.  Anto and Ml Spillane had points and D Lawlor landed a good score.  Stephen Hickey a glovesman of note in the “soccer” game but with a placed kick like “O Gara” came out of goal and landed a mighty ’45 from out in the wing. But with the breeze we were still down a point at half time as Glenville were playing well.

Glenville started the second half well and added a point.  Then we were awarded a 14 yard free, up comes our Captain, Ronan Bransfield, and plants a rocket in the net when they thought he would go for a tap over.  This put us right in the game and there was some mighty football by both sides and an animated sideline thrown into the mix. We were up a point and heading for the long whistle and had a few chances but Glenville could not be put down and Denis O Farrell levelled it with a good point. All square at full time at 1-8 each and then on for extra time.

The extra time stuff was extra special.  Sure it would when you are in with a chance of winning.  There was some heroic stuff by both sides. One in particular, our man A Fenton was one on one with the Glenville goalie and although going the wrong way made a massive save with his foot to keep them in the game. Our Management made some great moves that worked well as they put E Maye back on Josh Cooke with ML Spillane back as the proverbial sweeper and he cleaned up.

Tommy Carroll was all over the place and he was fouled coming up field after a great turn over by S Moroney.  Again out comes our goalie S Hickey to plant the resulting free, a monster, over and set us on the road.  E Maye put us two up with a great point to secure an outstanding victory on the score 1-13 to 1-11.  There were many great plays and great heroes but we must remember it is just the first round. 

Congrats to our lads on a great result and well done to Glenville for making a great game of it.  We are now in the second round and Glenville live to fight another day as they face Bride Rovers in a back door job.  Than could be some game too.

Team: - S Hickey, E Maye, C O Leary, D Varner, D Lawlor, C Barry, T Carroll, S Moroney, A Spillane, A O Sullivan, R Fenton, R Bransfield (Capt), A Fenton, S O Sullivan M Spillane. Subs: -  E Barry, L Moroney, R O Regan, A O Regan, and Brian (Dunny) O Donovan. (R O Regan for R Fenton) and E Barry for S O Sullivan in ET).  Scores: - A Spillane 0-7, R Bransfield 1-1, S Hickey 0-2, A O Sullivan, D Lawlor, ML Spillane and E Maye 0-1 each.

Intermediate Hurlers get a result in Bandon.

Castlelyons 1-18 Bandon 1-14.

We played Bandon in the Division 2 Intermediate Hurling League game down on their home ground.  Some very heavy rain just before the game made conditions slippery and difficult for both the teams and the referee.  We started well with three points from play by R Fenton, S Moroney and A Spillane while Bandon had two wides.  Then Mark Sugrue, strong on the ball, gained possession and rounded our backline for a good goal for Bandon. 

We continued to play well with good scores from A Fenton 0-2, E Maye 0-1, A Spillane 0-1 after great work by T Carroll, and C McGann 0-1.  Bandon had two wides and then Alan Fenton gained possession and ran at the backline and crossed to A O Sullivan who finished to the net. R Fenton and D Crowley exchanged points.  However, after twenty minutes we seemed to lose our way somewhat and to compound matters lost E Maye with a nasty facial injury.  Bandon found their scoring range and landed over 0-6 from play and frees to leave it 1-9 each at half time.

We reorganised at half time and it was to pay off as Colm O Neill began to hurl well at wing back and C McGann had a point from a long range free. D Lawlor fetched well around the middle and with R Bransfield give us an edge at midfield.  We had points from S Moroney and A O Sullivan, the Spillane brothers and A Fenton.  Then A O Sullivan sent over a “Canning” style point as he lofted over a sideliner from 45 yards’ out and R Bransfield got a good one from out on the wing.  A Fenton concluded our scoring with a point from a free after Anto was taken down as he headed for goal. 

Our backs were tight and were on top for the most part.  However, Bandon did keep the scoreboard ticking over and remained in the hunt. There was five points in it and three minutes to go when our goalie was left one on one with Bandon sharpshooter Darren Crowley who normally puts them away.  Not this one as Shane O Sullivan brought off a massive save and cleared his lines. They did bring it back to four points but we finished well for a good league win.

