Inspired by a stunning display from Cork manager Larry Tompkins and launched into battle on the wave of an emotional speech by Niall Cahalane, Castlehaven claimed the final AIB provincial club title of the year at Fermoy yesterday before a small but enthusiastic crowd of 2,000.
The winners registered their third Munster football championship and although Tipperary champions Fethard provided resilient opposition, in the end the west Cork club carried the day comfortably.
Two penalties, one missed and the other scored, were the most significant counterpoints of the afternoon but the essential differences between two teams of similar style, poise and the ability to take chances as they arose, were symbolised by Tompkins's performance.
In the absence of Cahalane, whose 12-month suspension ("only 47 weeks to go," he said after the game), dominated the build-up to the final and who was mobbed after the match by enthusiastic Castlehaven supporters, Tompkins and John Cleary took up the slack and worked overtime - they scored all but two points of the winners' total.
Four of Tompkins's eight points came from play and in general play his influence was immense. Exploiting his still impressive stamina to the full, he roamed the field gathering ball and distributing some sublime passes into his forwards. Taken in conjunction with high scoring, this was a performance to excite visions - albeit wistful rather than realistic - of his returning to inter-county activity.
Cleary, for his part, delivered the most telling blow of the afternoon by drilling home a 40thminute penalty when John Maguire was taken down after a slick movement started - inevitably - by Tompkins and carried on by Colin Crowley.
Cleary's penalty-taking is renowned and he added the goal to a similar one scored in last week's defeat of Laune Rangers.
To push home Castlehaven's advantage Tompkins added two points from play within a minute - an important contribution as Fethard revived their prospects somewhat by scoring their goal 60 seconds later when Damien Byrnes palmed home a ball flicked into his path by Chris Coen after a perceptive kick placed in for him by Tommy Sheehan.
For all their battling qualities and a quick, short-ball game pursued with great spirit to the very end, the Tipperary champions didn't have the scoring power to pick off the points which would have kept them in step with Castlehaven.
Conceivably, the afternoon might have been different had Fethard's Brian Burke not driven a penalty kick off the upright in the 26th minute after a frantic passage of play begun by Martin Coen hitting the post and ending in a foot-block by goalkeeper Michael Maguire on Fethard's Michael Spillane who had been put through on goal.
To emphasise the gravity of the miss, Castlehaven swept up the pitch for Fran Cahalane to flight the ball over the bar for a fourpoint turnaround.
Having played with the wind, Fethard must have felt queasy to be trailing by three points, 0-5 to 0-8 at the interval. Although they hadn't dug out an equal share of possession, the team looked sharp going forward and threatened a goal on a couple of occasions.
Castlehaven's defence wasn't entirely at ease under direct attack, but once the ball broke, their well-practised short-passing game helped them extricate themselves from difficult positions. At midfield the youthful pairing Alan Crowley and Liam Collins played well but the central attacking pair of Tompkins and Colin Crowley were the chief foragers and after an opening spell of frustrating inaccuracy, the Cork club began to score points.
By half-time, Tompkins had switched to midfield where Brian Burke's redeployed presence was beginning to make inroads on Castlehaven's supply.
Fethard cut the deficit to two points within 11 seconds of the restart. Unfortunately for them, just when they appeared to have momentum despite a Tompkins free, Cleary was presented with the penalty opportunity which he availed of with his customary reliability.
The endgame left Fethard with too much ground to make up and the gap wouldn't close beyond four points despite their game attempts to run the ball and pressurise Castlehaven.
Burke said afterwards that Fethard had "given it our all" and "hadn't let Tipperary down". There was no arguing with that but the sad fact for Fethard, Tipperary and the rest of Munster outside of Cork and Kerry is that in the 34 years since the unofficial provincial championship began, only Thomond College have resisted the prevailing duopoly's grip.
For his part, Tompkins said that Castlehaven had been motivated by their absent colleagues - in addition to Niall Cahalane, his brother Dinny Cahalane and David O'Regan were also under suspension.
The winners now turn their attention to the All-Ireland quarterfinal against the British champions and a likely semi-final date with new Leinster champions Erin's Isle.
More immediately, however, they turned their attenion to Niall Cahalane, who initially attracted a bigger post-match crowd than the trophy presentation.
Castlehaven: M Maguire; K O'Donovan, D Cleary, D McCarthy; M O'Brien, B Collins (Capt.), L O'Connell; A Crowley, L Collins; J Maguire, L Tompkins (0-8, four frees), F Cahalane (0-1); M O'Mahony, C Crowley, J Cleary (1-4, goal from penalty, two points from frees). Subs: S Connolly (0-1) for O'Mahony (47 mins); B Deasy for J Maguire (52 mins).
Fethard: P Fitzgerald; S O'Donnell, M Ryan, P Blake; M Quinlan (0-1), W O'Meara, W Morrissey (Capt.); C Coen (0-1), M Spillane (0-1); M Fitzgerald (0-1), B Burke, D Byrnes (1-1); M Coen (0-1), T Sheehan (0-1), J O'Meara (0-1, free). Subs: JP Looby for Fitzgerald (40 mins); T Keane for O'Meara (53 mins); M O'Riordan for Byrnes (57 mins).
Referee: K Walsh (Clare).
