Premier B title for Castleisland B Manager Maunsell delighted with win

DENNY PREMIER B LEAGUE FINAL Castleisland B 2 Mastergeeha 0

CASTLEISLAND make a habit of winning titles and their B team added another piece of silverware to their already overladen mantelpiece at Mounthawk Park on Sunday when they were crowned Premier B Champions after a hard earned win over Mastergeeha.

The game was played in sweltering heat but both sides rose to the challenge and provided an entertaining game that was delicately balanced right up to the final whistle

Referee Seamus O’Mahony done the sensible thing and allowed the players a water break midway through both halves.

Mastergeeha will be disappointed they did not score in this game as they had plenty of the ball but they were badly lacking in finishing power up front.

Great credit is due to Castleisland who had a game plan in place and stuck to it right to the very end.

Castleisland carried the biggest threat in the first half as they edged exchanges at midfield and Jonathan Downey and Steven McCarthy were a constant threat up front.

They took their chances when they got them and defended resolutely throughout the game while their goalie Martin Hewitt made a couple of fine saves at vital stages of the game.

Castleisland started strongly and forced a few early corners which yielded nothing.

However they went ahead in the 10th minute with a superbly engineered goal. A long ball out of defence was not dealt with by the Mastergeeha defence who allowed the ball to bounce in the goalmouth and as it bobbled about a bit Steven McCarthy won possession rounded the last defender and drilled the ball low to the bottom corner.

They struck again shortly af- terwards after a corner and a Danny Feehan effort was taken off the line.

An accidental clash of heads between Colm Lenihan and Shane O’Loughlin led to a hold up as both players were attended to and Shane O’Loughlin had to retire and was replaced by Eamon McLoughlin while Colm Lenihan returned to play after getting some treatment.

Mastergeeha had a good chance to equalise shortly afterwards but Noel Moynihan was denied by a fine save by the Castleisland keeper Martn Hewitt.

Another counter attack created a chance for Mastergeeha when Noel Moynihan put in Padraig Doyle and with the Castleisland keeper off his line he tried to chip him and his effort was only fractionally too high.

Coming up to half time Mastergeeha had two more chances but Thomas Templeman was denied by a fine save by the Castleisland goalie while Chris Egan put a free kick over the top.

Mastergeeha dominated play in the second half as Castleisland sat back and defended their lead.

They had to rely on shots from distance to try and get a score and that became frustrating as the game progressed

As the half wore on Castleisland used their subs bench to good effect and slowed down the pace of the game. When any bit of danger existed at the back Castleisland cleared their lines immediately and were not too particular where the ball went once it was out of play.

Mastergeeha tried their utmost to etch out an equaliser at the conclusion of the game but they just could not penetrate a rock solid Castleisland defence where Mike Cahill, Ger Byrne and Daniel Downey were in sparkling form while Barry Lynch turned in an outstanding performance in front of the back 4.

Any chance Mastergeeha had of getting an equaliser went out the window as disaster struck in the third minute of added time when they conceded a bizarre og.

Aidan Kerins was put under pressure at the back by sub Pa O’Rourke and he passed the ball back to his goalkeeper but it was overhit and the advancing keeper tried to head it out but the ball went over his head and into the back of the net to seal the game for the islanders.

It was a great all round display by Castleisland who were tight at the back creative at midfield and dangerous up front.

Although Castleisland are champions and promoted they can’t go up to Premier A next season as their A team are there already and a club can’t have two teams in the same division CASTLEISLAND B: Martin Hewitt, Evan O’Brien (Stephen Divane, 65 mins), Daniel Downey, Ger Byrne, Mike Cahill, Barry Lynch, Mazza Moriarty, Shane O’Loughlin (Eamon McLoughlin, 20 mins), Danny Feehan (Sean O’Connell, 88 mins), Steven McCarthy, Jonathan Downey (Pa O’Rourke, 88 mins).

MASTERGEEHA: Mike Gustaf, Paudie O’Connor, Aidan Kerins, Danny Wren, Jer Sheehan, Colm Lenihan, Chris Egan, Padraig Doyle, Noel Moynihan, Paul Moroney (James Nagle, 70 mins), Tom Templeman.

REFEREE: Seamus O’Mahony THE manager of the Castleisland side Dan Maunsell speaking after the game said he was delighted to win the title.

“The lads worked hard all season and it is great now to have something to show for it. Before the game we set a target to try and get an early goal and we got that and made sure we would hold on to it and we done that. We defend Italian style and are very hard to break down.

“We were contented going in 1-0 ahead at half time but we knew Mastergeeha would come at us in the second half and we knew we had to be razor sharp to keep them at bay. We were very tight at the back and restricted them to long range efforts on goal. The second goal was a bit out of the ordinary but they all count at the end and it clinched the game for us,” Maunsell said.