Well done to the lads and the Management outfit as we now head the league on six points as we have three wins from four outings but with a game more played.  The commitment is good at present we are down a few lads especially our county minor contingent who will all come into the reckoning for the championship.

Thanks to Bandon for refreshments on a nasty evening something clubs should do as the chat after is nice.

Team: - S O Sullivan, D Varner, C O Leary, T Carroll, C McGann, C Barry, R Bransfield, E Maye, D Lawlor, R Fenton, M Spillane, S Moroney, A Fenton, A O Sullivan, A Spillane. Subs: - C O Neill, D Sexton, M Murphy, B O Donovan, R O Regan and M J Dorgan. (C O Neill for E Maye, 23 mins), R O Regan for R Fenton 55 mins and B O Donovan for M Spillane, inj, 55 mins).  Scores: - A O Sullivan 1-2, A Fenton 0-5, A Spillane 0-3, C McGann 0-2, S Moroney 0-2, M Spillane, R Bransfield, R Fenton and E Maye 0-1 each.

New Jerseys for Castlelyons.

We have donned a new jersey for the coming season with a new sponsorship and logo as already announced, namely, ZEUS Packaging Group.  The CEO of ZEUS is a Castlelyons man, Mr Brian O Sullivan formerly of Britway where his Mam and Dad Julia and John Joe O Sullivan still reside.   Brian has grown this Company since 1988 from its base in Dublin to a worldwide concern and they won the Deloitte best managed Companies Awards Programme in 2012.  We are thankful to Brian and wish him and his Company continued success.

Likewise, we are grateful to our previous Sponsor and great supporter Mr John O Flynn of South Coast Logistics who sponsored us for the last nine years.  We sincerely thank him and wish him, his family and Company every success as they continue to lead the field in many areas.

Best wishes to Castlelyons lads on Minor Hurling Panel.

Our Club has made a good contribution to Cork Minor hurling over the years. Back in 1975 John Murphy banged in 1-1 when they beat Waterford in the first round and he was an ever present as they made it to the final to be beaten by Kilkenny.

Ten years later, 1995 the start of a mighty career for Timmy McCarthy as he banged in two goals against Waterford in the Munster final and went on to win the All-Ireland defeating Kilkenny. 

Then in 1998 we had two lads on the team, namely Eoin Fitzgerald and Peter Murphy who won the Munster and All-Ireland medals.  Eoin, at the time was a prolific scorer landing 0-8 in the Munster Final, 0-8 in the Semi and 0-6 in the All-Ireland final, while Peter was a teak tough operator.

Cork Minor Hurlers set off this year’s campaign with an away game to Waterford down in Walsh Park on Wednesday 6^th April.   We are third in the role of honour but have not landed a title since back in 2001, 15 years ago.

The Manager Denis Ring has prepared his troops for this outing in an almost professional set up since last October as he strives to put Cork hurling back on track.  The club is delighted to have a number of members on the panel. 

Congratulations to Niall O Leary, Captain this year, his brother Jamie and cousin Keith O Leary.  These three lads have work very hard all year and starred with St Colman’s who really improved this year.  Well done to our Juvenile Club and especially their parents who have taken them all about the place to training and games all year.

Club Lotto Draw

This week’s Club Lotto Draw took place in the Community Centre on this Tuesday night 29. 3. 16 and the Numbers Drawn were 8, 12, 19 and 32.  There was No Winner.

The Jackpot is now €7,800.

The Lucky Dip Winners were as follows: - Chrissie Mackessey; Matthew Walsh; Pat Mannix; Pamela Long; Mary Dorgan; Michelle Griffin; John McCarthy and  Jimmy O Leary.

The next Draw is on Monday 4th April in the Community Centre at 9.30 pm.  Thanks for your Support.

Castlelyons Main Sponsor: - ZEUS Packaging Group