By Shaun Casey

MIDDLETOWN are chasing an unprecedented seven in-a-row of county titles this season and once again the familiar face of Keady stands between them and the Jimmy Carlisle Cup, but they are taking the game-by-game approach, says sharpshooter Dean Gaffney.

Gaffney top scored in Saturday’s huge semi-final victory over Craobh Rua, striking 0-12 as they ran out comfortable 5-25 to 1-17 winners. That sets up a fifth championship final clash in a row with Keady.

Middletown have held the upper hand in that rivalry in recent years, creating history last year by being the first team in the Orchard County to land six successive SHC titles and they’ve won nine of the last 10 championships.

“It’s great to be back in a championship final,” said Gaffney after the semi-final. “Every championship final, that’s where you want to be. The seven-in-a-row stuff, we just take it year by year. Keady are a good side so I’m sure we’ll have a good contest against them.”

While they ultimately hammered Craobh Rua with 20 points to spare in the end, Gaffney believes that the team still has a lot to improve on if they are to topple their old foes in the decider on Sunday week.

Craobh Rua did enjoy periods of dominance throughout their last-four clash but just couldn’t sustain it long enough to pose a real threat of knocking out the champions, but there are lessons for Middletown to take from the game.

“We’re definitely happy with that performance but we still have a lot to improve on before the final,” Gaffney added. “Craobh Rua ran us close a few times and they had good spells at the start of the game and in the second half as well, so we still have a lot to improve on.

“We have a lot of experience in the team, and the older boys just do the simple things right. We take the simple scores and when we lost it a few times around the middle we decided to start playing more direct and take the scores whenever we get the chance.

“We missed maybe one or two goal chances in the first 10 minutes; their keeper pulled off a few great saves. We got together, our passes started to come off and thankfully we pulled away in the end.”

Middletown certainly sent a warning shot out to Keady in terms of their goal scoring potential as they raised five green flags on the day. 2024 Club Hurler of the Year Cahal Carvill was responsible for two majors and finished with 2-5.

Ryan Gaffney, Martin Moan and Sean Óg McGuinness also rattled the net.

“We were hungry for goals and as we know, goals are very important, so it was great to get them.

“They are vital in championship if you want to go any further,” Gaffney added.