Great start for Castletown’

DIVISION 2 HURLING LEAGUE Castletownroche 0-18 Araglin 1-13

Castletownroche got their Division 2 Hurling League campaign off to the best possible start, with a hard fought victory over familiar foes Araglin. The game was played on Sunday last, March 27th, in near perfect conditions for hurling with bright sunshine, a gentle breeze and good underfoot conditions making for a perfect setting. The fine day brought a good crowd out to witness what was a close game throughout the hour.

The game started with Castletownroche attacking and Patrick made no mistake to get the opening point inside 10 seconds. The teams traded points regularly throughout the first quarter, in what was a free flowing game. Two points from placed balls by Mark, a further point from Patrick and two from Jack had the teams level at 6 points apiece after 20 minutes. The Castletownroche backline were in great form over the hour, and they made life difficult for their opponents, who when they were presented with opportunities were rushed in to shooting. Jonathon was extremely accurate with his puck-outs, regularly picking out his midfielders and half forward line. The last 10 minutes of the half saw the teams exchange further scores, with Mark and Patrick once more registering a point apiece. A well worked point at the end of the half, finished well by Leon, saw Castletownroche lead 0-09 to 0-08 at the break.

Castletownroche had an identical start to the second half, with Patrick registering a score inside the first 15 seconds again. Soon afterwards, the game was halted for 5 minutes, when Thomas fell awkwardly when contesting a ball with his opponent. After some treatment, he left the field in obvious discomfort and we are keeping our fingers crossed it is not too serious and we see him back in action before too long. Araglin struck the front with a goal from a penalty in the 37th minute, and they added a point to extend their lead.

Castletownroche had not scored for 11 minutes at this stage, but 6 points in a 10 minute period - Mark with 3, Patrick with 2 and another great score from Jack - saw us leading by a goal with the game entering its final stages. Araglin came at us hard in that spell and had two points to leave a point between the teams, before points from Patrick and Mark gave us some breathing space. Araglin had one more score and the final stages of the game saw Castletownroche defend for their lives, with an inspirational piece of fielding from Muiris lifting the siege, and soon afterwards, referee Alec Morrissey blew the whistle for the final time to bring the curtain down on a close but deserved win for Castletownroche on a scoreline of Castletownroche 0-18 Araglin 1-13.

This was a great effort from the lads, who have been very competitive so far in every game in both codes. There is obvious concern for Thomas and we wish him a speedy recovery. They have a busy week, with fixtures in football and hurling next weekend, but if they can keep up these levels of performance, they need fear no team.

Panel: Jonathon O’Callaghan, Will Madden, Thomas Barrett, Liam McGrath, Shay Mullane, Muiris Browne, Jack Relihan (0-03), Aidan O’Leary, Dylan O’Connor, Mark O’Callaghan (0-08), Patrick Sheehan (0-06), Leon Farrell (0-01, James Ladd, James Linehan, Adrian O’Donovan. Subs: Dane O’Neill for James Ladd, Pat Madden for Thomas Barrett.

FIXTURES

The next football league game is down for Friday night next, April 1st. Dell Rovers are the opposition and the throw-in is set for 6.45 in Castletownroche. Then on Sunday, April 3rd, it’s hurling league action, with Ballyhea providing the opposition in Ballyhea at 3pm. This will test our resources and will need a big effort from everybody. All support would be greatly welcomed at both games.

2019 LEAGUE WINNERS CAR DRAW

The League Winners Car Draw for teams who won leagues in 2019 was postponed in March 2020, due to Covid restrictions. This draw has now been scheduled for Tuesday, April 19th in Cavanagh’s of Fermoy. The top prize in the draw - which involves six clubs, being the respective winners of the 2019 leagues in football and hurling - is a Ford Fiesta, with two further prizes of €1,000 and 15 prizes of €250.

This is a great fundraising opportunity for the club and over the next three weeks, we will be making a concerted effort to sell tickets. Tickets cost €20 each, or €50 for a book of three tickets, and can be obtained from any club official or player. All funds raised will go towards the development of the facilities at the pitch. As always, the club are very appreciative to everybody who supports these draws, which are vital for the club finances.

CLUB LOTTO

The latest lotto draw took place last Monday night, March 28th in the Castle Arms. The numbers drawn were 3, 5, 7 and 16. There was no winner of the €3,800 jackpot and the five €20 lucky dip winners were Nuala Cronin, Tommy O’Leary, Niamh Roche, Bernard Linehan and Ga Ahern. Congratulations to all the prize winners.

The jackpot now stands at €3,900. The next draw takes place on Monday, April 11th in The Hillstop Inn. Tickets are available through local retail outlets in the village, from your usual sellers or through any club officer. The club would like to express our appreciation to everybody who continues to support our draw.

ADULT CLUB MEMBERSHIP

Membership for 2022 remains at €50 per adult/€20 for students and OAPs. We would appreciate if you could arrange to pay membership as soon as possible to any member of the club committee.

CASTLETOWNROCHE JUVENILES

The juvenile section of the club have been back training for a month and last Saturday morning, our U11s and U9s were in action. The U11s played a great game in Castletownroche against Glanworth, under the stewardship of Brian Hogan and Harry Farrell.

The U9s travelled to Castlelyons and had a great morning of action under the expert eye of coaches Con Guiney and Richard Relihan. They will see plenty of action over the spring and summer months, and our U7s, led by Mick Ryan and Muiris Browne, are also looking forward to the Go Games series this year.

We will have regular updates from each of the groups in these notes in the coming weeks.