Despite being the most consistent team in the county last year, senior championship honours once again eluded Castledaly. But they did have the consolation of lifting the All-County League Division 1 title for the first time. Sport can be so cruel! Just ask Castledaly who, despite being the most consistent team in the county in 2004, endured bitter disappointment on county final day for the second time in three years. And as in 2002, south county rivals Garrycastle denied them their first senior championship success with a 1-8 to 0-9 victory at Cusack Park on November 7. It was rough justice on Castledaly who went into the final with an unbeaten league and championship record, but Garrycastle's greater know-how and experience meant that they found themselves in the role of bridesmaids once more. "We were hoping that we'd do it and we thought as the first half wore on that we were nicely situated. But then the goal was a killer blow. It was a goal that should have been prevented, but I suppose Paddy Golden pulled off a few good saves," rued Castledaly boss Vinny Henry. "We had chances right through the game and there's little doubt that we could have won it but we didn't. If we had limited the supply of ball to their full forward line, we would have had a more positive outlook at half-time," the former Clara and Offaly star added. The county final defeat apart, 2004 was a splendid year for Castledaly who had the considerable consolation of winning the All-County League Division 1 title for the first time. They played some spellbinding football throughout the season and assuming they can learn from their heartbreaking loss to Garrycastle, they are capable of atoning for that disappointment in the coming year. Encouragingly, the club continues to perform well at underage level and a week after the county final, Eugene Costello's talented minor team retained the club 2 football championship title with a 1-9 to 0-9 victory over Killucan at Castletown-Geoghegan. Playing a similar brand of football to their senior counterparts, Castledaly led by 0-5 to 0-4 at half-time and although Killucan were never out of contention, a 47th minute goal from the penalty spot by Paul Larkin proved decisive. A virtuoso display by JP Casey saw Vinny Henry's senior side defeat St. Loman's in their opening championship game on May 2. The Westmeath star scored 1-9 as the green and golds powered to a 1-11 to 0-8 victory at Cusack Park. The goal was a wonderful individual effort after just nine minutes and helped Castledaly to a 1-3 to 0-3 lead at the break. Loman's got themselves back onto level terms shortly after the restart, but with Casey adding a further five points and the promising Michael Gavin also chipping in with two in the last 20 minutes, the southerners emerged as comfortable winners. After a three-month break due to Westmeath's lengthy championship run, Castledaly marked their return to action with a hard-earned 0-9 to 1-5 victory over Coralstown/Kinnegad at a rain-lashed Castletown-Geoghegan. A draw looked to be on the cards until Michael Gavin came off the bench to kick the winning point for the Offaly-border outfit in injury-time. After playing with the elements in the first half, Castledaly led by 0-6 to 0-2 but an Eamonn Fleming penalty revived Coralstown/Kinnegad's challenge following the resumption and it took Gavin's late strike to decide the outcome. Castledaly made it three wins from three when they overcame neighbours Athlone by 0-13 to 0-9 in Moate. With Casey and Damien Doyle in fine scoring form, Castledaly were well on their way when they led by 0-8 to 0-3 at the break. Joe Fallon reduced the gap with two frees early in the second half, but a comeback never looked likely from the town side as Vinny Henry's charges comfortably held on for the win. Castledaly assured themselves of a place in the knock-out stages by seeing off the challenge of The Downs by 0-11 to 0-5 on September 19. The victory was sweet revenge for the south county team who had their 2003 championship interests ended by the same opposition. On a miserable evening for football, Castledaly laid the foundations for their win in the first half when they raced into a 0-8 to 0-1 lead. The Downs cut the deficit to five points within eight minutes of the restart, but despite shooting 11 wides, JP Casey wrapped up another win for Castledaly when firing over two late points. The green and golds confirmed their place in the semi-final with a fifth straight win over Ballymore at Tang. The outcome was never in doubt with a brace of first half goals from Alan and Paul Kelly helping Castledaly to a 2-6 to 0-2 lead at the interval. It continued to be one-way traffic following the changeover with a flurry of points from Casey, MJ McLoughlin and Niall and Gordon Duffy enabling Castledaly to run out emphatic 2-14 to 0-4 winners. Against Mullingar Shamrocks in the semi-final, Castledaly needed two cracks at the whip before eventually prevailing. The drawn encounter was arguably the game of the 2004 championship with 24 scores to savour, some of which were of the highest quality. Without a championship game in a considerable period of time, Castledaly appeared shaky at times but they still looked set for the final until Shane Colleary hit a superb equalizer from a 46-metre free to earn Shamrocks a 1-12 to 2-9 draw. An early goal from Cian O'Leary gave the town side a 1-5 to 0-7 lead at the break, but similar scores from Michael Duffy and substitute Paul Kelly saw Castledaly go four points clear with 10 minutes remaining. However, two points from Darren Moore and another from O'Leary had reduced the deficit to the minimum before Colleary hit his dramatic equalizer. The replay was a pale shadow of the drawn game, but a physically stronger Castledaly certainly weren't complaining after a 0-13 to 1-8 win. The only goal was scored by Shamrocks' minor star Darren Moore in the 24th minute, but he received poor support from those around him as the Castledaly defence consistently sniffed out the danger. Castledaly led by two points at the break and with JP Casey on top of his game once again, they continued to hold the upperhand in the second half. With memories of their 2002 defeat to Garrycastle fresh in their minds, Castledaly had little difficulty motivating themselves for the showpiece game. But despite giving a much better account of themselves, they still fell short as Garrycastle took the spoils for the third time in four years. Central to Garrycastle's two-point win was the dominance exerted by the imperious David O'Shaughnessy at midfield, the outstanding form of Dessie Dolan from both frees and open play and the tigerish and disciplined defending of Tom McHugh, Karl Henson and Padraig Rattigan in the winners' full back line. JP Casey, who had an off-day with his place kicking, opened the scoring for Castledaly with a point inside the first minute before Dolan replied with two frees for the wind-assisted green and reds. Points from Michael and Niall Duffy restored Castledaly's lead after 13 minutes before Dolan hit another brace of frees. Then a move started by Dolan culminated in midfielder Justin McAteer fisting to the net after Castledaly goalkeeper Paddy Golden blocked Alan Daly's initial shot. Dolan's fifth free was sandwiched between points from Casey and Damien Doyle as the first half came to a close with Garrycastle leading 1-5 to 0-5. Daly increased Garrycastle's lead on the restart before efforts from Michael Duffy and Doyle kept Castledaly in touch. Duignan and Mulvihill put 'Castle four clear again before points from Derek Heavin and Doyle left two between the sides with three minutes remaining. As the tension increased, so too did tempers and a brawl involving players and mentors erupted in front of the Garrycastle dugout with time almost up. However, referee Sean Carroll decided not to take any action and despite Castledaly's best efforts, they were unable to save the day as Garrycastle held firm for victory. The Castledaly team which unsuccessfully contested the county final was: Paddy Golden; Adrian Kelly, Kenny Larkin, Ciaran Henson; Enda Kelly, Russell Casey, Derek Heavin; Gordon Duffy, Niall Duffy; Alan Fitzgerald, MJ McLoughlin, Damien Doyle; Michael Gavin, Michael Duffy, JP Casey. Subs used: Paul Kelly and James Galvin. The Castledaly team which retained the minor club 2 championship title was: David Troy; Jonathan Holloway, James Larkin, Cormac Murray; Paddy Costello, Michael Gavin, Conor Gavin; Tommy Warburton, Paul Larkin; Andrew Kenny, Mark Rush, Brendan Kelly; Paul Finnerty, Paul Kelly, Anthony Costello. Sub used: Conor Coughlan. Tweet

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