Convincing win in premier intermediate championship for Castlelyons.

Castlelyons 2-19 Valley Rovers 1-14.

One could get a suntan in Castlelyons last Saturday, but the dark clouds were rolling over Cork harbour as we headed for Ballincollig in the evening for our 5.30pm game with Valley Rovers in the PIHC.  We were in good form from our last outing, but this game posed a strong challenge as Valley Rovers side are strong team and equally in good form in both codes and had a big win over Inniscarra the week before.  Of course, lining out without All - Ireland panellist Colm Spillane was a huge blow to us. When referee Brandan Barry Murphy threw in the sliotar for a 5.30pm start it was raining heavy and ground conditions greasy, so this was going to be a right test of Castlelyons.

The Valleys set up very strong at the back with a view to controlling our attack.  We settled well as Alan Fenton had 0-1 from a free and James Kearney 0-1 from play and our backs were going well.  A good clearance from Colm Barry led to Dave Morrison gaining possession and motoring in for a great goal for us. Alan Fenton had another 0-1 from a free to put us 1-3 to 0-4 at the water break as Chris O’Leary was deadly accurate for them on frees. We continued to cope well with the elements and blended well as a team even though we gave away some needless frees at times. Niall O’Leary had 0-1 and James Kearney had 0-2 with Anthony Spillane getting in on the act with a massive 0-1.  Then Dave Morrison got possession again near goal and made ground before crossing to James Kearney who was razor sharp in first timing to the net for a great goal before Keith O’Leary closed out our first half scoring with a fine outfield point.  This left the half time score Castlelyons 2-9 Valley Rovers 0-8.

Valley Rovers fought hard in the second half and put 1-3 on the board as the referee blew for the last water break.  Their goal came from a Chris O Leary penalty. But our lads hurdled mighty too as our half back line of Shane Moroney, Leo Sexton and Leon Doocey stood up the runners and Alan Fenton and Eoin Maye gave it everything in the middle of the field.  We continued to put over some fine scores from play as Anthony Spillane had 0-2. Alan Fenton 0-1, Barry Murphy 0-1, Keith, and Niall O’Leary 0-1 apiece.  This left it 2-15 to 1-11 at the last water break.

Valleys changed their tactics in the last quarter as they seemed to put in the big men in the full line and pile ball down on them.  However, our goalie Jack Barry, Jamie O Leary, Colm Barry, and Tom Carroll were more than a match for that stuff as won the air and ground ball while clearing smartly down field.  Anto Spillane put over two more beauties while Alan Fenton had 0-2, one from a free and the other from play to end the game Castlelyons 2-19 Valley Rovers 1-14.

Valley Rovers will no doubt be a little disappointed that the scoreboard did not do them justice as their shooting from play let them down a bit and in fact, they only scored 0-3 from play with the rest coming frees by Chris O’Leary their free taker.  They are not out of it yet but now we have two wins from two and next up are Inniscarra in three weeks’ time.  Well, done to the team and management to date. We are in a good vein of form and the players and panel are working hard for one another in play and playing a good brand of hurling.  Keep it up lads.  Castlelyons Abú.  Referee Brendan Barry Murphy, Aghabullogue, and a first cousin of the great Jimmy Barry had a very good game as he let it flow whenever possible and check out any dodgy incidents swiftly with his linesmen and umpires.

Team: J Barry, J O'Leary, C Barry, T Carroll, S Moroney, L Sexton, L Doocey, E Maye, A Fenton; K O'Leary, N O'Leary, R Fenton, D Morrisson, A Spillane, J Kearney.  Subs: B Murphy for R Fenton, M Spillane for E Maye, and C O'Neill D Morrison.

Juniors in Championship action.

Our junior hurlers are out against Dungourney in the JBHC on this Saturday against Dungourney and have a warming up league game versus Cobh on this Wednesday in Castlelyons at 8pm.  Then on Sunday we play Fr O Neills in the junior C championship at 12 md at a venue to be arranged.  The junior Cs are our third hurling team, and this is our first year entering in the championship so there are several lads making a comeback and mixing with the younger hurlers and no doubt it will be interesting.  

Castlelyons men involved with Imokilly v UCC in SHC

Then on Tuesday 28^th in Páirc Uí Rinn Imokilly play UCC in the Cork SHC and our intermediate goalie, entire full back line, one half back and midfield and two of the full forward line are all involved with Imokilly while Niall O’ Leary and Keith are with UCC.  This is another big experience for the lads with Tom Carroll and Colm Barry having won three county medals with Imokilly already and as the bookie’s favourites, they will hope to add to their tally.

Rebel Óg East Fé 12 Division 2 league / championship playoff.

Castlelyons 4-5 Bride Rovers 4-12.

