The Year of 1946

1946

This year saw Castlemartyr take their 2nd East Cork Title. They beat Cloyne after a replay and Leeside in the semi final but as the other half had not been decided they were asked to represent the division in the County championship.

They beat 4th Battallion @ Midleton 6/10/46, but lost in Douglas to Clonakilty 5-2 to 4-1 27/10/46 in the county semi-final.

In this game they fell behind rather early and were in arrears, 5-1 to 1-1 at half time. The second half saw a change in fortune but their rally came too late to beat the final whistle.

On returning to the division they waited until nearly Christmas for O’Briens to win through.

EAST CORK FINAL

Castlemartyr v O Briens

A week before Christmas these teams met in the most spectacular drawn game seen for years in the division. On that occasion O’Briens broke the Castlemartyr defense early on to secure a lead of 5-1 to nil, after 20 minutes, but failed to hold the advantage as Sullivan banged home the equalising goal seconds from the final whistle,

Castlemartyr 6-2 O Briens 5-5

Scorers for O Briens were L O Neill J Lane D Power D O Neill J Egan M O Keeffe and J Hayes while Ted O Sullivan Gary Fleming Paddy Abernethy and Anthony Brennan scored for Castlemartyr.

5 weeks later, The replay was a disappointment to the large following as the game never came near the high standard set up in the drawn match. The “gate” again passed the £60 mark.

EAST CORK TITLE

Castlemartyr  5-1; O’Briens  1-6

By their win over O’Briens in the replay final of the East Cork “A” grade Junior Hurling Championship at Midleton on Sunday, Castlemartyr displayed an exhibition of team work which left no doubt whatever of their merits in a game which never reached the standard of the first clash. There was associated with it, a lifelessness which, perhaps, may be attributed to many causes. Five weeks had elapsed since the previous meeting of the teams, with a holiday period during which any semblance of training was out of the question. The weather too, was no encouragement and taking all things into consideration the sting, which the record crowd had anticipated, was more than conspicuous by its complete absence. It was no wonder, therefore, to find that atmosphere of disappointment amongst the huge throng, who, expecting a repetition of an hour of varied thrills, were served up with one of the tamest bouts of a record season. At no time did O’Briens impress and this became clearly evident when luck favoured them with the toss which gave them the first half option to play with a strong wind which was at least worth two brace of goals. Instead of attempting to go all out for a comfortable half time lead they appeared to never settle down until the second quarter when it was too late to create a formidable impression. On the other hand, Castlemartyr, in addition to an all out defense, availed of every loose opening, with the result that they had the game well in hand when the interval was reached. The pitch was in excellent trim and lived up to its reputation for absorbing the maximum of water. The general arrangements were again perfect and it was a pleasing feature to note that the exit gates both form the enclosure and the sixpenny space were doubled, thus eliminating all signs of congestion.

THE GAME

O’Briens broke away from start but had to concede the pressure from a clearance form Wade who was deprived of possession by Hayes who drove wide. A short puck out gave them a further opening for Cusack to clear and play veered to the other end where Castlemartyr were giving the O’Brien defence a busy time of it. Eventually Paddy Abernethy opened the scoring with a point for Castlemartyr and an O’Briens rush from the delivery Neill almost beat Cusack who was defending his citadel finely. A few minutes later Ahern equalised when he shot a clever point for O’Brien’s. There followed some interesting exchanges in which Barry, O’Brien’s custodian, was severely tested, he being eventually beaten with an impressive movement in which Abernethy gave O’Sullivan an opening to which the latter responded with a terrific drive into the net. Midfield bouts followed with Lane, Power and Hayes battling with Fleming, Brennan and Power in a series of duels. Hayes broke through later to send over the bar for O’Briens. Penalties came to both sides in the subsequent exchanges but no score eventuated from them. Three successive raids by O’Briens came to naught. Breaking up the centre field position, Castlemartyr forced a penalty, which Fleming picked up to send into the net. Coming on to the second quarter O’Brien’s appeared to rally when Lane pointed. O’Neill followed up a minute later with a similar score. Fighting hard now O’Brien’s went all out for the equaliser which came when Ahern beat a powerful defence to find the Castlemartyr net. Towards the interval O’Brien’s were awarded a free, which, directed towards the net was saved by Cusack at the lesser expense. The short whistle gave O’Briens the half-time lead by this score (1-5 to 2-1).

