The Castleblayney senior hurling team celebrate after their Monaghan SHC Final victory.
AM Sports Monaghan SHC Final
Castleblayney 2-20 Inniskeen 0-11
Castleblayney regained the Monaghan SHC title with a convincing win over Inniskeen in Latton. Having seen their seven-in-a-row bid stopped in its tracks by Inniskeen in last year’s final, Castleblayney were in no mood to allow a repeat this time around, with early goals from Brian McGuigan and Thomas Hughes setting the tone and Niall Garland hitting 11 points in a Man-of-the-Match performance.
Blayney raced into a 2-2 to 0-0 lead just six minutes into a first half where Inniskeen’s only two points came from frees by Niall Arthur. Declan Hughes, Fergal Rafter and Niall Garland were also on target for the 2023 Ulster Club JHC winners, who led by 2-7 to 0-2 at the break.
Inniskeen competed much better during the second half, with Arthur being joined on the scoresheet by Conor McHugh, Brian Minogue and Martin Murphy, but Blayney remained in charge throughout, led by Garland’s accuracy from frees and open play. Brian Flanagan, Cormac McNally and Déaglán Crowe added fine scores for Blayney, who have now won 20 county titles since the turn of the century.
Scorers for Castleblayney: Niall Garland 0-11 (6f); Brian McGuigan 1-1; Thomas Hughes 1-0; Fergal Rafter 0-2; Declan Hughes 0-2; Cormac McNally 0-1; Mark Treanor 0-1; Brian Flanagan 0-1; Déaglán Crowe 0-1.
Scorers for Inniskeen: Niall Arthur 0-7f; Conor McHugh 0-2; Brian Minogue 0-1; Martin Murphy 0-1.
Castleblayney: Hugh Byrne; Eoin Leonard, Colin Merrick; Ruairí Farrell; Declan Hughes, Patrick Finnegan (Capt.), Cormac McNally; Aaron Kenny, Mark Treanor; Brian Flanagan, Thomas Hughes, Conall McHugh; Niall Garland, Fergal Rafter, Brian McGuigan.
Subs: Déaglán Crowe for McHugh (41); Paudie Heavin for Flanagan (47); Nathan Adair for Rafter (inj., 49); Bernard Connor for Farrell (54); Zach McArdle for McGuigan (60).
Inniskeen: Pauric Dowdall; Cormac Boylan, Mike Lyons, Páidí Deery; Philip Brooks, Kevin Crawley, Brian Minogue; Martin Murphy, Shane Callan; Conor Gernon, Gavin Dooley, Pádraig McGahon; Trevor Hilliard; Niall Arthur, Aaron Gernon.
Subs: Conor McHugh for Callan (23); Peter Boylan for A Gernon (37); Patrick Boyle for Minogue (inj., 47); Jamie Dooley for Deery (59); Dean Hoey for Boyle (inj., 60 + 4).
Referee: Jim O’Rourke.