Walterstown survive stern Castletown test

Walterstown won their first piece of adult silverware for 18 years when they claimed the 2020 Corn na Boinne with a hard-earned 3-10 to 0-13 victory against Castletown at Pairc Tailteann this evening.

As the clock ticked towards 60 minutes Castletiown trailed by three points (0-13 to 2-10) and were denied an equaliser by the crossbar. Walterstown countered quickly and found the net at the other end to seal the victory.

Walterstown were comfortable throughout the opening as they established a 1-3 to 0-1 advantage by the first water break, but Castletown displayed commendable character and got back into contention briefly when play resumed.

Castletown closed the gap to two points (0-5 to 1-4) before Walterstown took a grip of the game again and eased into a 1-7 to 0-5 interval advantage.

Mark McCormack had Walterstown on the scoreboard with a point after 28 seconds and then Alban Crosbie finished to the net after he combined with Barry O'Connell.

Further points from Barry O'Connell and Brian O'Connell eased Walterstown into that comfort zone as Castletown got off the mark in the 13th minute with a fine long-range Darren Finney point from play.

When the action resumed Castletown found some fluency and flashed over points from Finney (free), Shane Hoey, Thomas Smith and Kevin Ross.

Complacent Walterstown reacted sufficiently to finish the half with a flourish as Brian O'Connell sent over three points, one free, one mark and one from play with Mark McCormack also splitting the posts.

The crucial score after the resumption was a Brian O'Connell goal for Walterstown before the second water break after a superb pass from substitute Robbie Cunningham.

That helped to sustain Walterstown along with points from Davy Donnellan and McCormack as Castletown stayed in contention with four Finney points (three frees) and one from Ross.

After the water break three more pointed Ross frees completed the Castletown tally with Barry O'Connell on target for the Blacks who were hanging on to a 2-10 to 0-13 lead as the clock ticked down.

One last Castletown surge saw a Robert Hoey shot thunder off the crossbar and Walterstown quickly countered for that goal from Robbie Cunningham that sealed the victory.

SCORERS

Walterstown - Brian O'Connell 1-5 one free, one mark; Alban Crosbie 1-0; Robbie Cunningham 1-0; Mark McCormack 0-3; Davy Donnellan 0-1; Barry O'Connell 0-1.

Castletown - Darren Finney 0-6 four frees, Kevin Ross 0-5 three frees, Shane Hoey 0-1, Thomas Smith 0-1.

TEAMS

Walterstown - John Davis; Eoin O'Mahony, Brian McGrane, Conor Farrelly; Aron McLoughlin, Alan Wall, Cathal Hennelly; Barry O'Connell, Alban Crosbie; Davy Donnellan, Ruairi O'Dowd, Mark McCormack; Conor O'Sullivan, Brian O'Connell, Adam Treanor. Subs - Peter Reynolds for O'Dowd 16 mins, Robbie Cunningham for Crosbie 40m, Conor Lenehan for Treanor 56m, John Geoghegan for Barry O'Connell 60m.

Castletown - Jonathan Ginnity; Eoin Reid, Gerard Farrelly, Noel Smyth; Killian Price, Evan Hoey, Killian Markey; Shane Hoey, Declan Cribbin; Thomas Smith, Darren Finney, Rian Monaghan; Damien Ginnity, Kevin Ross, Mark Kelly. Subs - Robert Hoey for Smith half-time; Alex Matthews for Kelly 40 mins, Francis Hoey for D Ginnity 53m, Paul Bellew for Markey 59m.

Referee - Joseph Curran (St Michael's).