St Lomans Mullingar Club Notes 26/08/2024:
Shay Murtagh Senior Championship:
St Lomans Mullingar 1-07 Coralstown Kinnegad 0-08
Last Sunday evening our senior men faced Coralstown Kinnegad in TEG Cusack Park, the two sides are well acquainted after meeting in last year’s county final as well as the last two league finals. The game was like so many previous encounters in that defences were on top throughout, and scores were at a premium. The game was littered with lateral passing and there was very little attacking football on show. However, such is the modern game and you can’t blame teams for setting up cautiously.
The first score came in the eleventh minute when Darren Giles pointed from a free for Kinnegad. John Heslin’s free and Rory Sheahan’s well-taken effort saw the blues lead momentarily before Liam Daly levelled the match. On twenty-three minutes the only goal of the match came, which ultimately was the winning score. Enda Gaffney powered out of defence and hit an inch perfect pass to Danny McCartan who found Ronan O’Toole on his shoulder, O’Toole’s shot was well saved by Stephen McNevin but TJ Cox followed up with a poacher’s finish on the rebound to put the saints in the driving seat.
John Heslin then hit an outrageous score from a sideline ball, judging the breeze to perfection with a beautiful curling effort. O’Toole then opened his account from a mark, as did Shane Dempsey except his score came from play. Shane Fleming responded just before the interval to make it a five-point difference. At half time the Mullingar side lead by five points but would be playing into the elements in the second half and knew a strong defensive performance was needed to secure the victory.
The second half followed a similar tone with Kinnegad getting the solitary three points of the third quarter, courtesy of Fleming, Daly and Jack Torpey. Ronan O’Toole responded with a much-needed score for the defending champions. Dan Leech then hit back for Kinnegad but it was cancelled out when Shane Dempsey doubled his tally at the other end after great work from Jack Geoghegan. Fleming reduced the deficit to two but it would be the final score as Lomans managed to see out a two point victory.
Not a game for the purists but there were a lot of very solid performances throughout the team. Nathan Lally was superb at centre-half back and provided great defensive cover. Enda Gaffney performed well throughout. Jack Geoghegan and Kevin Regan played excellently in midfield and dove-tailed well as a pair. Rory Sheahan put in another workman like performance at half forward. Ronan O’Toole was also instrumental in the final quarter, holding onto possession and seeing out the result. All in all, Kevin Regan probably just shades man of the match for his forward runs from midfield.
This victory see’s the county champions into a championship semi-final for a fourteenth consecutive season which is no mean feat. Paddy Dowdall’s men have also clinched top spot in the group and will play the winners of the quarter final, of which one of the sides will be Mullingar Shamrocks, the other could be any of five teams. The final group match is against Tyrrellspass which is a dead rubber for the saints, but their opponents need a victory to be sure of a semi-final place.
Team; Jason Daly, Oisín Hogan, Darragh O’Keefe, David Whelan, Enda Gaffney, Nathan Lally, Sam McCartan, Kevin Regan, Jack Geoghegan, Rory Sheahan (0.01), Ronan O’Toole (0.02, 0.01m), Shane Dempsey (0.02), Danny McCartan, John Heslin (0.02, 0.01f), TJ Cox (1.00). Subs used; Fola Ayorinde, Peter Foy, Kelvin Reilly, Conor O’Donoghue, Eoghan Hogan.
Village Barn Ladies Senior Championship:
St Lomans Mullingar 6-15 St Josephs 0-03
Last Thursday evening amidst heavy rain our senior ladies travelled to Streamstown to take on St Joseph’s in the battle of the saints. Conditions were very difficult, the wet ball was difficult to handle for both sides. The visitors started aggressively and had their opposition camped inside their 45 metre line for the first five minutes of the game. Ciara Blundell and Vicky Carr got the blues off the mark, before St Josephs replied with their first attack after five minutes. Lucy McCartan responded with a goal before the Mullingar side started to pull away with Blundell, McCartan, Caoimhe Kilmurray and Katie Kilmurray all on target.
Shannon Breslin found the net after twenty minutes with a spectacular finish to end the game as a contest after twenty minutes. The Hosts found their second point shortly after but once again the league champions hit back emphatically with 1-04 courtesy of Lucy McCartan, Caoimhe Kilmurray, a Vicky Carr double and Katie Kilmurray’s rebounded goal. When referee Vinnie Cox blew for half time, the away side had an unassailable seventeen-point cushion.
The second period brought no reprieve for St Joseph’s with more one way traffic. Goals for Blundell and Breslin further increased the gap before Katie Kilmurray pointed either side of Vicky Carr’s effort. Carr found the net herself shortly after to cap her performance off. The final quarter saw the scores slightly dry up but Caoimhe Kilmurray and Lucy McCartan still managed to increase their tally. Joseph’s got their first score of the half just before injury-time and it turned out to be the final one of the evening as Ciaran Kilmurray’s side ran out thirty point victors.
The Blues were dominant for sixty minutes and were full value for a thirty-point victory, which could turn out to be vital yet as scoring difference may yet decide who tops the group. Our subs also acquitted themselves well in championship football. All the players were excellent on the night. Jane McKenna made a couple of good saves and Ellen Kilmurray was excellent as she has been all year. Megan Ennis and Muireann Scally impressed once again. Vicky Carr and Caoimhe Kilmurray were dominant in midfield. Lucy McCartan ran the show from centre half forward. Ciara Blundell, Shannon Breslin and Katie Kilmurray were heavily involved in the scoring.
All in all, Lucy McCartan arguably edged player of the match with a super performance, not just scoring 1-03 herself but provided heavily for her teammates. Honourable mention goes to Shannon Breslin, who scored the two best goals of the night with two powerful strikes. Next up is Garrycastle at home next Thursday the 29th August, time yet to be confirmed.