Second Half

The concluding moiety opened tamely with the first few minutes favouring O’Brien’s who made a few brief unimpressive visits to the Castlemartyr end. Holding their opponents well Castlemartyr eventually forced to play to the other end where the defence was gamely fighting against craftier and superior forces. Sullivan, who was well served by the Abernethy brothers, broke through finally and sent an unstoppable ball into the net. With the lead reversed Castlemartyr set about placing the issue in safe keeping and again returned to the attack. Sullivan again, being responsible for a further goal. With forty five minutes of the game expired and with O’Brien’s still fighting against the odds, a few stoppages occurred and added further to the lack of spectacular interest which was being manifested in the game. McCarthy put the finishing touches to the O’Brien’s account when he had the third goal for this period. Playing out the hour against overwhelming odds O’Brien’s had a point per Lane, who, incidentally was the outstanding player of the losers. The end eventually came with Castlemartyr finishing strongly and well-deserved claimants of the title for a final, the aggregate gate receipts of which will probably create an all-time record.

Castlemartyr: Dermot Cusack (goal), David Barry, Pakie Lawton, Pete Wade (Captain), Will Kelly, Jackie White, Dave Power, Anthony Brennan, Alfie Smith, Paddy Cooney, Paddy Abernethy, William Abernethy, Ted O Sullivan, Charlie McCarthy, Garry Fleming.

O’Brien’s: W. Barry (goal), E. Murray, W. Motherway, M. Egan, T. Lawton, T. McDonnell, D. O’Neill, M. Ahern, J. Walsh, P. Egan, M. O’Keeffe, D. Power.

Referee – Mr. Mossy O’Dwyer (Sarsfield)

EAST CORK CHAMPIONS, 1946 Full Panel

Pete Wade (capt.), Dermot Cusack, Dave Lawton R.I.P., Pakie Lawton, Val Dowling, David Barry, Edmond McCarthy, Alfie Smyth, Anthony Brennan, Jackie Whyte, John Morgan, Paddy Cooney, Paddy Abernethy, Ted O’Sullivan, Charlie McCarthy, Garry Fleming, Sonny Draddy, Raymond Nugent, David Power, Billy Kelly, Michael Cotter Paddy Whyte, Michael Lawton.

Sadly we do not have a decent photograph of this team.

Mogeely won the East Cork minor championship beating Sarsfields 28/9/1946 in the final, but were beaten by Glen Rovers in the County Final in 1946. This team drawn from both villages were represented at East Cork Board level by Paddy Whyte, while Joseph Walsh and Dave Lawton represented the Castlemartyr adult

Castlemartyr Function 1/3/1947

An interesting function was held at Castlemartyr to mark the presentation of a double set of medals to the junior and minor teams, winners of last years respective championships and at which Richard Barry (Chairman) presided. The Honour fell to the Hon President Mr. T. W. Abernethy P.C. who in a brief address paid a glowing tribute to both teams, and said he hoped and felt assured that the more coveted trophies, the Cork Co. medals would come their way next season. Mr. Jim O Mahony Chairman of the minor club also paid tribute and said if they had a full team in the final he felt sure they would have won the title. Mr. Jerry Holland associating himself with these remarks, said they had an outstanding feature in their Junior win, in as much as the only player who had played with the championship team of 1935 Dermot Cusack had played with last years champions. That was a notable comeback and one worthy of recognition. The singing of the national anthem concluded the function.