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Cathal Naughton (born 1987 in Newtownshandrum, County Cork) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays hurling with his local club Newtownshandrum and with the Cork senior inter-county team.
Early life
Cathal Naughton was born in Newtownshandrum, County Cork in 1987. He was educated locally and, in his youth, he was noted as a great all-rounder at various sports. He moved to England as a Nottingham Forest F.C. trainee after being spotted playing with his local club Charleville F.C. but he left a year after to return home to play his first love of sport hurling. During his time as a soccer player he had a number of caps for Ireland and travelled the world with Nottingham Forest as a young player.
Playing career
[] Club
Naughton plays his club hurling with Newtownshandrum. He enjoyed some success at underage levels, before winning a senior county championship medal in 2005. This was later converted into a Munster club title, however, 'Newtown' were beaten by Portumna in the All-Ireland club final. In spite of this and defeats in recent years Newtown are still regarded as one of the top clubs in Cork.
Inter-county
Naughton first came to prominence on the inter-county scene in 2004 as a member of the Cork minor hurling team. He won a Munster title in that grade that year, however, All-Ireland success proved elusive. Naughton added a second Munster title to his collection in 2006, however, Cork failed in the All-Ireland series once again. He later progressed onto the county under-21 team where he won a Munster medal in 2007. Cork were later defeated by Galway in the All-Ireland final.
By this stage Naughton had already made an impact on the Cork senior hurling team. He made his senior championship debut in the 2006 All-Ireland semi-final against Waterford. Naughton came on as a surprise substitute and scored a goal and a point with his first two touches of the sliothar and effectively winning the match for Cork. He has made many appearances for Cork since then and is regarded as a player for the future, however, he has yet to win any silverware as senior level.
Teams
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Cork - All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Runners-up 2006 |
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Cork Senior Hurling Team 2008 |
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