Castlelyons land the Munster IHC title following victory over Corofin
Castlelyons captain Colm Spillane raises the cup after beating Corofin in the Munster IHC final at the TUS Gaelic Grounds. Picture: Brendan Gleeson
CASTLELYONS have been crowned Munster IHC winners following a six-point victory over Clare outfit Corofin in the final at the TUS Gaelic Grounds on Saturday evening.
It’s Castlelyons' first Munster crown since 1998 which was also at the intermediate grade and they had this win more or less wrapped up by half-time with Anthony Spillane simply on fire, with the Dubai-based forward scoring the three Castlelyons goals in the opening 30 minutes.
Castlelyons are the first Cork club since Fr O’Neill’s back in 2019 to claim provincial silverware at this level.
It was a helter-skelter start with Corofin hitting the first point after 50 seconds through Michael Kelly, but it could have very easily been a goal. A slick team move opened up the Castlelyons rearguard but the forward couldn’t keep his shot down.
The Cork champions' response was emphatic, raising two green flags in the space of two minutes from Spillane. He took his goals with aplomb, giving the Corofin netminder Liam Corbett no chance on both occasions. The first one was a thing of beauty with Alan Fenton setting up Spillane for the goal. Noel Furlong’s side were in the ascendancy and three points on the trot, all from Fenton, two from frees, gave Castlelyons a 2-3 to 0-1 advantage after six breathless minutes.
Castlelyons remained firmly in control after 13 minutes as they led 2-6 to 0-4 before the sides traded points. The game was all but over after 20 minutes when the team in green and gold scored 1-2 without reply, Spillane bagged his hat-trick after 17 minutes with a gorgeous goal low into the corner of the net from close-range.
A pair of Gearóid Kelly frees reduced the margin some bit, but Castlelyons hit two of the last three points of the half as they led 3-11 to 0-8 at half-time.
On the resumption, Gearóid Kelly added a free for Corofin until the game was delayed for nearly 30 minutes due to heavy fog. When it did recommence, the Clare side came out a different outfit as they fired over two quickfire points from Michael Kelly and Diarmuid Cahill, 3-11 to 0-11 after 35 minutes.
Keith O’Leary sent over a splendid point for Castlelyons before Corofin landed two of the next three points, 3-13 to 0-13 after 40 minutes. It was much more of a battle now as the sides exchanged points with Corofin fighting for everything, but they required a goal that wasn’t going to be forthcoming.
A Fenton free gave Castlelyons a ten-point buffer with 15 minutes remaining, but the opposition replied with a pair of Gearóid Kelly placed balls and a James Organ effort, 3-15 to 0-17 with 10 minutes left. The sides swapped white flags before another Gearóid Kelly point from a free kept his side in with a glimmer of a chance.
Castlelyons weren’t going to be denied, as they claimed the silverware.
The East-Cork side will meet Mayo side Tooreen in the All-Ireland semi-final in two weeks.
A Spillane 3-2, A Fenton 0-8 (0-5 f), K O’Leary 0-4, J Kearney, B Murphy 0-1 each.
G Kelly 0-12 (0-10 f), M Kelly, S O’Brien 0-2 each, K O’Connor, J Organ, D Cahill 0-1 each.
J Barry; J O’Leary, C Barry, D Spillane; N O’Leary, C Spillane (capt), L Sexton; K O’Leary, A Fenton; B Murphy, J Kearney, O Hallihan; D Morrison, L Doocey, A Spillane.
S Moroney for J O’Leary (36), C McCarthy for B Murphy (48), P Roche for K O’Leary (60), B O’Donovan for D Morrison (62), R Feeney for L Doocey (63).
L Corbett; M O’Loughlin, K O’Connor, D O’Loughlin (capt); C McGroary, C Leen, D Ryan; G Cahill, F Clancy; K Keane, D Cahill, G Kelly; M Kelly, J Organ, S O’Brien.
E Davoren for D Ryan (42), F Killeen for S O’Brien (58).
Conor Doyle (Tipperary).
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