Team; Jane McKenna, Ellen Kilmurray, Muireann Scally, Aileen Martin, Katie Dunne, Megan Ennis, Julie McLaughlin, Caoimhe Kilmurray (0.03), Vicky Carr (1.04), Lara McCartan, Lucy McCartan (1.03), Ciara Blundell (1.02), Sandra McGrath, Shannon Breslin (2.00), Katie Kilmurray (1.03, 0.02f). Subs used; Keelie Mulderry, Paige Matthews, Shauna Traynor, Eve Scally, Annie Kilmurray, Meabh O’Hara, Aoibhe Hogan
Clarkes Bar Junior Championship:
St Lomans Mullingar 2-20 The Downs 3-05
Last Friday night our Junior side made the short trip to Molloy Park, on what could have been mistaken for a winters evening. The away side settled very well with an early score from Seanaí Bracken, Sean Colgan momentarily equalized for the hosts but points from Tadhg Kenny, Daniel McCann and Bracken again put the blues in the driving seat. Shane Carroll responded with a free but additional points courtesy of Bracken, Mark Tunney, Cillian Plunkett and a Chris Gilbert double saw the saints further stretch out the lead.
It looked like a routine evening for the saints but two poor errors in defence saw the away side concede two sloppy goals in the space of a minute. Tom Dorr and Gilbert managed to hit back for Adam Carroll’s men but a quickfire 1-02 on the stroke of half-time saw the home side take the lead. Astonishingly, the black and amber lead by two in a game absolutely dominated by Lomans.
The second half saw Adam Carroll’s men produce an excellent reaction to the chaotic last ten minutes of the first half. Chris Gilbert netted after a superb team move and the Mullingar men never looked back. David Morgan and Daniel McCann pointed to further increase our advantage, Shane Carroll reduced the deficit with a free, but this would turn out to be the Downs’ last score of the match. McCann, Morgan, Gilbert and Plunkett were instrumental in a second half demolition, as well as a goal from poacher Tadhg Kenny.
In truth the blues were dominant throughout and the winning margin could have been bigger had it not been for wasteful shooting and the concession of three sloppy goals. The saints will know that sort of defending won’t cut it in the knockout stages but in truth it was a super performance from last year’s runners up. Tom Dorr, Seanaí Bracken, Cillian Plunkett, Chris Gilbert and Daniel McCann were all to the fore. If pushed for a man of the match, Seanaí Bracken probably shaded it with four points from play as well as being influential throughout.
This victory see’s the Mullingar side top their group with a game to spare, just like our senior side. The saints will face fourth place in the other group (which is still be to decided), in a quarter final. The final group match will see the blues take on Athlone, with details of the fixture to be confirmed.
Team; Dano Fitzsimons, Eoghan O’Keefe, Sean Kelly, Riley Sheahan, Conor Regan, Ciaran Smyth, Tom Dorr (0.01), Ryan Jones, Cillian Plunkett (0.02), Seanaí Bracken (0.04), Chris Gilbert (1.04, 0.03f), Daniel McCann (0.04), Mark Tunney (0.01), Tadhg Kenny (1.01), David Morgan (0.03, 0.01m). Subs used; Gerry Grehan, Tristan Johnson, Shane Mulderry, Eoghan Kenny, Ethan Brown.
Junior B Championship:
St Lomans Mullingar 1-08 St Mary’s Rochfortbridge 0-05
This penultimate Junior B fixture, which was a must-win fixture for both sides, was played in truly atrocious weather conditions last Thursday night in St. Lomans.
One of the County’s newest (and youngest) referees, Eoin Cawley, took charge of this fixture and it’s fair to say that Eoin did an excellent job in doing his utmost to keep the game flowing, allowing play to continue whenever possible, and although the weather conditions regularly prohibited the quality of football on display it was nonetheless an entertaining game throughout.
St. Lomans started the better and built up an early 5-point lead, from there on in both sides traded scores, St. Marys tried hard to gain parity but the Lomans defence were resolute throughout and limited the opposition to a mere 2 points from play, ensuring that the Blues still have a chance of making the play-offs, providing they can overcome Tyrrellspass in the final group match.
Team ; Rory Matthews, Jack Tyrrell, Seanie Lancaster, Tristan Johnson, Mark O’Gara, Jimmy Kelly, Adam O’Connor, Nedas Bielicas, Darren Kavanagh, Eoghan Kenny, Shane Mulderry, Conan O’Hara (c), Oisin Tyrrell, Frank Kavanagh & Ross Clinton. Subs Used ; Thomas Meehan, Byron Graham & Conor Cochrane. Scorers; Frank Kavanagh (1-2), Conan O’Hara (0-4), Shane Mulderry (0-1) & Oisin Tyrrell (0-1).
Congratulations:
Congratulations to our own David Geoghegan who was been appointed as the Westmeath minor football manager for 2025
Currently a senior selector, David has coached several teams in our academy and will no doubt bring his expertise into the role.
We are immensely proud as a club and wish him the best of luck
Fixtures:
Thursday 29th August
Village Barn Ladies Senior Championship:
St Lomans Mullingar vs Garrycastle at 7pm (tbc) in Home Instead Lakepoint Park
Club Lotto:
Draw Date: Monday 19th August
This week’s jackpot: €4,200.00
Numbers drawn: 5,8,17,28
No Jackpot winner
Lucky dip winders (€50 each): Paul/Maeve Dempsey and Laura Daly Devine
Next week’s jackpot: €4,300.00
Next Week’s Draw Date: Monday 26th August
Remember it could be you!
