St Lomans Mullingar Club Notes 25/03/2024:
ACFL Division 1:
St Lomans Mullingar 3-04 Shandonagh 0-03
Last Saturday afternoon St Lomans Mullingar welcomed Shandonagh to Home Instead Lakepoint Park. Before throw in, heavy showers were followed by strong winds which made conditions quite difficult for players as was clear by the final scoreline. Before the game a minute’s silence was impeccably observed for Shandonagh’s John Maher who sadly passed away recently, we extend our deepest condolences to his family. Ar dheis de go raibh a anam.
The first fifteen minutes saw the blues miss several opportunities for goals and points and on another day could have rued these missed chances. Finally, after seventeen minutes TJ Cox pointed for the first score of the day. Peter Foy followed this up with a beautiful effort shortly after. Before the interval TJ Cox broke through on goal and finished to the net superbly to give the Saints more of a cushion at half time.
The second half saw more dominance from the home side and almost from the throw in Enda Gaffney broke from midfield and found himself in on goal. On a day of off colour shooting and rash decision making, Gaffney was the coolest man in the ground and rounded goalkeeper Conor Craig and found the roof of the net to all but kill the game as a contest.
Ryan Donelly got the visitors off the mark with a placed ball, but Paddy Dowdall’s men responded in emphatic fashion. Rory Sheahan found himself bearing down on the goal and took the perfect option laying it on a plate for Eoghan Hogan to palm the ball in at the back stick.
The match turned scrappy after this and at times tensions threatened to boil over with several yellow cards brandished for both sides. The final stages saw both sides trade a couple of scores each with Shane Dempsey at the double for the home side. When referee Sean Carroll blew the full time whistle the county champions ran out comfortable ten point winners.
On another day Paddy Dowdall’s team could have been punished for some wayward shooting particularly in the first half. However, in truth has team were dominant throughout and never looked in any immediate danger. This was due in no small part to an excellent collective display as a defensive unit, but particularly from Oisín Hogan and Darragh O’Keefe, who excelled.
Enda Gaffney was top class in the middle of the park, Rory Sheahan and Eoghan O’Keefe put in a huge shift from half-forward. TJ Cox also ended the day with 1-01 even though he was quiet at times by his own high standards. Man of the match could be argued by many but because of his second goal Enda Gaffney just marginally shades that accolade. Next up for the Blues is Coralstown Kinnegad in Lakepoint Park after the break.
Team; Rory Matthews, Sean Kelly, Darragh O’Keefe, Oisín Hogan, Peter Foy (0.01), David Whelan, Eoghan Hogan (1.00), Jack Geoghegan, Enda Gaffney (1.00), Rory Sheahan, Kelvin Reilly, Eoghan O’Keefe, TJ Cox (1.01), Sean Flanagan, Shane Dempsey (0.02,0.01f). Subs used; Chris Gilbert.
Ladies Division 1 League:
St Lomans Mullingar 8-11 Garrycastle 1-09
Well done to our senior ladies who marked their return to division one in style when they thrashed Garrycastle last Sunday. Full report on this game will be included in next week's notes.
ACFL Division 3:
St Lomans Mullingar 1-06 Moate All Whites 2-06
Hard luck to our division three side who were defeated narrowly by Moate in Hogan Park. It’s a shame that this game was played mere minutes after the division one match, which greatly reduced the potential number of players and supporters. It’s quite difficult for any club to be expected to name three different teams in less than twenty four hours and somewhat degrades the competition when this type of thing happens.
ACFL Division 4:
Milltownpass 4-06 St. Lomans Mullingar 0-08
With all 3 of St. Lomans adult sides being forced to fulfil their 3 league fixtures within a 22-hour window, player availability was scarce for this particular Division 4 fixture.
6 Players namely Tristan Johnson, Senan Russell, Ethan Brown, Tom Dorr, Shane Mulderry and Adam O’Connor all had played with our Division 3 side only 20 hours earlier. For the first time this season Lomans were able to secure the services of Riccardo Lingi, Conor Cochrane, Nedas Bielicas, Hugh Mulhern and Conor Matthews, indeed Conors legendary older brother Joe donned the number 1 jersey for this game and Joe played superbly throughout pulling off some excellent saves, another player who deserves a special mention is Derek ‘Dipper’ Devine who replaced the injured Byron Graham late in the 2nd half.
