Junior Footballers in a County Final.

Castlelyons 0-12 Lough Rovers 0-5

We are in a county final already this year as our Junior Footballers defeated Lough Rovers in the Junior C confined championship semi Final in Whitechurch last Friday evening.  This was  a dour contest as our young team stood up well to the physicality of their oponents and combined well to pick off some fine scores.  The Lough scored first and Shane Cotter equalised for us.  Shane Moroney put his fellow midfielder Dylan Leetch for a good score while the hard working Jack Cremin had three points with two of them frees. Shane O’Flynn, Richard Morrison and Alan O’Regan all scored to put us 0-8 to 0-1 up aproaching half time.  However, the Lough got on top for a while as Stephen Hickey brought off a good save for us while our backs including the young Cathal Sheehan done very well.  It was 0-8 to 0-3 at half time.

We got a nice break on the restart as the men from the city exchanged some verbals with referee Peter O’Donovan so he moved up the ball and Jack Cremin put over the resultant free.  We were under a lot of pressure for a while but all our backs done well playing out the ball with fast hands and avoiding tackles while Shane Moroiney and Dylan Leetch got moving again and Shane Cotter played a power of ball at centre forward.  It was a very hot evening and a big pitch so the management emptied the bunker early and the replacements done well as young Kevin Barry landed a mighty point and Oisín Morrison put the game beyoned the Lough as we came home winners by seven points.

This was a good result and great to have adult football back again in the club.  well done to the lads and management Chris Cotter and Darren Tobin. We now face Rochestown in the final on a date to be arranged.   The Whitechurch pitch was in immaculte condition and thanks to the ‘faithful who travelled to support us.

Panel:  Shane Hickey; Oisín Morrison, Eoin McLoughlin, Conor McCarthy, Stephen Griffey,Dylan Leetch, Peter Roche; Kas Kouwenberg, Shane Cotter, Jack Cremin, Richard Morrison, Ronan Ryan, Jack Kenny, Sean Leneghan, Cathal Sheehan, Kevin Barry, Eoin Barry, Sean Leneghan, Mike Griffen, Jack Kenny, Kevin Barry.

Junior Hurlers in East Cork divison two hurling league Final on Wednesday 2nd July.

We have made the final of the East Cork Division 2 hurling league versus Fr O’Neills is fixed for Wednesday 2nd July with time and venue to be arranged as we go to press.  We played seven games with  five wins and losing two. Fr O’Neills and Midleton were the same as us.  So then Fr O’Neills were table toppers on plus five with Castlelyons second on minus two and Midleton third on minus three and losing out for the final. Best of luck to the players and management in the final . Castlelyons Abú.

Rebel Óg East Division Two Under 14 Championship

Rebel Óg Under 12 Grading League.

Castlelyons 7-9 Fr O’Neills 0-4

Our Under 12 Hurlers travelled to Fr O’Neills on Saturday for their first game in Phase two and put in a brilliant performance.  We attached every ball from the thrown in and hurled very well.  Our backs of Robbie Milward, Jack Cronin, Liam Cashman, Fionn O’Neill and Callaghan Mccarthy deserve huge credit, as they kept Fr O’Neills to just one point in the  first half.  We got some great scores from Dara McCarthy, Liam Martin and Cìan O’Donovan to lead 5-2 to 0-1 at half time..

Fr O’Neills got some goal chances in the second half but were kept out by great saves from Tom Barry. Rìan Fitzgerald and Robbie Wallace were covering lots of ground in midfield and also got some great scores. Dara McCarthy got his fourth goal with a lovely flick over the O’Neills goalkeeper. Seàn Ekechukwu, Eoghan Mccarthy and Mason White worked hard all during the game and Tom Barry finished the game with a lovely long range point.

We were missing seven players for this  game and had to call on two players from our Under 10 group, Noah and Harvey,who played really well when they came on.  Well done boys on a great team performance

Castlelyons GAA Lotto Results - Monday 23.6.25 -  Jackpot now €15400

The results of the draw held on Monday 16.6.25 had the following numbers drawn were 4, 19, 28 and 31. There was no Jackpot winner which was €15,000.   The Lucky Dip Winners of €20 each were as follows: Ber Sice, Chris O’Sullivan, Bernie Flynn, Con Lawlor, Martin Dorgan, Rory Waters.