Castlelyons were at home in this game on a lovely evening for hurling and played partly under lights. We started very well as two long high shots from Sam McCarthy drifted over the goalie’s head and we were two goals up.  We tacked on another two points, but Bride Rovers kept the scoreboard ticking over as well and our goalie Cionnaith Cotter made a fine save but Rover’s Michael Walsh was in to crack the rebound to the net plus 0-1 from play.  Finn O’Driscoll put over a few frees for them too.  This left the half time score Castlelyons 2-2 Bride Rovers 1-5 in a very exciting game with lots of good hurling. 

The second half was even more exciting as Rovers piled on the pressure, but Castlelyons held very well in the backs while Thomás McAuliffe and Ronan Hickey gave it everything in midfield.  Sam McCarthy supplied another goal for us and again Rovers came at us again and a goal from Michael Walsh while Fin O’Driscoll was unerring from frees put them on top.  We were well in the game going into the last quarter as Sam McCarthy had another of his four goals on the night and Khalid Hickey had a point from play.  Then the Rovers greater strength began to tell as Darren Kearney Bobby Sweeney had goals for them to put them well ahead at the full whistle. This was a great game of hurling and while it was hard luck on our lads, they can feel very pleased with their effort as we had several very young players.  Thanks also to their management team of Shane Hickey, Timmy McCarthy, and Stephen O’Riordan who have done a lot of work with them to date.  No doubt they will rise again. Full compliments to Rovers too who only the day before played the Rebel Óg Fé 12 North football league final against Milford and won that game 4-5 to 0-7.  They now go on to face Glen Rovers in the hurling final and good luck to them. The game was refereed by Eoin Coleman from Youghal who handled the game well.

Panel: C Cotter, D Quinn, E Cotter, B Leahy, A Collins, L O’Riordan, s Myers, T McAuliffe, R Hickey, I O’Riordan, S McCarthy, J Hallihan, R Lardner, K Hickey, C Leahy R Lardner, N Condon, and C O’Keeffe.

Weekly Lotto Draw Results for 20.9.21 – Jackpot now €16,200. 

This week’s draw was held Monday 20.9.21 and the numbers drawn were 19, 22. 29 and 32. There was no winner, and the Jackpot is now at €16,200. The Lucky Dip winners were as follows: - Helen Hussey, Sarah Barry, William Ryan (Jnr), Mary Murphy, Betty & Hugh, Liz & Mary Daly, Colman O’Flynn (Jnr), and O’Donovan Family

The results of the Club Lotto are published on both the Avondhu and social media.  The next draw is Monday 27.9.21 at the Centre. Thanks so much for your support and please advise your friends that they can play our Lotto, ONLINE or purchase tickets from the usual outlets.

Junior A Camogie Championship

Castlelyons 2-16 St Vincents 3-8.

Our Junior A team had a cracking start to their championship campaign last Friday night against St Vincent’s. A late throw in time meant we were playing under lights. St Vincent’s started off fast putting two points over and Castlelyons swiftly got to work nipping this in the bud. At the water break, Castlelyons we’re leading 0-5 to 0-2 points. We continued this momentum as Melissa O’Sullivan scoring a goal from a free plus 0-1 apiece from Lucy McNulty and Leah Hallihan. We were up 1-10 to 1-3 at half time.

Castlelyons were ready to push on again for another 30 mins of hurling as Jessie O’Leary opened the scoring for us to be up 0-8 but St Vincent’s came back to get another goal to narrow the gap. This didn’t deter Castlelyons too much as they kept their cool and kept going putting their points up on the board. A second goal from Melissa gave Castlelyons the drive on for the last 15 mins of the game, with a third goal from Vincent’s in the remaining minutes of the game to leave just seven points in it. Castlelyons defended well and kept going to the very end to win the match by 5 points. An outstanding performance by all and very entertaining game of camogie to watch. Well, done girls.

Team: Aibhin O'Sullivan, Aine Ní Mhaoláin, Niamh Barry, Cáit McCarthy, Clodagh O'Flynn, Nodhlaig McCarthy, Sarah Morrison, Billie Shanahan, Michelle Hartnett, Lucy McNulty (0-1), Ava Hallihan (0-4), Leah Hallihan (0-1), Jessie O'Leary (0-1), Melissa O'Sullivan (2-8), Ciara Morrison.

Cork Camogie Junior C Championship

Kilbree 1-18 Castlelyons 1-3

Our Junior C ladies played Kilbree last Saturday evening at home in the Junior C Quarter Final. Conditions were wet and slippy, something we haven't played in much this year. Kilbree were a strong fast team who dominated from the start. Castlelyons put up a great fight in middle quarters of the game to get back into it but despite their efforts Kilbree pushed on. Hard luck to the Junior C ladies who have had a fantastic year, getting to the league semi-final, and the championship quarter final, they have done the club proud.

