Oldcastle open with a win

Oldcastle made a winning debut in the Leinster Club IFC against Longford hosts Cashel at Newtowncashel on Saturday afternoon. However, the Meath side got a second-half fright as they laboured to defend a substantial wind-assisted 0-9 to 0-1 interval lead. That might turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the Oldcastle players who may have learned two valuable lesson from this exciting encounter. Lesson one should be that the game is never won at half-time. The second lesson might be even more beneficial as they prepare to host well-regarded Kildare side Maynooth next Sunday - the game is never over at half-time either. No doubt Oldcastle manager Seamus Kiernan will be making both points to his players this week. "It was a good lesson for us, we had a big lead and it was easy in the first-half, but Cashel put it up to us after the break and we kicked too many wides," he told the Meath Chronicle. Oldcastle finished with 10 wides to their credit and tallied seven in the opening half when they virtually owned the ball and could have been out of sight. Instead, they had to settle for that eight-point interval margin as the points flowed from Vincent Reynolds, Nicky Galligan and Niall Mangan (two each), Rory McHugh, Eoin Gilsenan and Patrick Rahill. The ball rarely got out of the Cashel half for the opening 30 minutes, but in the 23rd minute the hosts almost sneaked a goal. Shane Merrigan made a great run from a deep position and released Kieran Mulvihill who was impeded as he sent the ball towards the Oldcastle net. It looked like a certain goal until Shane Farrelly rescued the situation and cleared off the line. Mulvihill's subsequent outburst earned a yellow card from referee Damien Maher. Maher had a busy hour and issued seven yellow cards, four for Oldcastle. He also red-carded Cashel substitute Keith Carberry a minute into second-half injury-time, but that decision had no impact on the outcome. One Oldcastle player who probably could have had a yellow card shortly after the start was Vincent Reynolds who was guilty of an unnecessary high challenge which incurred a lecture from the Westmeath official. Cashel made the scoreboard close to the interval when Gary Kenny pointed a free, but they needed a goal to kick-start their revival in the second-half. They resumed brightly with a Kevin Farrell point following a speculative Kenny centre and then the home supporters had plenty to cheer about when the net bulged. The Oldcastle defence was all over the place and another high centre bounced kindly for Merrigan who, despite having his back to the goal, fisted overhead to the net. Oldcastle were under enormous pressure, but regained their composure and when Mangan pointed from play in the 10th minute it gave them some perspective and a 0-10 to 1-2 lead. The sides managed a point apiece for the remainder as Mulvihill and Barry Curran traded scores in the closing minutes, but Oldcastle goalkeeper Sean Fox was also relieved when the ball bounced wide near the end after he mis-timed his lunge for possession. Oldcastle - S Fox; S Farrelly, R McHugh, T Rahill; B Curran (0-1), R McHugh (0-1), C Caffrey; E Gilsenan (0-1), V Reynolds (0-2, one free, one '45'); P Gilsenan, T Farrelly, P Rahill (0-1, free); N Mangan (0-2, one free), N Galligan (0-3), A McCann. Subs - R Farrelly for McCann half-time; R Pakenham for Gilsenan 56 mins; C McPartland for Galligan 59m; R Kellett for Mangan 61m. Cashel - S Smyth; R Farrell, P Egan, P Farrell; K Farrell (0-1, '45'), A Rowan, D Hanley; K Coffey, G Dennigan; J Rowan, G Kenny (0-1, free), C O'Shea; D Farrell, K Mulvihill (0-1), S Merrigan (1-0). Subs - N Donlon for Rowan 40 mins; R Muldoon for Hanley 46m; K Carberry for Farrell 52m. Referee - Damien Maher (Westmeath).