Castletown 1-19 Oldcastle 4-12 

Castletown kicked of their 2026 IFC campaign on Sunday afternoon with a trip to Kells to take on Oldcastle in round 1. In what was always going to be a very tight opening round since the draw was made, it was the Oldcastle men who left with bragging rights after winning by 2 points 

Castletown were the quickest off the mark with a point from play from Kevin Ross inside the opening 3 minutes, quickly followed up by another point from play from Adam Matthews inside the opening 5 minutes. A pointed free from Oldcastle's number 14 a minute later left just the minimum between the sides. Killian Price got his first off the day a minute later to leave the gap at 2 points again. Mark Kelly was introduced on 11 minutes for the injured Adam Matthews due to injury which was a huge blow due to an energetic opening period form the number 13. Having returned form the states only days prior, Rian McConnell got his first point of the day on 12 minutes to leave it 3 points to the Castletown men. A further blow for Castletown saw Adam Wogan leave the pitch due to injury also on 15 minutes which saw the introduction of Willie Bellew. Oldcastle looked dangerous in attack and scored a further 3 points (1x2p, 1x1p) to leave it a draw game on 18 minutes. Castletown got the break they needed with an excellently worked goal from the halfway line with Killian Price at the centre of it running straight through the middle of the Oldcastle defense with Daragh Weldon finishing the move with the ball in the back of the Oldcastle net. A further point form play from Declan Cribbin and Rian McConnell had Castletown 5 ahead with 7 minutes left of the opening half. However Oldcastle kicked into action and stunned the Castletown defense scoring 3-3 unanswered all from play in a quick 10 minute period to leave Castletown now trailing by 7 heading in at halftime with a huge task at hand to scrap it back.

Halftime score: Castletown 1-6 Oldcastle 3-7

The 2nd half started exactly as Castletown wouldnt have wanted with a further point from play for Oldcastle inside the opening minute to leave it 8 points between the sides. Inside the next 10 minutes Castletown began to claw their way back with 4 unanswered points (Killian price x2pointer, Cribbin x1, Weldon x1f). Unfortunately this was almost immediately cancelled out by a 4th goal from play for Oldcastle by the wing back having travelled up the pitch and a further point from play. With back to 8 between the sides with just 15 minutes left Castletown needed to start getting some scores on the board. In a 2 minute period the deficit was back to 4 following a 2pointer from Weldon and a 2pointer free from Kevin Ross kept the hope alive. Oldcastle however kept the scoreboard tipping over with  a further point from play. Castletown added a further 4 points to the scoreboard in a 4 minute period thanks to a further 2 pointer and 1 pointer from play from Ross and the 1st of the day from substitute Dan Moran  on 54 minutes. With just the 1 point between the sides now with 5 minutes of normal time to go it was anyones game and made sure for a dramatic last 5 minutes of play. Oldcastle however kept their cool and slotted over another point from play to leave it 2 between the sides. Castletown had some chances to add more scores to the board and even level the game but with a few wides and perhaps forcing trying to get the 2 pointers it didnt happen. Dan moran got the final score for Castletown on 60 minutes leaving it just the 1 between the sides. A great turnover by the Castletown backs in the dying moments looked promising as the lads broke at speed but a turnover by Oldcastle in midfield resulted in a Oldcastle man being fouled inside the scoring range aloud for Oldcastle to score a free in pretty much the last kick of the ball to leave it Oldcastle the winners by 2.

A disappointing result in the opening round of the championship but the lad dug deep to claw their way back into the game having been down by 8 points in the 2nd half. Next up will be no easy change as we take on Duleek Bellewstown in round 2 in 2 weeks time.

Castletown: Johnny Ginnitty, Sean McKeown, Evan Hoey, Killian Markey , Daragh Kelly, Eoin Reid, Killian Price (0-3 (0-1-1)), Killian Smyth, Rian McConnell (0-2 (0-0-2)), Darren Finney, Kevin Ross (0-6 (0-2-2)), Adam Wogan, Adam Matthews (0-1 (0-0-1)), Daragh Weldon (0-6 (1-1-1)), Declan Cribbin (0-2 (0-0-2))

Subs: Mark Kelly for Adam Matthews (11 mins), Willie Bellew for Adam Wogan (15 mins), Dan Moran (0-2 (0-0-2)) for Daragh Kelly (48 mins), Mark Young for Eoin Reid (54 mins)

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