The future looks bright for West Cork club Castletownbere thanks to back-to-back county minor 'B' football championships in 2002 and 2003. This year, they were promoted to the 'A' grade and hoping they can achieve further success is sponsor and former player James O'Donoghue of South West Foods Distributors Ltd. Renowned as a fishing port, Castletownbere is also home to the Cork minor 'B' football champions of the past two years. Despite a constant drain on their playing resources, these are exciting times for Castletownbere GAA who are making great strides both on and off the pitch. While the success of the minors augurs well for the future, the club also has much to look forward in terms of development. Under the guidance of chairman Donal Kelly, Castletownbere are currently upgrading their playing facilities which will be among the best in Cork when completed. "There is a lot happening in the club at the moment and we are delighted to be associated with them," says James O'Donoghue of minor team sponsors South West Foods Distributors Ltd. "We sponsored jackets for the minor team and by all accounts, they have a very good side again this year. Despite having a small pick, Castletownbere is a very progressive club and I wish them all the best for the future." Though born in Liverpool and now living in Bantry where South West Foods is based, James considers himself a Castletownbere man first and foremost. His brother Gerard is a member of the Castletownbere club committee and had two sons, Gavin and Adrian, on the minor team which retained the county 'B' championship last year. "Before I came to live in Bantry in 1993, I lived in Castletownbere for most of my life," James explains. "I was born in Liverpool but came back to live in Castletownbere - which is where my mother Margaret came from - at a young age. My brother Gerard still lives there where he works with Shellfish De La Mar, who were also one of the sponsors to the minor team." Married to Theresa, James has a daughter, Molly, who is a year and a half. In 1987, he set up South West Foods Distributors Ltd which specialises in fresh and frozen food wholesale distribution. James and his staff distribute food products for companies such as Castlemahon Foods, Green Isle Foods and Gallaghers Bakery throughout the Cork and Kerry region. Having been starved of success since they last won the county minor 'B' championship in 1996, Castletownbere regained the title with a 1-7 to 0-8 victory over Gabriel Rangers in the 2002 final. Last year proved to be even more successful as Castletownbere not only retained their minor 'B' title at Ballingeary's expense, but also captured the minor league crown following a 2-9 to 1-4 win over Ballincollig. And, to complete a memorable year, Castletownbere players backboned the Beara divisional team which recorded a surprise 1-9 to 1-7 victory over Douglas in the county minor premier final at Ballingeary. Beara, who surprisingly had no representation on the Cork minor team in 2003, defied the odds with a tremendous display which saw them regain a title they last held in 1988. The winners, who had an outstanding performer in wing back PJ Gonnelly, dominated the first half exchanges with points from Kevin Ger O'Sullivan, Andrew O'Sullivan, Donnacha Lowney and Cormac O'Sullivan giving them a 0-7 to 0-3 lead at half-time. Steven Bermingham reduced the deficit with a Douglas point on the restart before Ross Minihane scored a goal in the 33rd minute to put Beara firmly in the driving seat. Amazingly, Beara wouldn't score again for 20 minutes as the city side roared back into contention. Centre forward Mark Harrington landed two points before Bermingham slotted home a penalty to leave just the minimum in it. Harrington restored parity with 10 minutes remaining, but Beara finished the stronger to take the spoils. "We've had a great couple of years," notes Jimmy Murphy, who shares the Castletownbere minor team management duties with Darren Murphy, Philip O'Donoghue, Sean Regan and Peter O'Leary. "Winning the minor 'B' championship in 2002 was a big breakthrough for us because the success had dried up somewhat before then. To come back last year and win a league and championship double as well as the premier title with Beara was a wonderful achievement. Now the task is to build on these successes," he adds. Castletownbere will compete in the minor 'A' championship this year and Murphy is eagerly looking forward to the challenge. "It will be a big step up for us but we have seven survivors from last year's team and a lot of them have played at the highest level with Beara," he says. "Our best known player is Andrew O'Sullivan, who captained the Cork minor team this year. But we have a nice sprinkling of talented players and we're really looking forward to facing St. Martin's in the first round." Founded in the latter part of the 19th century, the Castletownbere club went out of existence before it was revived in 1948. The West Cork outfit had a strong junior team in the 1960s, but success continued to elude them until 1977 when they defeated Rockchapel in the county junior football final. In 1986, Castletownbere secured promotion to the senior ranks for the first time following their intermediate championship final victory over Killshannig. The following year, they reached the county senior championship quarter-final where their great run was ended by Imokilly. Now operating at intermediate level again, Castletownbere's interests in this year's championship were ended at the quarter-final stage by North Cork side Killavullen, who subsequently lost to Nemo Rangers in the semi-final. Incidentally, many of the current intermediate team have graduated from the minor championship winning side of 1996. Murphy is optimistic for the future, despite the fact Castletownbere has traditionally struggled to hold onto its best players. "Because of our location and the lack of industry in the area, we lose a lot of our players," he points out. "A lot of the lads head for Cork city, which is 80 miles away, to seek employment, while others head for Dublin or emigrate. Fishing is not conducive to football either as the hours are very long and it's difficult for fellas to give the commitment. "But despite these drawbacks, I'm hopeful that we can hold onto most of these good minors. Our chairman Donal Kelly is spearheading a major development of our facilities which will see the construction of new dressing rooms, meeting room and training ground at a cost of EUR250,000. Never before has so much emphasis being placed on the future of the club," he concludes. Tweet

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