14-man St Vincent's retain Tailteann Cup

St Vincent's won a thrilling Tailteann Cup final at Pairc Tailteann this evening with a 1-13 to 1-7 victory against Castletown.

What was most pleasing about the victory from a St Vincent's perspective was the character and determination of the players from the 12th minute onwards after Mark Crawley picked up a straight red card.

Referee Derek Ryan consulted with a linesman before he brandished the card and at that stage Castletown had established a 0-3 to 0-2 advantage.

Declan Cribbin, Kevin Ross and Seamus Doherty had the Castletown points while Nigel Hand converted a brace of frees for the Ardcath men.

Less than a minute after that red card St Vincent's were facing an even bigger challenge as Castletown's Robert Hoey finished to net following a great catch under a high ball.

The first water break gave the St Vincent's manager and selectors a chance to re-organise and one of the requirements was a greater effort from the 14 men.

That's exactly what was delivered and by half-time St Vincent's were ahead by 1-6 to 1-4 and never looked back.

Great credit to the collective team effort as each individual worked tirelessly against a Castletown side that just could not cope with the unexpected onslaught.

Points from Eoghan Corry, Conor Harford, Hand and another by Corry had St Vincent's on level terms (0-6 to 1-3) by the 25th minute.

Castletown forged ahead again when Ross split the posts in the 28th minute and at that stage it looked as if Colm Coyle's side had weathered the 14-man storm.

However, St Vincent's had one more piece of ammunition to fire before the interval and it came from Robert Tallon's goal.

That gave St Vincent's a significant boost, but they got a warning from Castletown when the second-half resumed.

Cribbin claimed his second point and that reduced the deficit to the minumum, but that was as good as it got for Castletown.

Points from Harford, Hand and Eric Callaghan settled St Vincent's, but just before the waterbreak they handed possession to Castletown and Ross made no mistake to reduce the deficit to three points (1-6 to 1-9).

When play resumed again St Vincent's benefited from a black card for Castletown substitute William Bellew and that left it at 14-a-side for the next 10 minutes.

Any prospects Castletown harboured of a recovery vanished as Bellew stood on the sideline.

St Vincent's added points from Eoghan Corry, Jack Byrne, Harford and Hand - Castletown managed a solitary Barry Smith effort in response.

A mighty performance from St Vincent's and certainly one worthy of retaining the Tailteann Cup that they also won in July when the delayed 2020 decider was played.

SCORERS

St Vincent's - Nigel Hand 0-3 two frees; Conor Harford 0-3; Eoghan Corry 0-3; Adam Tuite 1-0; Paddy Arnold 0-2; Eric Callaghan 0-1; Jack Byrne 0-1.

Castletown - Robert Hoey 1-0; Kevin Ross 0-3; Declan Cribbin 0-2; Barry Smith 0-1; Seamus Doherty 0-1.

TEAMS

St Vincent's - Evan Connor; Ciaran Brangan, David Tallon, Mark Crawley; Gary Tuite, Ryan Hand, Conor Harford; Jack Byrne, Martin Fox; Robert Tallon, Eric Callaghan, Eoghan Corry; Leo Corry, Paddy Arnold, Nigel Hand. Subs - Thomas Field for Callaghan and Stefan O'Neill for E Corry both 58 mins, Conor White for Arnold and John Corry for Tallon both 59m.

Castletown - Jonathan Ginnity; Eoin Reid, Gerard Farrelly, Noel Smyth; Conor Price, Evan Hoey, KIllian Price; Declan Cribbin, Shane Hoey; Seamus Doherty, Robert Hoey, Rian Monaghan; Paddy McKenna, Kevin Ross, Mark Kelly. Subs - Barry Smith for McKenna half-time, Francis Hoey for Kelly 36 mins, William Bellew for Monaghan 47m.

Referee - Derek Ryan (Na Fianna).