Christy O'Connor on why Castlehaven have extra drive on their Munster quest

ON page 144 of Larry Tompkins’ autobiography ‘ Believe’ there is a brilliant photograph of Tompkins, Niall Cahalane and Cahalane’s young son Damien, which was taken in the dressing room after Castlehaven defeated Fethard in the 1997 Munster club final.

Cahalane has his arm around Tompkins, while Damien is sitting on Tompkins’ knee, with both of his young hands clasped tightly around the handles of the O’Connor Cup.

Cahalane was only five at the time but, despite being born in Cork city, he had already been heavily immersed in the culture and history of Castlehaven. 

He was only two when the Haven won their previous Munster title in 1994, while the club’s first title arrived three years before Damien was born, in 1989.

At that point in their history, up until 1997, Castlehaven had an unbeaten record in the province, something that only Nemo Rangers had previously managed in the Munster club championship, having also won three provincial titles in their first three attempts in the 1970s.

Castlehaven’s record was seriously impressive when the numbers are taken into consideration; they won those seven games in the province by an aggregate margin of 46 points.

Only two teams came close to the Haven during that odyssey, both of whom were Clare sides; St Senan’s Kilkee ran them to two points in the 1989 Munster final, while the Haven only beat Kilrush Shamrocks by three points in the 1994 semi-final.

Some of those other wins were huge statement victories. When they met Laune Rangers in the 1997 semi-final, the Kerry side were going for three Munster titles in a row, having won the 1996 All-Ireland, while they’d only narrowly lost the 1997 All-Ireland semi-final to Crossmaglen Rangers just 10 months earlier.

Castlehaven were coming off the back of a county final defeat to Beara, while they’d also lost Cahalane to suspension. Yet none of that made any difference as the Haven hammered Laune Rangers by 10 points. It would have been even more if Laune hadn’t scored a late goal.

The final against Fethard presented more challenges again as Cahalane’s brother Dinny had been sent off late on against Laune Rangers, while Dave O’Regan was also still out through suspension. 

Again, none of that mattered as Castlehaven won pulling up, with Tompkins producing another outstanding individual performance.

The subsequent defeat to Erin’s Isle – which came in agonising circumstances after a controversial late goal – was all the more heart-breaking again as it was a third successive All-Ireland semi-final loss.

Those memories will always haunt the Haven but, the club’s failure to build on their once imperious Munster club record in their next three tilts at the province was just as disappointing. Especially in the context of how much the Haven had once prospered in that competition.

After 1997, and prior to this season, the club had only played in three Munster campaigns, but none of them were productive; in five matches between 2003 and 2013, the club won just two After receiving a walkover from Stradbally in the 2003 quarter-final, An Ghaeltacht drilled them by seven points in the semi-final. In 2012, Castlehaven beat Dromcollogher-Broadford and Stradbally – with both matches played in Clonakilty – before Dr Crokes beat them in the final by seven points. The following year, Crokes beat the Haven by six points.

That 2013 defeat underlined how much ground the Haven had lost since they had ruled that terrain; they played 13 men behind the ball and still only lost by one point less than what they had the previous year.

The Haven coughed up 29 shots in that 2013 semi-final. It would have been a complete rout if Crokes hadn’t kicked 12 wides and dropped another seven shots short.

Castlehaven did run into good Kerry sides during those three campaigns. 

They didn’t have the hardened warriors of the late 1980s and early 1990s around anymore but the poverty of their results in their last three Munster campaigns was a huge motivation once Castlehaven won the Cork championship again in October.

There were big guns around, clubs that had won or reached Munster finals in the last decade – Clonmel Commercials, Cratloe and Newcastle West. Yet two of those teams – Commercials and Newcastlewest – were meeting in a quarter-final, while Cratloe weren’t as strong as they were when almost shocking Dr Crokes in the 2013 Munster final.

QUEST

The draw was also kind to the Haven. The weather prevented them from playing Cratloe on their own pitch but they still effectively had a home game, in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, which they won after extra-time. The Haven had to travel to Dungarvan to take on Rathgormack but the Waterford side were down two of their best players, with Michael Curry suspended, and Conor Murray having emigrated.

Eleven years after their last Munster club final appearance, Castlehaven are now finally back on the stage again which they feel they belong. The big quest for them though, is to return to the halcyon days when the Haven turned Munster into their playground.

It’s been 26 years now since Damien Cahalane last got his hands on the O’Connor Cup. That photograph of him, his father and Tompkins taken after that 1997 final will always be a treasured memory, a precious link to a golden and glorious era for the club.

A lot has changed since then but another photograph now of Cahalane, his father and Tompkins with the Munster cup after Sunday’s final against Dingle is what the Haven desperately crave.