Carnmore 1-19

Castlegar 0-17

By Darren Kelly in Duggan Park

Led by the scoring prowess of Mark Collins and a strong defensive effort inspired by Eoin Collins and man-of-the-match Niall Feeney, Carnmore dethroned defending champions Castlegar on Wednesday last to be crowned county U-20A1 hurling champions.

Jamie Girvan’s goal on 21 minutes gave the men in red a lead they never relinquished even if Aaron Fox’s charges had to wait until the final quarter before ensuring the job was done.

Castlegar beat Athenry in this fixture last year and started with 10 of that team, but Paddy Duggan’s charges were always chasing the game after heading towards the interval two in arrears.

Conditions were superb in Ballinasloe as the sun came down despite the strong wind blowing towards the town goal which favoured Castlegar in the opening 30 minutes.

Carnmore came into this fixture with a 100% record. Group wins over Ardrahan, Skehana-Mountbellew-Moylough, and Pádraig Pearses were followed by a semi-final victory over Kilconieron (1-24 to 0-19).

Castlegar also came in unbeaten: after overcoming Mullagh-Kiltormer and Kilconieron, they handled a six-week layoff to account for Ardrahan at the end of August, and they began with Paddy Bradbury picking out Michael Casey for the opening score.

That was the target for Cashel to get club senior Casey involved but gradually Carnmore’s defence started cutting out the supply. At the other end, keeper Oisin O’Connell blocked a strike from Ben Morley. The resulting ’65 was put over by Mark Collins.

They continued as Ryan Flaherty and Enda Collins began the next move that saw Girvan split the posts; and another free won by Morley led to Mark Collins doubling his total on six minutes.

Castlegar needed to react. Creaven opened his account 60 seconds later before Cian Corcoran pointed from play to level at 0-3 apiece. Captain Jack Wall and Gearóid King also worked hard in Castlegar’s defence and they combined for the former to score from 85 yards.

When Bradbury was the provider again, this time for Keith Connelly to register, Castlegar were 0-5 to 0-3 ahead.

This first period saw the initiative swing regularly and Carnmore played themselves back into contention. 2022 Galway minor Mark Collins was taking his chances and contributed two more frees to make it all square again.

However, Castlegar could have taken a firm hold on proceedings when Bradbury dropped in a delivery to try creating a one-on-one situation. Darragh King swung at the arrival, but didn’t make contract giving their opponents a reprieve.

Pictured: Carnmore’s Eoin Collins secures possession as Castlegar’s Michael Casey gets ready to challenge.