Castletown sparkle in league showdown

Castletown powered their way to victory in the A FL Div 3 final at Pairc Tailteann this evening holding off a late Ballinlough surge to win, 2-15 to 2-11. 

Ahead by 1-7 to 0-4 at the interval Castletown led 2-9 to 0-5 after 39 minutes. At that stage they looked home and hosed but Ballinlough came back strongly reducing the deficit to three points at one stage but they couldn't push on. 

Kevin Ross capped an outstanding display for Castletown with 1-7 but it was Barry Smith who got the winners' first goal on 27 minutes when he took a pass from Ross before expertly firing home. 

Declan Cribbin showed up well at midfield for Castletown and fired over three points for good measure with Killian Price, Evan Hoey, Darren Finney and Thomas Smith others to get on the scoresheet. 

Ballinlough really started to launch their comeback on 45 minutes when Michael Geraghty neatly finished off a super fast-paced move to the net. 

The tenacious Simon Deevy got their second goal five minutes later and suddenly the comeback was on. Peadar Byrne had come on as a substitute to tag on three points while Johnny Reilly also hit three as Ballinlough found a second wind.

However with every Castletown player working hard in the warm conditions the team in green and gold held on to claim the Jack Cummins Cup. 

SCORERS

Castletown - Kevin Ross 1-7 five frees; Barry Smith 1-1; Declan Cribbin 0-3; Killian Price 0-1; Evan Hoey 0-1; Darren Finney 0-1 free; Thomas Smith 0-1. 

Ballinlough - Simon Deevy 1-1; Johnny Reilly 0-4 frees; Peadar Byrne 0-3 two frees, one '45'; Michael Geraghty 1-0; Sean Geraghty 0-1; Thomas McCullen 0-1; Benji Smith 0-1; 

See match report and John Quirke's photographs in the next issue of the Meath Chronicle. 

Castletown joint captains Declan Cribbin and Darren Finney receive the Cummins Cup.