St Lomans Mullingar Club Notes 24/02/2025:
ACFL Division 1:
St Lomans Mullingar 1-10 The Downs 1-11
When another year finishes the next is only around the corner. It feels like only weeks ago these teams faced off in the county final replay but as fate would have it both teams started the next year as they finish the last. Both sides were missing a raft of players for various reasons. With the addition of new rules, it was all set up for tight match in Lakepoint Park and it proved so. Unfortunately, we will have to wait for the first two pointer as none were kicked by either side!
The new rules didn’t have much influence especially in the first half with a shortage of scores on either side. The first twenty minutes saw both sides with just two scores each on the board, Shane Dempsey and Conor Regan opening their accounts for the hosts. Dempsey doubled his tally before Cillian Plunkett extended the Blues’ lead. Phillip Martin halved the deficit at half time as the saints lead by the minimum.
The second half was a more entertaining half with both sides exchanging three points in the opening ten minutes, Conor Regan and Shane Dempsey adding to their tallies before substitute TJ Cox got his name on the scoresheet. A bit of lax defending saw the blues concede a1-01 in the space of a minute giving The Downs a three-point lead. However, the Mullingar men never gave up. David Whelan reduced the arrears with a well taken point, before Fionn O’Hara’s effort kindly fell to Conor Regan who dispatched from close range to give his side a slender lead.
Last year’s beaten finalists managed to regain their lead with a couple of points, before Dempsey levelled proceedings. The away side once again regained the lead only to be pegged back by Whelan’s second of the day deep into in injury time. It looked as though the game would be heading for a draw but just enough time was played so The Downs could snatch the points through Joe Moran. We start, the year off with a defeat but it there’s plenty of reasons to be optimistic considering the circumstances.
Paddy Dowdall’s side had to call on youth tonight and the likes of Riley Sheahan, Shane Mulderry, Cillian Plunkett and Mark Tunney did themselves proud. Andrew Daly and Fionn O’Hara also acquitted themselves well also. Shane Dempsey was the main man up front for securing the points. The award for the man of the match will go to Conor Regan who hit 1-02 on the night. Next up for the blues is Tyrellspass away next Saturday. Also we wish a speedy recovery to Eoghan Hogan who suffered a nasty injury.
Team; Jason Daly, Oisín Hogan, Nathan Lally, Andrew Daly, Riley Sheahan, David Whelan (0.02), Eoghan Hogan, Fionn O’Hara, Cillian Plunkett (0.01), Shane Mulderry, Conor Regan (1.02), Peter Foy, Cian Daly, Shane Dempsey (0.04, 0.03f), Mark Tunney. Subs used; TJ Cox (0.01), Ryan Jones, Tristan Johnson.
ACFL Division 2:
Killucan 2-08 St. Lomans Mullingar 2-08
The same 2 teams that contested last year’s Division 3 Final met again in the first round of this years Division 2 League, which commenced last Saturday in Killucan’s very impressive grounds.
The Blues looked likely winners as the game entered the final quarter, however the issuing of a black card to a Lomans player (with 10 minutes remaining) saw us reduced to 14 men and Killucan took full advantage to fire in 1-2 in quick succession and to pull ahead in the closing minutes. However, Lomans were backboned by some very experience players and never panicked, lads like Gerry Grehan, Senan Russell, Peter Foy and Paddy Dowdall, who all ensured that cool heads were kept around them, and as the game entered injury time St. Lomans snatched a deserved equaliser (via a Mark Tunney free) with the very last kick of this entertaining game.
Tunney was a real live wire throughout and seemed to be involved in the majority of Lomans attacks, he seems to be improving with each game and Saturday’s game was no different, chipping in with 5 lovely points. Ethan Browne’s relentless runs from the half back position were rewarded with a very impressive 1-2 and Frank Kavanagh (full forward) was a real handful for the opposition, Frank helped himself to 1-1.
This game also saw Ruairi Doonan, Aaron Smyth & Callum Butler Dolan all make their adult-football debuts, these 3 young Blues performed admirably and are a great addition to this year’s panel. Finally, credit to referee Sean Carroll, the new rules naturally caused some confusion for many players and spectators alike, however Sean provided very thorough explanations when the new rules were infringed, which will undoubtably assist both teams in their next round fixtures.
Next weekend sees us travel to Milltownpass for round 2.
Team; Rory Matthews, Ruairi Doonan, Gerry Grehan, Senan Russell, Tristan Johnson, Peter Foy, Ethan Browne (1-2), Andy Daly, Dano Fitzsimons, Eoghan Kenny, Mark Tunney (0-5), Aaron Smyth, Paddy Dowdall (c), Frank Kavanagh (1-1) & Adam O’Connor. Subs Used; Seanie Dinnegan, Niall Dowdall, Jimmy Kelly, Mark O’Gara & Callum Butler Dolan.
Fixtures:
Saturday 1st March
ACFL Division 1:
St Lomans Mullingar vs Tyrellspass at 2pm in Tyrellspass
Sunday 2nd March
ACFL Division 4:
St Lomans Mullingar vs Shandonagh at 11.30am in Home Instead Lakepoint Park
Tuesday 4th March
ACFL Division 2:
St Lomans Mullingar vs Milltownpass at 8pm in Milltownpass
Club Lotto
Draw Date: Monday 17th February
This week’s jackpot: €6,700.00
Numbers drawn: 5,11,15,22
No Jackpot winner
Lucky dip winders (€50 each): David Morgan and Martin Sheridan
Next week’s jackpot: €6,800.00
Next Week’s Draw Date: Monday 24th February
Remember it could be you!
Best wishes:
Our own Sean Kelly has been forced into early retirement from playing following medical advice. Sean has multiple Flanagan cup medals, as well as being a valued member of our senior panel. In more recent years he has served as our Junior Captain for the past two seasons. Sean was presented with an award for his service at our inner dance last Friday, as well as presenting the medals to our division 3 winners.
A teak tough defender and a fierce competitor, Sean is a remarkably popular figure in Lakepoint Park. He is absolutely adored by his former teammates and managers. Very few (if any), took as much pride in the blue jersey as Sean. Whilst we are disappointed not see him tog out again, we can look back with fond memories.
This is far from the end of Sean’s time with the club. He will be taken on board as a sector for our junior side, as well as a mentor for our under 14 boys. Our young players will no doubt be ecstatic to learn from him. From all at St Lomans Mullingar we’d like to thank him for his service and wish him the best of luck in retirement.
