Spillane goal shatters Tooreen’s All-Ireland dream
Joe Boyle cannot hide his disappointment at the final whistle after Tooreen's narrow defeat to Castlelyons of Cork which has denied the Mayo men back-to-back All-Ireland final appearances. Pictures: David Farrell Photography
It had the potential to be their finest hour and yet Saturday turned into one of Tooreen’s most painful afternoons, as the Blue Devils saw a golden opportunity to reach back-to-back All-Ireland intermediate club hurling finals slip agonisingly from their grasp.
It’s a sign of just how far Tooreen have come that they should be so bitterly disappointed to lose to a team of Castlelyons’ quality; three of the Cork side’s defenders have hurled senior for their county and several of the team are also multiple Cork SHC winners with divisional outfit Imokilly and yet for three-quarters of this match the Mayo representatives were undoubtedly the better side.
Tooreen’s misfortune was the concession of a rather slobbery 48th minute goal, up until which they held a 0-9 to 0-7 lead. The scorer, Anthony Spillane, was making his sixth return from Dubai in eleven weeks to play for his club, but having scored three goals in Castlelyons’ Munster final victory over Corofin of Clare, the corner-forward had up until this point on Saturday been practically anonymous. In fact, the goal wasn’t just Spillane’s first attempt at a score, it was the first score from play by any Castlelyons forward, such had been the brilliance and tenaciousness of Tooreen’s defending.
But Tooreen themselves weren’t to score from play from the 41st minute on, and still, to lose by just two points will be especially hard to swallow, particularly as they had left a number of chances behind them to be even further than 0-7 to 0-5 ahead at half-time. Tooreen’s tally of six first-half wides might have been one less than Castlelyons but some of theirs were hit from much more scoreable positions than those missed by the Cork men, who were pressured into shooting from more difficult angles and distances.
Kenny Feeney and Fergal Boland had hit Tooreen’s first two points in between a brace by Castlelyons’ rampaging centre-back Colm Spillane, a winner of two Munster SHC titles during an eight-year run with the Cork panel.
Free-taker Alan Fenton opened his account but that was negated by an Eoin Delaney point, wonderfully created by ice-cool play at the back involving Joe Boyle, Stephen Coyne, goalkeeper Bobby Douglas and David Kenny. And it was another of the named defenders, Oisin Greally, but who was playing more advanced due to the inclusion of Gary Nolan, who hit Tooreen’s fourth point before Fenton levelled matters for a fourth time, with eighteen minutes played.
Already, however, Tooreen had six wides on the board, three of them from Sean Kenny who, remarkably by his standards, would go the entire match without scoring – from frees or otherwise. But Shane Boland did open his account, with his 55-metre free, awarded for one of numerous fouls against his marked-man brother Fergal, supplemented by a Liam Lavin point, set-up by Greally, to leave the Connacht champions 0-6 to 0-4 ahead after 25-minutes.
At this juncture, Castlelyons were failing miserably to equal the intensity and relentlessness of Tooreen’s play, hallmarks of which were their hooking, blocking and pack-like tackling. And yet for all that sweat, when Alan Fenton drilled over his third free after an over-carry by Fergal Boland, Tooreen’s lead was a solitary point with two minutes of the half remaining.
That was doubled when the superb Oisin Greally influenced yet another Tooreen point, this time ploughing forward to draw a free which Shane Boland scored, and when the latter split the posts again for the opening score of the second-half, the East Mayo village was now in command of a 0-8 to 0-5 lead. With 37-minutes elapsed and Tooreen noted for their strong finishes, particularly in Connacht finals, the odds on a return to Croke Park were shortening all the time.
A pair of Fenton frees reduced the gap to the minimum so it seemed an excellent time for Shane Boland to strike his first point from play, and with the introduction of Sean Regan to the attack as well, Tooreen looked well positioned to build upon their 0-9 to 0-7 lead entering the final quarter. Castlelyons, alas, had other ideas.
The men from near Fermoy had gone from the ninth minute until the 48th with only Alan Fenton’s five pointed frees to show for their efforts when a long, long clearance by goalkeeper Jack Barry dropped into the Tooreen goalmouth where Anthony Spillane managed to kick the sliothar beneath the body of Tooreen stopper Bobby Douglas. It was the spark the Cork side required, and with Fenton swiftly scoring a ’65 and wing-forward Oscar Hallihan pointing from play, Castlelyons were suddenly a full three points to the good with 52-minutes gone.
On two occasions Tooreen would manage to reduce their arrears to just one point, but their four late points, all from Shane Boland frees, were a sign of the cynicism that Castlelyons’ defenders had suddenly brought to the game; thou shalt not pass was the mantra, as Colm Barry and Niall O’Leary, the other two to have hurled senior for Cork, took yellow cards for the team, both for dragging the marauding Fergal Boland to ground.
Anthony Spillane, who had been so tightly marked by Conal Hession, added a couple of late points to his goal, and midfielder James Kearney popped one over too, while the nearest Tooreen would come to scoring a potential match-winning major occurred in deepest stoppage time; Liam Lavin skillfully picked up in the top right corner, cut in along the end line and fed the ball across to Fergal Boland who picked out substitute Brian Morley but his pass to the onrushing Shane Boland was, alas, a mere fraction off.
Not unlike when so narrowly losing to Munster champions Monaleen in last January’s All-Ireland final, Tooreen had done so much right for three-quarters of Saturday’s clash – but scoreboards are emotionless. Castlelyons will take on Thomastown in January’s final after the Kilkenny and Leinster intermediate champions saw off Donegal’s Setanta in the other semi-final, played on Sunday.
Scorers – Castlelyons: Alan Fenton 0-6 (5f, ’65), Anthony Spillane 1-2, Colm Spillane 0-2, James Kearney and Oscar Hallihan 0-1 each.
Tooreen: Shane Boland 0-8 (7f), Kenny Feeney, Fergal Boland, Eoin Delaney, Oisin Greally and Liam Lavin 0-1 each.
Tooreen: Bobby Douglas; Gary Nolan, Conal Hession, Michael Morley; Joe Boyle, Stephen Coyne, David Kenny; Eoin Delaney, Daniel Huane; Oisín Greally, Fergal Boland, Sean Kenny; Liam Lavin, Shane Boland, Kenny Feeney. Subs: Sean Regan (for Feeney 40), Brian Morley (for Delaney 46), John Cassidy (for S Kenny 51).
Castlelyons: Jack Barry; Niall O’Leary, Colm Barry, Jamie O’Leary; Barry Murphy, Colm Spillane, Dara Spillane; Leo Sexton, James Kearney; Oscar Hallihan, Alan Fenton, Keith O’Leary; David Morrison, Leon Doocey, Anthony Spillane. Subs: Colm McCarthy (for Doocey 37), Shane Moroney (for J O’Leary 39), Brian O’Donovan (for D Spillane 46-49, blood), O’Donovan (for Morrison 60+2), Peter Roche (for K O’Leary 60+5).
REF: Colm McDonald (Antrim)
