15 years since Castlemartyr pipped Dungourney to the East Cork JAHC title
Castlemartyr's Brian Lawton trying to break away from Dungourney's Martin Wall and Kevin Kelleher during the East Cork Junior 'A' Hurling final at Killeagh in 2010. Picture: Richard Mills
It’s 15 years since Castlemartyr won their ninth East Cork Junior A Hurling Championship title, becoming back-to-back winners for the first time since their 1963 and 1964 championship wins.
Those two victories would prove to be their last until 2009, when they defeated Sarsfields to end a 45-year wait.
They met Dungourney in the 2010 decider, winning 1-11 to 1-9 in Killeagh.
Dungourney pushed Castlemartyr all the way, remaining firmly in contention deep into the closing stages, before late points from Jimmy Smiddy and Barry Lawton – the latter of which remains a key part of their current intermediate team – finally secured victory.
Castlemartyr set the early tempo with points from Eddie Clifford and Adrian Bowens, but Dungourney responded well through Shane Casey, Kevin Kelleher and Martin Wall. The game swung dramatically when John Hickey found the Castlemartyr net, helping Dungourney establish a three-point advantage by half-time.
The second half was a tense, hard-fought affair, with both sides forced to battle for every score. Dungourney briefly stretched their lead to four points, before the defining moment arrived when Evan O’Keeffe struck for a crucial goal to bring Castlemartyr level.
From there, the momentum tilted decisively. Lawton and Smiddy supplied the late scores that carried Castlemartyr over the line. The two accounted for eight points between them, while Shane Casey was Dungourney’s chief threat at the other end with five points.
Dave Fleming, Barra O'Tuama, Robert O'Donovan, Ollie Smiddy, Darragh O' Keeffe, Brian Smiddy, Adrian Bowens, Peter Horgan (c), Brian Lawton, Jimmy Smiddy, Sean Hennessy, Brian O'Tuama, Barry Lawton, Evan O'Keeffe, Eddie Clifford.
Mark Bowens came on as a substitute.
Kevin Hegarty, Alan Kelleher, Mark Hegarty, Eoin Ahern, John Ronayne, James Leahv. Darrach Ahern, Martin Wall, Brian Rodgers, Kenneth Kelleher, Kevin Kelleher, Shane Casey (c), Kevin Rohan, Frank Hegarty, John Hickey.
Cathal McAllister
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