The Jackpot is now a massive €15,400.  The next Draw be held in the Community Centre on Monday 30th June at 8.15pm. Thank you all for your support and don’t forget you can play our Lotto Online or purchase from the usual outlets.

Castlelyons Minor Footballers play Mayfield in the League.

Our minor footballers play Mayfield on Wednesday 25th June at 7.30pm in Mayfield.  We have done well in this Division 2 league with three wins and two losses and a total of six points to date.  Bride Rovers are unbeaten with five straight wins.  We have an outside chance of making the final but Cartigtwohill and St Vincents are in our way.

Camogie Under 14B County League Final

Castlelyons 2-9 Bishopstown 4-4

Our under fourteen girls were in the Cork mecca of camogie in Castle Road, Mahon on Sunday morning for the under 14 B League final versus Bishopstown.  Our girls had a good first half with Aisling cotter in fine form at midfield well supported by Bronagh Fitzgerald.  Indeed our backs fought well for every ball and the forwards tried hard.  We were well in the game at 1-3 to 2-1 but a goal by their full forward Sophie Scully apprroaching half time meant we were down four points at half time.

We scored first after half time with a point from Aisling but Bishopstown taked on two points.  Then a great solo run by Aisling as she shook the net for a great goal put us right back again.  Bishopstwon put on a bit of pressure and holding well but a long ball from otfield made its way to our net. Castlelyons put in some great hurling all over the field as Aisling Cotter a true leader went on a scoring spree slapping over several points.  It was level pegging at 4-3 to 2-9 and time almost up when Bishopstown put over a free at the death to win it 4-4- to 2-9.   Well done to the team and management and while the girls were disappointed they had a great run and no doubt will learn from this little set back and start again.

I spoke with Ms Lillian Zinkant the Cork delegate to Munster who was assisting with refreshments on the day.  She is steeped in the Sarsfields hurling tradition as her Dad George Zinkant was a member of the Sars county winning senior team in 1951.  Lillian won an East Cork Under 14 medal at midfield with the great Teddy McCarthy in the early 1970’s.  Some achievement.  She went on to win an All Ireland Minor medal with Cork later on.  Those were the days and I remember some girls played juvenile with Castlelyons too and two in particular were outstanding altogether.  Maybe it would raise standards in our own club even more to mix play at Under 10 and under 12 in training.

Panel :  Aoibhe McAuliffe, Aalaina Leetch, Fiadh McCarthty, Rosanna Moloney (c), Cliodhna Bransfield, Bronagh Fitzgerald, Michaela Moloney, Anna Quirke, Aisling Cotter, Zlata Ferents , Emma Potter, Fia Barry, Abbie Rumley, Cáit Hickey, Mae Quirke, Brenna Fallon, Erin Rumley, Amy Delea, Sophie Delea, Ciara Delea, Lauren O’Driscoll.

Under 13 LGFA defeated by Kilmacabea in County Final.

It wasn’t to be for our girls in the county final against a strong Kilmacabea side on Saturday. Due to a clash in colours Castlelyons were kitted out in the red and white of Imokilly, as the East Cork representatives. It took our girls some time to settle and Kilmacabea had 0-2 on the board early. Our defence however was outstanding, with Cliondha Bransfield clearing the lines and Anna Quirke shutting down the strong opposition runs. Alaina Leetch and Bronagh Fitzgerald were working tirelessly in the middle and as we got a foothold here, we started to get the ball into our forwards. A long ball was caught by Emma Potter who coolly rounded her marker for a goal . This was quickly followed up by a goal and point and the feeling among the large Castlelyons crowd was that our forwards had the better of the  Kilmacabea defence,  if they could get a good supply. However just on the stroke of half time, Kilmacabea got a debatable penalty against the run of play. The penalty was brilliantly taken to give Kilmacabea a 1-6 to 2-1 lead at halftime.

