Castledaly have been coming closer by the year to lifting the Flanagan Cup, although they could be forgiven if the players were disheartened after losing another county final. However, that is certainly not the case as secretary Ciaran Henson stresses that they are more determined than ever to win that elusive county senior title. The 2006 campaign saw Castledaly reach the final. Following a replay and tempestuous affair against Tyrrellspass, it was the latter, that emerged victorious and once again the hearts of the men from Castledaly were to be broken. Further defeat in the Division One league final following an epic three-match encounter against The Downs compounded their woes, nonetheless, Ciaran is confident that this current bunch of players will bounce back from this setback. "It was disappointing year in the finish. The lads put in a huge effort and it just wasn't to be, but I have no doubts whatsoever that they will bounce back this year," stressed Ciaran. "There was one aim set out at the start of the year and that was to win the senior championship. It's just case of if you fall off the horse you just climb back on and keep going. "They are a very determined bunch of lads and we have some of the best footballers in the county. I'm sure they will give the same dedication as they did last year." Ciaran revealed that former Offaly footballer James Stewart has been appointed the manager for the coming year and the club secretary is hoping that a change of management will bring about a change in fortunes on the field. "I hope that with James coming in, it will freshen things up. Last year's management team did a great job and there's no denying that. Sometimes it helps for a few new ideas to be introduced and this could help the players." There was one shimmer of light for the club as they won the junior 1 championship and although this may not mean a lot to some clubs, it was a major achievement for Castledaly. "It was a great fillip to win the junior 1 championship. It was just reward for the players as they had put in the same effort all year as the senior players. There was a great mix of youth and experience in the team and the club was really delighted to win that title," he explained. Castledaly's championship year began in the group stages where they were placed alongside Killucan, Mullingar Shamrocks and Tubberclair with the eventual finalists being favourites to emerge to the knockout stages. They opened their account with an impressive display against Tubberclair and a five-point win set them on the right road. Confidence was high in the squad going into the second match against Shamrocks and once a again a win was recorded, although this was a much closer match. However, Castledaly came out on top by three points 2-10 to 1-10. A win against Killucan in the last group game would have ensured a place in the semi-final, but alas it was not to be as the Saffrons produced an excellent display to surprisingly run out comfortable winners by seven points. "We started off really well in the championship, but the Killucan game just did not go right for us on the day and I suppose it was just one of those things, they were the hungrier team, but we knew all was not lost and that we still had a chance to make the knockout stages." The defeat meant that Castledaly would face Shamrocks in a play-off with the winner going through to the quarterfinals. However, the South Westmeath side put in a thorough and professional performance to see off the challenge of the town team and record their biggest win to date by beating Shamrocks by ten points. Another team from Westmeath's capital were the opposition in the quarterfinal as St Loman's stood in the way of a place in the last four. Loman's had been impressive in the group stages and they were fancied to give Castledaly a stern test, but the eventuality was that the latter ran out winners by six points and never really looked in trouble throughout the match. Neighbours and fierce rivals Garrycastle were next up and a place in the county final awaited the winners. The Coosan outfit have had the better of the exchanges between the sides at the latter stages of the championship in recent times and would have entered this match as slight favourites. Nonetheless, Castledaly came out on top in this very entertaining and tense clash, which saw only a point separate the sides (1-9 to 2-5), but more importantly for the yellow and greens, they had beaten their closest rivals to earn a place in the decider. "The win over Garrycastle was a great boost to the lads. Most of this side lost a senior final to them a few years back and they were determined not to beaten by them again." Tyrrellspass had reached the final courtesy of their two-point win over Killucan in the other semi-final. As expected the decider was a close fought game and it was no surprise that it ended in a draw. Both sides had chances to win the game, but the general consensus was that a draw was the fairest result. The replay didn't match the drawn game in terms of the standard of football and it was Tyrrellspass, who took their chances and ran out winners by five points. "Over the two games, Tyrrellspass probably were the better team, but in saying that both sides had their chances to win the drawn game. We just have to put that behind us and focus on this year," said Ciaran. "The squad is relatively young with the average age around 24, while we have some excellent young players coming through and the likes of Tommy Warburton have an excellent future in the game." Ciaran also revealed that the club have concentrated in developing their underage scene in recent years and that they have begun to reap the rewards from this. "We have a good underage structure in place and there are plenty of good people in place to look after the various teams, which is very important. The club has been reasonably successful at underage level and if you can bring two or three off every team through to senior level, than I think you are doing a good job. That is our aim anyway and hopefully it continues to work for some tine to come. Off the field the club suffered some tragedy when former player and club member Johnny Farrell died unexpectedly and this was a huge blow to the whole community. "It really affected everybody in the area and not just the club. Johnny was a lovely man and he will be greatly missed by his family, relatives and friends". The senior side is sure to in the running during the 2007 campaign and no doubt will be one of the favourites for the Flanagan Cup, and who knows, maybe this year could be their year. Tweet

Most Read Stories