St Lomans Mullingar Club Notes 04/11/2024:
Leinster Senior Championship:
St Lomans Mullingar 2-17 Dunshaughlin 2-04
Our senior men travelled to Navan last Sunday to face Meath Champions Dunshaughlin, who two weeks prior had won their first county title in twenty years, the day after the blues retained the Flanagan cup. A huge Lomans contingent was present in Pairc Tailteann, where conditions were perfect for football.
Early on the blues were guilty of some uncharacteristic wayward shooting but this was very quickly addressed with five unanswered points. Fola Ayorinde, Jack Geoghegan and Ronan O’Toole all opened their accounts, while Sam McCartan was at the double. Meath skipper Matthew Costello got his side off the mark with a routine free. Danny McCartan replied with his first of the day before older brother Sam got his third, an absolute beauty to follow on from his earlier point from a 45, as well as a previous score from play.
The Meath Champions managed to claw their way back into proceedings after a couple of unlucky bounces fell their way and Costello rounded Jason Daly, finishing to the net. It would have been easy for this to unsettle the saints but they did no such thing. Danny McCartan doubled his tally with an excellent curled effort to increase the lead initially. Thereafter, Sam McCartan and Jack Geoghegan combined before finding Fola Ayorinde and the latter took off on a powerful run, breezing past two defenders before rifling his shot into the roof of the net. Ayorinde pointed again before the interval to give his side an eight point lead at the break.
The scoring was briefly halted in the second half with the first ten minutes only producing the one score, courtesy of Dunshaughlin’s Conor Gray. However, in the 40th minute the McCartan connection was once again on show. Sam patiently probed in attack before expertly finding Danny McCartan sneaking in behind with a back door cut and the younger absolutely buried his shot pas the keeper to more or less end the contest. The sides then traded scores with Sean Flanagan and Ciaran McCarick on target for their teams.
The Meath champions netted for a second time through centre-back Jared Rushe but the comeback was never on and the Lake county side responded emphatically when John Heslin got in on the act. Heslin actually hadn’t scored for the first three quarters of the match, but he quickly hit three in a row before ending with a total of five. Danny McCartan once again pointed to cap off an excellent personal showing, Aaron Murphy pointed at the far end for the royal county side to leave the deficit at double digits.
There was still time for more though with two outstanding kicks from John Heslin either side of Sean Flanagan’s second of the day giving Paddy Dowdall’s side a thirteen point victory. The Westmeath champions were in fine from and produced their best performance of the years against a somewhat disappointing Dunshaughlin. Although, the young Meath champions will no doubt be back in years to come. In truth it was a facile victory for the Mullingar men who now face Castletown Liam Mellows of Wexford on Tuesday 12th November under lights in Home Instead Lakepoint Park.
It was a fantastic display from the saints who were by far the superior side. In truth every player played very well but there were a few stand outs. Kelvin Reilly and Eoghan Hogan were excellent at the back, as was Sean Flanagan at half-forward. John Heslin all though not scoring until the fourth quarter was dominant in midfield and was responsible for an excellent turnover in the first half.
Danny McCartan and Fola Ayorinde could both easily be given player of the match, both scored fantastic goals and were electric up front, the latter was even given a standing ovation after being substituted, deservingly so. On this occasion though, the same as the drawn county final, Sam McCartan was out of this world. The elder McCartan was the architect of everything as far as Lomans were concerned, he assisted both goals as well as scoring three outrageous points.
As we enter the winter months we need our supporters to keep getting behind the teams, it felt as though the blues were the home side in Navan such was the ferocity of support they received last Sunday. Thank you to everybody who made the journey. Let’s get a big home support in Lakepoint Park on Tuesday week!
Team; Jason Daly, Oisín Hogan, Darragh O’Keefe, Eoghan Hogan, Kelvin Reilly, David Whelan, Sam McCartan (0.03), Jack Geoghegan (0.01), Rory Sheahan, Ronan O’Toole (0.01), Sean Flanagan (0.02), Danny McCartan (1.03), Fola Ayorinde (1.02), Shane Dempsey. Subs used; TJ Cox, Kevin Regan, Enda Gaffney, Peter Foy, Conor O’Donoghue.
Under 16 Boys Division 2 Shield Final:
St Lomans Mullingar 2-16 Mullingar Shamrocks 0-09
Congratulations to our U16 boys who beat Mullingar Shamrocks 2-16 to 0-9 today to win the Division 2 championship. It was a brilliant performance by our lads who led 2-11 to 0-4 at the break.
Well done to James Davitt and his management team, another great weekend for the club.
Fixtures:
Sunday 10th November
Minor Ladies Championship semi-final:
St Lomans Mullingar vs Ballycomoyle in Home Instead Lakepoint park, time to be confirmed
Tuesday 12th November
Leinster Senior Championship Quarter Final:
St Lomans Mullingar vs Castletown Liam Mellows at 7.30pm in Home Instead Lkaepoint park
Club Lotto:
Draw Date: Monday 28th October
This week’s jackpot: €5,200.00
Numbers drawn: 9,10,14,28
No Jackpot winner
Lucky dip winders (€50 each): Jenny Scally and Lorcan Sleator
Next week’s jackpot: €5,300.00
Next Week’s Draw Date: Monday 4th November
Remember it could be you!
Condolences:
St Lomans Mullingar wish to extend our condolences to the Carroll family following the passing of our fomer senior football manager PJ (Patrick Joseph) Carroll, 9 Cootehill Road, Cavan Town
Ar dheis de go raibh a hanam