The first quarter of the second half was a tight affair with neither side registering a score, but the Kilmacabea midfield was starting to have greater influence in the game. Saoirse Shanhan in goal pulled off three or four great saves to keep us in the game. In a scorcher of a day, both teams were feeling the heat and it was all to play for after the second water break.  However Kilmacabea seemed to have more energy after the break and their key player No 8, came storming through the middle and sent an unstoppable shot past Saoirse. Kilmacabea took control  in the last quarter. Fiadh McCarthy moved out to midfield to deal with their number 8 and then we had some good forward surges from Amy and Ciara Delea, but couldn’t convert these into scoring opportunities. As our girls tired Kilmacabea tacked on a few points in the dying minutes to win by 0-8 in the end. Although disappointed our girls must be proud of what they have achieved this year. Only playing football for three years now, getting to a county final is massive. They also still have a league plate final versus Fermoy to look forward to in the coming weeks. Well done girls.

Cork bow to the power of the 'Hill the big ball and now looking forward to drowning the 'Hill in the small ball as the Dubs shock Limerick..

The shadow boxing of the last few months were in the past and it was real knockout stuff in the intercounty scene at the weekend.  Cork senior footballers travelled to Croke Park to play Dublin in the All Ireland Qualifiers last Saturday.  Despite a great showing by Cork the Dubs advanced 1-19 to 1-16 as they pulled away in the end.  How we yearn for one or a few good forwards with scoring ability as we defend very well.  Kerry seem to produce them down the years with guy like John Egan, Maurice Fitzgerald, the Gooch and Donal Clifford to name a few but we don’t seem to concentrate or develop our forward play.  So a job for the Academy or next year’s outfit.  

The All Ireland senior quarter hurling final played as a curtain raiser beforehand produced a massive shock as a fancied Limerick side were convincingly defeated by Dublin.  Played before an eventual crowd of just over 36,000 in such a large Stadium the atmosphere was a bit of an anti climax early on.  Then the dismissal of captain Chris Crummey in the 16th minute darkened the mood of the early Dublin following as an uphill task became even more difficult.  However, Dublin began to hurl with serious commitment and energy and deserved their 0-15 to 0-12 half time advantage.  Out they came for the second half driven on by a rising crowd on the ‘Hill who were arriving for the football and despite being down a man they stayed the course for a remarkable victory by 2-24 to 0-28.

So here we go again with the scene set the All Ireland senior semi finals next week. Tipperary after defeating Galway now play Kilkenny and Cork are paired with Dublin.  Cork just missed out in the final against Clare last year against Clare.  They were in blistering form in winning the League this year and while they found it a bit tougher to win Munster they have the hunger and the goal scoring machine could start again.  This game is now beginning to sell out and no doubt the Rebel supporters will dominate even the Dubs on the ‘Hill.  Cork are clear favourites on the field as well with the bookies putting them at one to eight while Dublin are six to one.  These same bookies have paid out already for the punters who backed Cork to win the All-Ireland so the latest odds have already rewarded confidence in Cork and continue to do so.  Maybe the fans may not be overly happy about the bookies’ prediction but it is exciting times with the Rebels clear favourites to progress and win their first All-Ireland Championship in 20 years this summer.  They certainly deseve it but must go all out for it.

Votes of sympathy.

Castlelyons GAA wish to express sincere condolences to the Broderick family, Fermoy and  Castlelyons on the sad passing of Bertie. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a ainm uasal.

Fixtures.

• Rebel Óg Minor Football League; Castlelyons v Mayfield;  on Wednesday 25th June at 6.30pm in Castlelyons. 
• Red FM Division 3 County Hurling League; Newcestown v Castlelyons; Sunday 29th June at 11.30am in Newcestown.
• Rebel Óg Under 18 Hurling League; St Catherines v Castlelyons; Wednesday 2nd July in Ballynoe at 6.30pm.
• Amerenco Junior Hurling League Fnal; Castlelyons v Fr O’Neills; Wednesday 2nd July with venue and time to be arranged.

Kieran McGann: Communications Officer

Club Sponsor:  East Cork Oil