THE INSIDE TRACK: Character. Resilience. Cuteness. Castlehaven found a way to win Munster title

TEN points to eight down approaching full time in normal time, and they got it back. Down 0-13 to 0-10 at half time in extra time, and then trailing 0-13 to 0-11 racing into added-time at the end of extra time and, again, they got it back. You either love them or hate them but either way you have to admire them. 

Castlehaven are Munster senior football club champions for 2023 having defeated Kerry club champions Dingle after a Damien Cahalane-dominated penalty shootout. They never gave up, hung in there, and got their reward: a fourth Munster club senior football title for the Haven.

This was a massive display of character and resilience to claim the provincial title for the fourth time, and for the first time against opposition from the Kingdom in the final. Connacht champions St Brigids from Roscommon now await them in the All-Ireland semi-final on January 7th in Semple Stadium. No doubt this Munster win will be enjoyed for a couple of days around Union Hall and Castletownshend because it will be a dry Christmas as they prepare to launch an assault on the All-Ireland club football championship.

But the question is – will the price of the Munster title be an expensive one? Castlehaven lost Michael Hurley to a leg injury in the first half, followed by Conor Cahalane who took a blow to the stomach, but later resumed in the second half. Brian Hurley had to see if he could still run prior to the penalty shootout and despite only being able to approach his kick at walking pace he converted with aplomb. Damien Cahalane, after his heroics in the shootout, sprinted away from goal to celebrate, attempting some version of the highland fling only to fall to the ground clutching his hamstring. Haven boss James McCarthy will be hoping the latter two were as a result of over two hours’ exertion, but Michael Hurley’s injury must be a worry given how prolific he has been in recent games.

The weather on Sunday was atrocious at the Gaelic Grounds, with the howling wind and driving rain. Underfoot conditions were still reasonable considering the time of year, though the stand side of the pitch did hold a lot of water. Still, Dingle must have been kicking themselves on their long journey back to West Kerry, particularly after coughing up the two late scores in extra time, both converted by the tireless Cathal Maguire. The drama that unfolded next was edge-of-the-seat viewing.

Castlehaven match winner Damien Cahalane is hoisted high into the night sky by Dinny Cahalane, Sean Dineen and Niall Cahalane. (Photo: James Crombie/INPHO)

Darragh Cahalane, the Castlehaven goalkeeper, was stood down for the penalty shootout as centre back Damien Cahalane took the number one jersey and was also named as the first penalty taker. A pre-planned switch talked about in the lead up up to the game that no-one saw coming. The defiance in Cahalane’s body language as he strode towards the elected goal to take that first penalty set the tone. If I was a betting man my money was going on one team at that stage. Dingle goalkeeper Gavin Curran didn’t even see Cahalane’s shot as he nearly burst the net, central and above the diving keeper.

The next development was even more interesting. The psychological battle started. Cahalane pulled a sheet of paper from under his shorts prior to Dingle’s first penalty and studied it for a second. Now, maybe someone in the Haven set-up had his homework done on the West Kerry men’s preferences when it comes to spot-kicks, but whether there was anything written on that piece of paper or not was irrelevant. The point of it was to set that seed of doubt in the Dingle players’ minds. Does this guy actually know where I’m going with this kick? Should I change from my preferred side or style of kick? This was obviously carefully planned by the Haven’s backroom team. No stone left unturned. The finer details in a contest that proved so tight can often be the winning of it. 

It was three-all after five kicks each and it was into sudden death. Unlike soccer where after the first five kickers have gone the next turn goes to a different member of the squad, in GAA it’s the same kickers again. So Cahalane was up again, and again almost burst the net. Dingle forward Mikey Geaney followed and attempted to tuck his kick into the top right-hand corner as he’d done with his first. It flew high and wide. The rest is history.

Michael Hurley and Conor Cahalane’s first-half injuries and Jamie O’Driscoll’s sending off in the second half and having never led throughout this final meant the Haven sideline were firefighting and patching holes throughout. They chopped and changed their supporting cast in the hope of trying to get a hold on this final. Castlehaven made a total of eight subs to Dingle’s four. These two teams couldn’t be separated on the stats sheets with greasy conditions increasing the turnover count. 

All their big guns led from the front. No surprise to see that Brian Hurley scored seven points, five from frees including the equaliser in normal time. Mark Collins kicked a great point after half time in extra time when it looked like the game was slipping away from Castlehaven, and the Haven captain had some vital turnovers. Cathal Maguire, whose nickname is ‘Shooter’, kicked the aforementioned late two points at the end of extra time to level the game.

Along with Cill na Martra’s easy win over Mungret in the Munster club intermediate final on Sunday, Castlehaven’s victory is a big boost for Cork football. Taking the two biggest Munster club competitions in the one year hasn’t been done in a while but that’s probably mainly down to our grading system. And these clubs aren’t finished yet with two All-Ireland semi-finals early in the new year.