Castledaly 0 – 10 Garrycastle 0 - 8
Garrycastle seniors suffered the heartbreak of losing in the 2008 Westmeath senior football final in Cusack Park, Mullingar, last Sunday to Castledaly.
Castledaly got the ideal start with a point within the first minute. Garrycastle was slow to settle, however they gradually began to get a grip in midfield and although they had a number of wides from scoreable positions, leveled matters with a point from Rory McGowan in the ninth minute. Castledaly restored their lead with a point soon after and stretched the lead further with a point in the 12th minute. A fine point from Aidan Brown had just one point between the sides and this was followed in the 17th minute with a Paul Dillon point. Castledaly had a purple pact from the 18th to 23rd minutes, hitting over three unanswered points from play to leave three points between the teams. However, Garrycastle had their periods of dominance and points from Dessie Dolan, Rory McGowan, and Patrick Mulvihill had the sides level again as the half time break approached. Both sides had chances to take the lead but the defenses held firm and the sides remained tied at 0-6 apiece at the break.
Castledaly made the better start to the second period and regained the lead in the 36th minute with a point from play. An eighth point soon followed to leave Castledaly leading by 0-8 to 0-6 in the 38th minute. The lead was increased to three points as the game entered the final quarter, but Patrick Mulvihill kept Garrycastle in touch with a well taken point. The Castledaly keeper, James Kinihan, made an excellent save from Patrick Mulvihill’s goal-bound effort at the expense of a 45, but Conor Cogrove’s effort was wide on the right. A Castledaly free, the first score by either side from a placed ball up to that point, put 3 points between the sides with just 13 minutes remaining. Dessie Dolan got his side’s first point from a free in the 53rd minute to leave just two points between the sides again. This was to prove to be Garrycastle’s last score and try as they might they could not create the chances to level the score or bring off a win.
Garrycastle never lead through the hour and will rue some 11 wides during the course of the game, seven of which they hit in the first half. Captain Sean O’Donoghue, John Gaffey, and Doran Harte played well in defence. Both Aidan Browne and Stephen O’Reilly had good displays from midfield. Rory McGowan, James Duignan, Dessie Dolan, and Patrick Mulvihill tried hard to get scores for their side.
Congratulations to Castledaly on winning the Flanagan Cup for the first time.
GARRYCASTLE: Cathal Mullin, Karl Henson, Sean O’Donoghue, Padraig Rattigan, Doran Harte, John Gaffey, James Dolan, Aidan Browne (0-1 ), Stephen O’Reilly, Rory McGowan (0-2 ), Gary Dolan, James Duignan, Paul Dillon (0-1 ), Dessie Dolan (0-2, 1f ), and Patrick Mulvihill (0-2 ).
SUBS: Justin McAteer for R. McGowan (45 min ); Conor Cosgrove for J. Duignan (45 min ); Enda Mulvihill for P Rattigan (52 min ) and Alan Daly for P Dillon (54 min ).
