PIHC final: Can Castlelyons finally get over the line?

CASTLELYONS and finals have been an unhappy marriage, but will final number four prove to be the lucky one?

Three decider defeats in 2013, 2020 and 2021 since the Imokilly club dropped down from the top flight of Cork hurling in 2009 and there have also been numerous quarter-final and semi-final heartbreak. But, will 2023 finally be the year for the green and gold? They are back in familiar territory as they face Kilworth in the Co-Op SuperStores PIHC final this Sunday in Páirc Ui Chaoimh at 2pm. 

They have been in this position before, been favourites, but for one reason or another they haven’t delivered. While every season is a blank canvas, that has certainly been the case in 2023 for Castlelyons with the enlisting of Noel Furlong as boss, the former Cork All-Ireland winning minor manager, who was a senior selector in 2022 under Kieran Kingston.

It was a shrewd move by Castlelyons - a man with no past final agony with the club, a fresh start for the panel and a chance to move forward.

The East-Cork outfit have after all been perennial challengers for the best part of a decade. It was ten years ago, a young exciting team led by the likes of Colm Barry, Colm Spillane, Alan Fenton and Anthony Spillane, were fancied to move up to the senior ranks, but suffered disappointment at the hands of Youghal in the final, as the seaside club won, 0-11 to 0-10. 

It just goes to show how difficult this magical premier intermediate grade is when it took Castlelyons seven years to reach another final despite being one of the fancied sides every season. Blarney were outstanding in the 2020 final, winning 1-20 to 0-15 against a Castlelyons outfit who didn’t fire.

Castlelyons regrouped to reach the final again 13 months later, but in more or less a repeat of the 2013 defeat, it was disappointment for the green and gold, another one-point defeat as Courcey Rovers won, 1-19 to 1-18.

In what is now the third tier in the Cork club championship pyramid, this grade is arguably one of the toughest championships to win. Another club similar to Castlelyons is Ballinhassig, another side who haven’t been able to reach senior status despite being one of the contenders since their demotion from the top grade ten years ago.

Ballinhassig didn’t even qualify out of their group this season despite picking up three points from the first two group games. Éire Óg and Dungourney finished up with four points, but that still wasn’t enough for both sides to qualify for the business end of the championship from their respective groups. This grade is extremely difficult to win. 

Castlelyons' opposition on Sunday are Kilworth with both clubs very familiar with each other despite being in different divisions. They are only separated by 13km and would all go to secondary school in nearby Fermoy.

While Castlelyons have pressure on them, it will be the opposite for Kilworth, a team that have gone under the radar this season, but have serious momentum, which makes them very dangerous opponents. Pat O’Brien’s charges finished up with three points after the three group matches, with the final group game win over Ballinhassig enough for them to qualify. That three-point success was followed by a four-point victory over Valley Rovers in the quarter-final and a one-point triumph over a fancied Ballincollig side in the last four.

Castlelyons had comfortable wins over Bandon and Dungourney which ensured a passage into the knockout stages, but the manner in which they lost by three points to Ballincollig in the final group match would have rankled with them. The Collig prevailed by 1-23 to 3-14, and while scoring three goals would have been a positive, conceding what they did would have been a concern. 

Furlong’s side obviously learnt an awful lot from the defeat as they have conceded just 0-17 since. They were too strong for Ballymartle in the quarter-final, 0-16 to 0-7, before gaining a modicum of revenge for last year’s defeat to Castlemartyr in the semi-final, by beating them at the same juncture, 2-10 to 0-10. That was a huge test of character for Castlelyons, they didn’t buckle under pressure and that win would have ticked a lot of boxes.

It all leads to Sunday, Castlelyons will feel they have been bridesmaids for too long and that this is their time. It won’t be easy though against a battled hardened Kilworth side. It should be a humdinger of a contest. Really looking forward to it.