Leinster Championship Quarter Final:
St Lomans Mullingar 1-12 Portarlington 1-14
In what turned out to be the final game of a crazy 2021 calendar, we visited the scene of the 2017 Leinster Club Championship Final. The venue of O’Moore Park doesn’t bring back fond memories for St Loman’s supporters, and it proves to be an unlucky ground for the Blues. Laois Champions Portarlington raced into an early 1-06 to 0-01 lead with the Saints only score coming from the veteran Paddy Dowdall. It looked grim for the Westmeath Champions at the first water-break where they faced an eight-point deficit. However, the Mullingar Men found their feet in the second quarter with four points on the bounce, consisting of two John Heslin free’s and two Ronan O’Toole points from play. Portarlington replied with a placed ball, but the Blues quickly responded with another Heslin free and a Fola Ayorinde point. This left three between the sides at the interval and an interesting second half ahead.
Despite Portarlington getting the first point of the second half, Declan Kelly’s men were out of the traps quicker in the second half. Sam McCartan’s stellar point was followed up by a goal from TJ Cox. Fola Ayorinde drove forward finding Cox and he did the necessary and tied the match with a brilliant finish into the bottom corner. John Heslin’s stunning free kick saw the Saints take the lead for the first time. The men from Laois hit back with a double from Jake Foster before Peter Foy levelled matters once more with a superb point. The sides were level at the second water break and with fifteen minutes to go it was anybody’s game. The sides traded two scores each with Loman’s points coming from a Heslin free and a top-class point from Sam McCartan. Portarlington tagged on two late points to put them in the driving seat in the closing stages. In the dying minutes The Blues tried their utmost to get a late winning goal, but the Portarlington rear guard held firm.
On the day Paddy Dowdall and Jack Geoghegan performed well in the backs with a great blend of youth an experience between the two. Sam McCartan, possibly our most consistent performer over the year was excellent in midfield. Peter Foy and Ronan O’Toole were also excellent in the forwards getting on a lot of ball. The Blues stand-out performer on the day was Fola Ayorinde who was top-class on the day and was the driving force of the team.
So, another year is over. 2021 was a rollercoaster for the Blues. Our Seniors started the championship with two early defeats to The Downs and Coralstown Kinnegad. They were written off by many but never gave up and put together a great run of performances, winning every game until the drawn final. Along the way there were dramatic wins particularly over Coralstown Kinnegad in the Semi-Final. A draw in the first final was followed up with another memorable day for the Club winning the replay against Garrycastle after extra time in another classic encounter. It turned out to not be our day, but we gave a great account of ourselves after being eight points down at one stage we fought to the very end. This team will never throw in the towel. Well done to all our players for their unbelievable dedication throughout the year. We are blessed to have such a talented group! Well done to the management team of Declan Kelly, Ciaran Kilmurray, Gary Glennon and Garrett Hickey. Special thanks also to Paul Devine, Gary Devine and Alan Bracken in the backroom team. A big thank you to all our supporters for their devotion to the team and you showed up brilliantly today yet again. Here’s to more good memories in 2022
Team; Jason Daly, David Whelan, Darragh O’Keefe, Oisín Hogan, Jack Geoghegan, Paddy Dowdall (0.01), Kelvin Reilly, Sam McCartan (0.02), Kevin Regan, Peter Foy (0.01), Ronan O’Toole (0.02), TJ Cox (1.00), Fola Ayorinde (0.01), John Heslin (0.05, 0.04f), Shane Dempsey. Subs used; Ken Casey, Rory Sheahan.