Shane Boyce was captain and he played an excellent game throughout leading by example over the 60 minutes, however Man of the Match fell to Frank Kavanagh who fired over 6 points, 3 from frees and 3 from play and all scored in the 2nd half, Kavanagh was excellent.
Milltownpass deserved their win on the day however the scoreboard certainly flattered them a little. The Blues put in an honest performance throughout the match and had several goal chances denied by the Milltownpass goalkeeper (who is actually Shane Boyce’s younger brother). Our next Division 4 fixture is a home game v St Mary's Rochfortbridge on Thursday 4th April,
Team; Joe Matthews, Tristan Johnson, Shane Boyce (c), Senan Russell, Riccardo Lingi, Ethan Brown, Tom Dorr, Hugh Mulhern, Nedas Bielicas, Shane Mulderry (0-1), Frank Kavanagh (0-6), Adam O’Connor, Conor Matthews (0-1), Conor Cochrane, Byron Graham. Subs Used; Derek Devine.
U16 League Division 1 Result:
St Lomans Mullingar 1-8 Moate All Whites 1-7
Our U16 Division 1 side got their league campaign off to a successful start after a hard-fought win over Moate in blustery conditions in Lakepoint Park on Monday evening.
The Blues played with the advantage of a strong wind in the opening period but struggled to take advantage of the conditions. A fine interception from Cormac Murphy resulted in Killian Walsh slotting over our opening score before Cian Matthews and blood-sub-Tommy McNamee put us ahead. Good work from MJ Long and Conor Casey saw Killian Walsh force the ball over the line from close range and we led 1-6 to 0-3 at the break.
Conor Maleady fired over the opening score of the second half but Moate took control of the next period and scored 1-4 without reply to restore parity, the goal coming from the penalty spot. Credit to our players who never wilted and Ross Tully won possession and fed Cian Matthews who fired over a superb winning score with the aid of the post in injury time.
Ben Smith; Aodhan Saunderson, Lukas Nugent, Oisin Scally; Andy Sinnott, Conor Casey, Ross Tully; Cormac Murphy, Shane Windsor; Conor Maleady, Darragh O’Riordan, Niall Brady; MJ Long, Killian Walsh, Cian Matthews.
U14 League Division 1:
St Lomans 4-11 The Downs 0-7
The U14 Division 1 side made the short trip out to The Downs on Monday evening to begin their league campaign and came away with an impressive victory.
Billy Lambden knocked over a brace of early points before Michael Brennan slammed home the opening goal with a powerful low strike. Cathal Kilmurray added to the tally and Jack Daly's fine interception resulted in Lambden finishing smartly to the net to leave the score 2-5 to 0-3 at the break.
Midfielder Shane Canning landed two impressive points from distance on the resumption and his surging run and pass to Kilmurray ended with Conor Raleigh finishing to the net. Michael Brennan added his second goal moments later and further points from Cian McDonnell, Brennan and Kilmurray secured the league points.
The team was superbly marshalled by keeper James McHugh with the entire defence consisting of Eoin McGinley, Sean O'Connell, Dovas Virketis, Paidi Slevin,Jack Daly and Michael Long really catching the eye.
Team: James McHugh; Eoin McGinley, Sean O’Connell, Dovas Virketis; Paidi Slevin, Jack Daly, Michael Long; Shane Canning, Michael Brennan; Billy Lambden, Killian Raleigh, Harry Brennan; Senan Brody, Cathal Kilmurray, Matthew Tully. Subs used: Conor Raleigh, Cian McDonnell, Declan Bourke, Aaron Clavin.
Club Lotto
Draw Date: Monday 18th March
This week’s jackpot: €2,000.00
Numbers drawn: 6,10,15,27
No Jackpot winner
Lucky dip winders (€50 each): Kelvin Reilly and Tristan Graham
Next week’s jackpot: €2,100.00
Next Week’s Draw Date: Monday 25th March
Remember it could be you!
