Castledaly's persistence and perseverance finally paid off when they were crowned senior football champions at the fourth time of asking last October. Their 0-10 to 0-8 victory over favourites Garrycastle in final was overdue reward for a team that has now finally rid itself of its bridesmaid tag. Cusack Park on October 5 last was the setting for one of the most popular and well received victories on the Westmeath club scene in many years as Castledaly came in from the cold to capture the Flanagan Cup for the first time. Gaels from throughout the county shared in Castledaly's joy at finally cracking the senior championship after many years of trying. Beaten by Garrycastle in the 2002 and 2004 finals, and again by Tyrrellspass after a replay in 2006, the dream looked to have died for the close-knit south county outfit, but they never lost hope and their perseverance was finally rewarded when they overcame a fancied Garrycastle to reach the Promised Land. Under the management of Padraig Farrell, who guided his native Tubber to an Offaly intermediate title success in 2006, Castledaly came through the so-called 'Group of Death' in rather fortunate circumstances to reach the knockout stages where they discovered their best form. Few could have envisaged them lifting the Flanagan Cup after they lost two and drew one of their first four matches, but a stroke of good fortune, provided by county midfielder Martin Flanagan, whose last-gasp winning goal for Tyrrellspass in another championship game put Mullingar Shamrocks out, paved the way for Castledaly's historic success. Flanagan's late strike was kindly referred to in his acceptance speech by Castledaly captain James Galvin, who admitted that his team believed they had the support of the entire county. "We have been the proverbial bridesmaids all of the time," said the 1999 All-Ireland under 21 winning full back, who rejoined the club last year after a spell with Wexford champions Kilanerin. "Everyone loves the underdog and with Garrycastle's experience in county finals we couldn't have been favourites. Clubs such as Moate All-Whites sent us a card, and they used to be our rivals. It was great to get support like that." He added: "A lot of Castledaly captains have come to Cusack Park with speeches in their pockets, but I just didn't write one today myself. The year started on a real low for us and we seemed to be down and out at one stage. Only for Martin Flanagan's goal, we would have been out. "Everyone was in good form and we knew this year that when we gave away a bit of a lead, we were always good enough to claw it back. It is all my dreams come true. Today was fourth time lucky and thank God it came true." Winning manager Padraig Farrell also made reference to the score that transformed Castledaly's season. "We got that break. I remember sitting here and in the third minute of injury-time we were out, but in the fourth minute we were in. That's how tight it was. And now we're champions," he smiled. "I know it came down to Martin Flanagan's goal, but there were some tough games in the group. We still beat Tyrrellspass in the group, got a draw with Garrycastle and beat Bunbrosna. So I thought if there was a bit of luck it might go our way." Despite being underdogs, Farrell claimed there was still a great deal of pressure on Castledaly to win the county final. "We were under pressure today, no doubt about that. We tried to play it down, saying we wouldn't be under pressure, but we were. We knew it was the county final. Most people thought Castledaly would lose this final, but that motivated us. "I didn't really enjoy the game because I was under a lot of pressure on the line. But everyone tells me the best team won, so I'm happy with that." Castledaly's success was all the more noteworthy given that their prolific forward JP Casey missed most of the campaign through injury. In his absence, the likes of Brendan Kelly and MJ McLoughlin really stepped up to the plate, while county star Derek Heavin provided tremendous leadership at the back. Young wing back Enda Kelly also had a marvellous campaign, which culminated in him winning the inaugural Ber Murtagh man of the match award on county final day. Drawn in the same group as champions Tyrrellspass, Mullingar Shamrocks, Garrycastle, Athlone and Bunbrosna, Castledaly had it all to do to qualify for the latter stages. They made a poor start when losing to 2007 runners-up Mullingar Shamrocks 0-10 to 1-11 in their opening game. Shamrocks set a blistering pace early on to lead by 1-5 to 0-0 after just 10 minutes. Castledaly had reduced the deficit to five points by half-time, 0-4 to 1-6, and got to within two points of their opponents before late scores from Sean Maguire and Brian Melody sealed the win for the Mullingar men. Castledaly bounced back to defeat Tyrrellspass 1-5 to 0-7 in their second outing at a very wet Cusack Park. The underdogs made a dream start when MJ McLoughlin fired home a penalty in the first minute after Paul Kelly had been taken down, and despite having Gordon Duffy dismissed on a second yellow card with four minutes remaining, they held on for a vital victory. The green and golds suffered a second setback when they lost to south county rivals Athlone by 0-13 to 1-8 in Moate. Once again, Castledaly were slow out of the starting blocks and trailed by 0-1 to 0-6 at the end of the first quarter. But a Paul Kelly goal in the 25th minute helped propel them into a 1-4 to 0-6 interval lead. Athlone resumed in impressive fashion and with Joe Fallon in excellent scoring form, they led by three points after 44 minutes. The margin was still the same going into the closing stages when a Niall O'Neill point was not enough to