IT’S unusual for anyone connected with Castletownbere to find themselves sailing in uncharted waters, but their footballers currently are.
For the first time since the county championships were revamped in 2020, Castletownbere have progressed beyond the group stages and into knock-out territory.
They achieved that in style, winning all three of their group games to advance directly to a Bon Secours Premier IFC semi-final against Cill na Martra at Wolfe Tone Park in Bantry this Sunday afternoon (3pm).
‘This is new territory in that it’s our first time coming out of the group since the new format came in, while Cill na Martra have come out every year so we know the huge challenge facing us,’ manager Morgan O’Sullivan says.
‘We will hope to bring a performance that will do our team justice, have a rattle off them and let’s see where that will take us.’
O’Sullivan acknowledges that his side has it all to do against championship favourites Cill na Martra, who took out Iveleary in the quarter-final so they have momentum coming in. But Castletownbere will take confidence from their run in this campaign – they defeated Nemo Rangers, Bandon and Rockchapel to top Group A.
‘It's eight years, I think, since we won two championship games in a row; that was back in 2015. The last time we won three championship games in a row was probably 2012 when we won the intermediate title,’ O’Sullivan says.
‘We are building and developing a team so the lads can take a lot of confidence from what we have achieved so far, and we’re not finished yet.
Castletownbere secretary Amanda Cronin, selector Ian Murphy and manager Morgan O'Sullivan keeping an eye on proceedings.
‘It was a very interesting group where we won all our games but could have lost them all too; that’s how tight the games were. Look at the Bandon game, they missed a penalty that would have made a big difference, but we held on and won (0-15 to 0-11).’
O’Sullivan learned a lot about the character of his side during the group stage. They had to hold off a Rockchapel fightback in the second group game. Scored twice late on to snatch a come-from-behind win against Nemo in their opener. Saw goalkeeper Dean Hegarty to save a second-half penalty from Bandon’s Aidan O’Mahony when Castletownbere led by three. They have passed each test so far, and that’s encouraging for beyond this season.
‘We are in a development phase and this is a team that is coming together but they have stuck to what they were asked to do,’ O’Sullivan says.
‘We have a lot of younger players who have come in the last year or two, and that extra year they have now is standing to them. There were fine margins in all the games. Look at that first result, against Nemo, we won by a point, and that gave the lads belief; we have built on that and drove on.’
The introduction of youth has helped, too. Jack Hanley played his first championship game this season. Mike Orpen is another young gun to feature. So too has Kevin O’Sullivan. All these players are 18 years old, Morgan O’Sullivan adds. There’s plenty of experience in the ranks as well, from Andrew O’Sullivan to top scorer Gary Murphy to captain Lorcan Harrington. The mix is good, and the results have been positive. That offers hope for the seasons ahead, and that’s important for the Beara club, to keep interest alive. More immediate concern is how to take down John Evans’ Cill na Martra on Sunday. If any men are designed to find their way out of choppy waters, it’s the gang from Castletownbere.
