Years of pain make success all the sweeter for Castlelyons

By John Harrington

The pain that the Castlelyons hurlers have endured in recent years has made their run to Saturday’s AIB All-Ireland Club Intermediate Hurling Final all the sweeter.

Since being relegated to the Intermediate grade in Cork in 2009 they’ve strained every sinew to get back up senior but, despite their best efforts, always fell short until 2023.

There were some agonising losses along the way, including consecutive county final defeats to Blarney and Courcey Rovers in 2020 and 2021, so finally getting the job done against Kilworth last year was a day of great joy and relief for everyone in the club.

“Yeah, we were close enough there for a good few years,” says Castelyons defender, Leo Sexton. “It was fantastic to get over the line and get it done. It was a huge relief for the club and a lot of the community, really.

“That was our goal at the start of the year and probably has been our goal for a good number of years, to win the county, get back up senior. We were there or there abouts every year, just sometimes by fine margins you don't get there.

“Thankfully this year we were on the right side of it. I don't think there's any one specific thing that made the difference. We worked hard all year and maybe we got a bit of a rub of the green in some games that we didn't get in previous years. It's very fine margins. If you look at the games we've lost over the last number of years there was always a point or two in it. We worked hard all year and just got the rewards this year.

“It's been a long time coming. You have to go back 25 years for the previous time the club won it (Cork Premier Intermediate) so it was a long stretch which made it all the more enjoyable.”

For the likes of Sexton it meant an awful lot because the 35-year-old is in his 19th championship season so he’s had his shoulder to the wheel for a very long time with little to show for his efforts.

His commitment to the cause is all the more impressive when you consider he’s been living in Dublin since his college days, so long journeys down the M8 have been a feature of his life for most of his life.

“We've a tight group with everyone really committed to it,” says Sexton. “I think everybody involved makes a big commitment. That's the same as any club. Once you're playing at a decent level there's a big commitment involved and we're no different.

“It's a bit of a commute but there are other lads who do similar. Yeah, a big commitment but happy to do it, it's very enjoyable.”

In fairness, Sexton couldn’t very well complain too loudly about his own commute given the team’s star forward, Anthony Spillane, has been flying over from Dubai where he works as a schoolteacher, to represent his club.

They’ve been glad to have him too, because he’s their chief scoring threat having hit 3-2 against Corofin in the Munster Final and 1-2 in their All-Ireland semi-final victory over Tooreen.

Now, for the seventh time in four months, he’ll make the 21-hour round-trip to help his club try to win Saturday's All-Ireland Final.

“Yeah, he'll be back this weekend,” confirms Sexton. “Anthony is a top-class player and obviously very committed as well. we're delighted to have him on our team.”

Castlelyons will likely need another big performance from Spillane if they’re to win on Saturday, because they’re up against a very highly rated Thomastown side.

The Kilkenny and Leinster champions have won their last five matches by an average of 20 points and boast an electric forward line.

“Thomastown are obviously an excellent team,” say Sexton. “Everything we've seen of them suggests that they're a serious team because they've had some huge wins.

“It's no surprise to us that they're raging hot favourites and rightly so. All we can do is focus on our jobs and try to get a performance from ourselves on Saturday and hopefully see where that takes us.”

Castlelyons certainly won’t lack for support in Croke Park on Saturday. After years of so many near-misses in Cork, their community has rallied behind them on this journey and will make plenty of noise in headquarters.

“There's a huge buzz around the community,” says Sexton. “There's bunting and flags around the streets and people are coming to watch trainings and games.

“There's a lot of kids getting down to the pitch to puck around and it just generates a bit of excitement and profile that wouldn't be there otherwise. It shortens the winter, really.

“We've been on a run, it's games every couple of weeks, and it gives everyone something to look forward to. It's fantastic for the community and hopefully they'll continue to come out in big numbers at the weekend.”