Panel: Ellie O'Brien, Sharon Beirne, Rachel Murphy, Ciara Smith, Louise McGann, Isabel Fenton, Deirdre Barry, Olivia Sheehan, Abbie Quirke, Michelle O'Donoughue, Anna Greaney, Katie O'Riordan, Mairead Barry, Gráinne McCarthy, Megan McNulty, Mona Hallihan, Lily Boyd, Olivia Beausang, Anna Rosner, Deirdre Coleman.

Planning Application for Páirc Uí Chaoimh Improvements refused.

Cork GAA have outlined surprise and disappointment at the decision of Cork City Council’s Planning Department to refuse their recent application for changes to the stadium and its environs. The application included a suite of interior modifications including reorganised offices, corporate arrangements, museum, and coffee shop, etc, plus new access and egress arrangements, and extra car parking including parking for the disabled including a children’s playground with some landscaping of the public areas. Cork GAA’s intention was always to enhance the operation of the stadium and to improve its interaction and integration with Marina Park. The issue of insufficient disabled parking in proximity to the stadium, which was highlighted prominently in the application, remains a critical deficit.  They will continue to seek to engage with residents’ groups and all interested parties in a meaningful way as we work to achieve the full potential of the stadium for all the people of Cork. Cork GAA will now seek an urgent meeting with Cork City Council to discuss the refusal of the planning application.

Best wishes to Jason Pratt Bride Rovers.

We wish Jason Pratt, Bride Rovers GAA a speedy recovery after receiving a serious injury in their SHC game with Ballymartle on Sunday.  Playing at full back he was injured in a goalmouth scramble and the game was held up for a considerable time until the ambulance arrived, and he was treated in hospital.  No doubt he will make a full recovery and be back in the playing fields soon again.

Castlelyons GAA Special General Meeting now on Saturday 2^nd October at 7.30pm.

A Special General Meeting of the Club will be held in the Community Centre on Saturday 2nd October at 7.30pm to present and discuss the options in a proposed development plan.  This will give members an opportunity of deciding the best way forward and it is important there is a full attendance on the evening.  The Club is hoping to lay down a development plan for both lands recently purchased, existing lands and the clubhouse. A piece of work has been carried out on available funding including capital sports grants, viewing other club layouts, plus preparatory work on planning permission. The Steering Group have prepared a Development Plan with some options. The movement of the existing pitch further down partly onto new lands purchased thus ensuring additional carparking close to the clubhouse and leaving room to develop and extend the current clubhouse in time.  The development of a synthetic pitch up near the Abbey lands road or down behind the existing pitch is another dependant consideration.  It is generally agreed that a second top class pitch meeting all necessary criteria will be constructed on the new lands purchased.

Castlelyons GAA considering a ‘One Club’ Structure and Governance.

The GAA, Camogie Association, and Ladies Gaelic Football Association each have their own membership, governance, and traditions. The associations work in a co-operative fashion to promote the playing of Gaelic games. However, numerous Clubs in Cork are now uniting as ‘One Club’.  The concept is now also widespread around the country.  All the associations appreciate the benefits of a ‘One Club’ approach in promoting Gaelic games at both juvenile and adult level as it caters for all family members both male and female.  Castlelyons a growing family in GAA adult and Juvenile, Camogie Adult and juvenile and Ladies Gaelic Football Juvenile at present and no doubt adult shortly.  The Club has discussed the matter and some papers have been presented to the various officers for review as it is important to have a united vision for development and the sharing plus maintenance of facilities in the future.

Vote of Sympathy

Castlelyons GAA wish to extend sincere sympathy to the Hegarty family, Ballincollig, and the Fenton family, Ballyoran on the sad passing of Alma Hegarty (née Fenton), Ballincollig. Suaimhneas síoraí dá hanam dílis.

Adult Fixtures.

• Senior Challenge Imokilly v Blackrock in Ballynoe Wednesday 22.9 @ 8pm
• JBHL: Castlelyons v Cobh in Castlelyons Wednesday 22.9 @ 8pm
• JBHC: Castlelyons v Dungourney Venue TBA, Saturday 25.9 @ 17.30pm
• JCHC: Castlelyons v Fr O’Neills, Venue TBA, Sunday 26.9 @ 12md.
• SHC: Imokilly v UCC in Páirc Uí Rinn, Tuesday 28.9 @ 7.30pm

Rebel Óg Fixtures.

• Fé 17 FL: St Catherines v Castlelyons in Ballynoe Friday 24.9 @ 6.30pm.
• Fé 13 HL: Ballyhea v Castlelyons in Ballyhea Saturday 25.9 @ 12md.

Club Main Sponsor: ZEUS Packaging Group.

Notes by Kieran McGann, PRO Castlelyons GAA Club.