Castletown's 5ft 4ins scoring giant James Hoban (16) effectively dumped Wexford champions Faythe Harriers out of the Leinster championship at Nowlan Park yesterday.

Twenty minutes from the end Hoban was introduced as a substitute by the Laois champions. He grabbed 1-1 to put his team into a 1-7 to 0-5 lead.

Hoban's arrival prompted some amusement among the 2,500 crowd, and especially so when he lined up against Harriers' full back, Nicky Lambert, who is close to the 6ft 2ins. But Hoban proved his worth in what turned out to be an altogether unfortunate afternoon for Lambert, who was red-carded in the 53rd minute following an incident involving Fionβn O'Sullivan.

On a heavy pitch which made hurling difficult, Castletown led by 0-4 to 0-3 at half-time, after their defence played heroically.

Barry Goff equalised for the Harriers within three minutes of the restart, but Castletown hung on grimly and a point from a John Palmer 65 saw them enter the last quarter 0-6 to 0-5 ahead.

Then up popped Hoban, who crashed a brilliant goal to the net from 21 yards. Seconds later he outwitted Lambert to put his team 1-7 to 0-5 in front.

Another score from David Cuddy left the game all but out of the reach of the Harriers. Mick Mackey scored a late goal for the losers.

CASTLETOWN: J Lyons; T Phelan, P Cuddy, M Phelan; D Keenan, C Cuddy, R Delaney; J Palmer (0-1), D Cuddy (0-3); J O'Sullivan, JR Kingston, B Ferns; P Cuddy, F O'Sullivan (0-3), P Phelan (0-2). Subs: S Lyons for P Cuddy; M Phelan for J O'Sullivan; J Hoban (1-1) for P Phelan.

FAYTHE HARRIERS: I Scallan; J Giltrap, N Lambert, C Keeling; L O'Gorman, P Doyle, E Keeling; J Harrington, R Mallon; G Buggy (0-2), D Caulfield, N Sheil (0-1); L Goff, B Goff (0-2), M Mackey (1-0). Subs: N Denton for L Goff; S Howard for Buggy.

Referee: P Dunphy, Kilkenny