save Castledaly. Padraig Farrell's charges really needed to beat Garrycastle in their next outing, but had to be content with a 1-8 to 2-5 draw. The Athlone side, thanks to two fortunate goals, led by 2-3 to 0-3 after 20 minutes, but a penalty converted by MJ McLoughlin brought Castledaly back into contention and they trailed by 1-4 to 2-4 at the break. Castledaly dominated the second half and eventually drew level at 1-7 to 2-4. It looked as though they would go on to win at that stage, but a magnificent Dessie Dolan point from a free put Garrycastle back in front before Alan Fitzgerald sent over the equaliser three minutes from the end. On the same evening as Tyrrellspass did them a huge favour by knocking out Mullingar Shamrocks, Castledaly recorded their biggest win of the campaign against Bunbrosna to progress to the quarter-finals. Just two points separated the sides at half-time, 0-8 to 0-6, but the southerners found an extra gear after the resumption to power to a 0-17 to 0-10 victory. The quarter-final clash with Coralstown/Kinnegad was a much more competitive affair with Castledaly having to dig deep for a 0-11 to 0-9 win. The winners held a slender 0-5 to 0-4 lead at half-time before extending their advantage to four points midway through the second half. Coralstown/Kinnegad rallied late on, but the Castledaly defence held firm to set up a semi-final rematch with three-in-a-row chasing Tyrrellspass at Cusack Park. As in their earlier clash, Castledaly were the better team but were controversially denied victory by a last-gasp equalising point from Denis Glennon. Tyrrellspass opened brightly and led 1-4 to 0-2 after 17 minutes thanks to Gavin Hoey's goal. But Castledaly then enjoyed their most productive spell which yielded five unanswered points from James Galvin (two), MJ McLoughlin (two) and Gordon Duffy to go into the break on level terms, 0-7 to 1-4. The green and golds picked up from where they left off by adding five more points without reply in the opening 10 minutes of the second half to put themselves in a winning position. But just when the 'Tidy Town' looked to be on the ropes, a Denis Glennon goal brought them back into it in the 42nd minute. Castledaly still led by two points going into stoppage-time, but two late efforts from Glennon saw the champions live to fight another day. The replay took place in Athlone six days later and this time Castledaly made no mistake, squeezing home on a 2-4 to 0-9 scoreline. With the wind in their favour in the opening half, a ninth minute goal from Michael Duffy set them on their way and they led by two points at half-time. Tyrrellspass displayed typical grit to leave the minimum between the sides after 48 minutes, but then Tommy Warburton came off the bench to score a second goal and Castledaly held on from there until the final whistle to book their final spot. Despite facing their third game in as many weeks, Castledaly showed no signs of fatigue as they tore into the favourites from the start. Bucking the trend of earlier games, the green and golds were quickly into their stride and Derek Heavin's point had them 0-3 to 0-1 ahead after 13 minutes. But within five minutes, Garrycastle had drawn level for a second time through Aidan Browne and Paul Dillon. But with Dessie Dolan being well marshalled by Heavin and his brother Gary not making much of an impact, Castledaly pressed again and two points from Brendan Kelly and another from Paul Kelly opened the first three-point gap. Garrycastle recovered again, however, and points from Aidan Browne, Rory McGowan and Dessie Dolan tied it up at 0-6 apiece at half-time. The odds were now in the three-times champions' favour, but Castledaly showed their resolve by retaking the lead through Enda Kelly on the resumption. At the other end, goalkeeper James Kinihan's heroics kept the goal-hungry Garrycastle attack at bay and when MJ McLoughlin pointed in the 46th minute, Castledaly led 0-9 to 0-6 and stood on the threshold of history. But points from Paddy Mulvihill and Dolan made for a nervous finish before a late MJ McLoughlin free ensured that the Flanagan Cup was bound for the Offaly border club for the first time in their 69-year history. The Castledaly team which made history by winning their first SFC title was: James Kinihan; Michael Gavin, Niall O'Neill, Ciaran Henson; Enda Kelly, Derek Heavin, Stephen Kavanagh; Niall Duffy, Gordon Duffy; Alan Fitzgerald, MJ McLoughlin, Paul Kelly; Michael Duffy, James Galvin (captain), Brendan Kelly. Subs used: Adrian Kelly, Russell Casey and Tommy Warburton. Castledaly minors sweep to victory Castledaly added the minor football 13-a-side championship to their senior championship success last November when they overcame Tyrrellspass by 2-7 to 1-6 in miserable conditions at Kinnegad. For Castledaly, the victory atoned for the disappointment of losing the preceding under 14 final to the 'Tidy Town'. Favoured by the elements in the first half, the winners raced into a 1-3 to 0-0 lead by the 12th minute with Justin Coughlan accounting for the goal. Tyrrellspass rallied to trail by 0-4 to 1-5 at half-time, and points from Ger O'Toole and Dean McNicholas on the restart had the margin down to two points. But an Eoin Fleming penalty gave Castledaly valuable breathing space, and they held on for the win, despite Ger O'Toole's late goal for Tyrrellspass. Castledaly's minor championship winning team was: Ian Larkin; John Warburton, Liam Fitzpatrick; Patrick Holloway, Graham Heavin, Tommy Finnerty; Alan Stone, Emmett Bermingham; Eanna Gavin, Francie Rushe, MJ Kelly; Eoin Fleming, Justin Coughlan. Subs used: Eamonn Fleming and Sean Henson. Tweet

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