Attacking qualities can fire Castletown to victory
When the draw for the Leinster JFC was made there was, for a time at least, the tantalising prospect that Castletown might have to take on Amsterdam in the provincial competition. Now that would have been a new, unique assignment for the Meath club wouldn't it?
As it turned out the prospect of that happening were extinguished when the Dutch-based team lost out to Laragh 2-8 to 3-9 in their opening round. Now the Meath JFC winners face the prospect of the lengthy trip but this time to Aughrim on Saturday to take on the Wicklow side, 1.30pm.
Football encounters between teams from Meath and their counterparts from the Garden County invariably result in a win for the team from the Royal County. It's just the way it has been over the years but Castletown would be wise indeed to approach this fixture with extreme caution as, no doubt, they will.
One report described the Laragh, Amsterdam game as "a belter of a contest" with some high-quality football played between two teams who showed plenty of attacking flair. Amsterdam it seems were well up for the game which took place in Baltinglass but they were undone by a late goal.
The manner in which that fixture unfolded - and particularly the way Laragh chalked up a big score - suggests they have considerable firepower at their disposal. So Castletown's experienced goalkeeper Jonathan Ginnitty and his defence will need to be on full alert.
Not that Castletown have a blunted, limited arsenal themselves. Far from it. In their JFC final victory over long-suffering Dunsany, seven players troubled the scorekeeper with Declan Cribben bagging 1-1 while Kevin Ross lofted over four points. Killian Price, Rian McConnell, Damien Ginnitty, Killian Smyth and Darren Finney were others to register scores. Ross, in particular, has made a career out of tormenting opposition defences.
In the semi-final win over Syddan, nine players notched up scores, another, noteworthy demonstration of the team's prowess in front of the posts. The defence don't tend to give too much time or space to opponents either, not with players such Evan Hoey and Shane Hoey blocking the way to goals.
The Castletown management team of Wayne Smyth, Aidan Young and Christy Meehan have honed and shaped the team into a redoubtable, efficient unit. Granted they were expected by many to win the JFC but they still had to do it. They still had to seal the deal. Only three years ago Castletown reached the semi-final of the IFC where they lost to Nobber. They slumped badly after that, suffered relegation but have revived since.
That fact added to the reality that they also won the Peter McDermott Cup (and the A FL Div 3 in June) suggests they are a team with real momentum behind them.
The same could be said for Laragh of course who have the advantage of having played one game already against Amsterdam in Leinster but Castletown, we hazard to guess, have what it takes to get over this tricky assignment.