Two final defeats in three years - can Castlelyons get the job done this year?

FINALISTS in 2020 and 2021 and knocked out in the semi-finals by Castlemartyr last season, Castlelyons have been knocking on the door of Senior A for several years, but it’s yet to materialise for the east Cork club.

The Premier Intermediate side have set themselves up for a third final in four years after defeating Castlemartyr on Saturday, and while they’ll certainly be the bookies favourites – that pressure could go either way.

They’ve already avenged last season’s defeat to Castlemartyr, but will lightning strike a third time for Castlelyons, or while they finally return to the senior ranks for the first time since 2009?

Coach Brendan Hoare was delighted with the result but knows there is still work to do before they’ll have a title under their belt.

“We weren’t thinking about a final, because we had a huge battle here. We knew it was going to be a battle, but especially in these conditions,” he begins. “Castlemartyr threw the kitchen sink at us in the second half, and we’re just delighted to come out the right side of it. We’ve two weeks now, so we’ll enjoy those two weeks, we’ll work hard and get the bodies right, get the heads ready and look forward to that.” 

“We’ve huge belief in the lads. It’s a new management team this year, it’s a new setup and the squad is different. There’re some players gone, some more after coming through, there’s a very fresh team this year.

“We were in a tough group, and we got out of that, and Ballymartle the last day, Castlemartyr today. We’ll just treat the Kilworth final the same as we have the previous games,” says Brendan.

“We know Kilworth really well. They’re only out the road the other side of Fermoy, they’re a really seasoned team, a very experienced team, and they’ve huge momentum with them. They’re after a few really good victories on the other side so it’s going to be huge. [We’re] under no illusions, but we’ll need more of the same of what we had out there today.” 

The conditions made it a challenging one for both sides, but it was Castlelyons’ ability to dig deep defensively that made the difference, and they had several big performances in the backs.

“Niall [O’Leary] was absolutely outstanding. All the backs were in fairness,” he says. “I thought our backs just collectively defended really well. Niall, Colm [Spillane], Colm Barry are the three big players that everybody knows about.

Shane Moroney didn’t play the last few games and came in there today, and I thought he was outstanding as well, as were the rest of the backs.

“We played Ballymartle two weeks ago in a quarter final, and it was very similar conditions up in Páirc Uí Rinn. Ballymartle really stuck at it until the end, and I think that probably stood to us today. We were kind of battle hardened from that, so we knew coming down here today, it was going to be more of the same.”