St Lomans GAA Club Notes 01/08/2022:
Shay Murtagh Senior Championship:
St. Lomans Mullingar 1-12 Garrycastle 0-11
Last Saturday evening in a rainswept Cusack Park, St. Lomans once again locked horns with Garrycastle, in this year’s Westmeath SFC. This was St. Lomans third championship fixture within 14 days. Having overcome Caulry in Round 1, The Blues suffered a 12-point drubbing (3-14 to 0-11) at the hands of a very impressive Downs side in Round 2, leaving many people wondering how The Blues would react in their next game versus Garrycastle. Garrycastle and St. Lomans have dominated the Westmeath Senior Football Championship scene since 2009, garnering 11 out of the last 13 County titles between them. The last time these 2 teams met in championship fare was in the 2021 County final, where it took a replay (and extra time) to separate the sides, Saturday evening was no different and the game was still in the balance as the game entered injury time.
Saturdays Garrycastle game saw St. Lomans Manager Declan Kelly make 4 changes from the Downs game, David Whelehan replaced Gerry Grehan, Ryan Jones replaced Paul Whelehan, John Heslin replaced Chris Gilbert and Tristan Graham replaced Kevin Regan. The standard of football in the first half was relatively average as both sides struggled to come to terms with the incessant rain and the very greasy underfoot conditions. Although both teams were guilty of some poor shooting, both sides also pulled off some superb scores in this first half, the four points from Sam McCartan, John Heslin (2) and Ronan O’Toole were all from the top drawer, the score at halftime saw Lomans go into the break 07 – 05 ahead.
The 2nd half saw the intensity of the game increase, in some ways it resembled the Tailteann Cup final in that both teams continued to trade scores tit-for-tat, it was the dismissal of a player that turned the game, and perhaps the final similarity was the way Lomans hit 1-3 at the very end to seal the win. As mentioned, there was a dismissal for Garrycastle as the game entered its latter stages, Garrycastle who were holding a 2-point lead were reduced to 14 men for the rest of the game after they justifiably received a black card and this was undoubtedly a major turning point in the game. By this stage Lomans had already introduced Paul ‘Billo’ Whelehan and a very lively TJ Cox to the foray. Trailing by 11-9 with only minutes to go, Lomans fired over 3 super points via Heslin (mark), Billo and the ever-industrious Shane Dempsey, suddenly The Blues were 1 ahead.
As expected Garrycastle refused to throw in the towel and made one final push to find an equaliser, however resolute defending from St. Lomans saw them regain possession, the ball was fed to Dempsey on the 40 meter mark who carried the ball at pace towards the Dunnes Stores end, a second before the Garrycastle fullback committed to the tackle Dempsey unselfishly laid it off to the oncoming TJ Cox, a player of TJ’s calibre rarely gives goalkeepers any chance in these situations and this was no different and he duly blasted the rain droplets from the back of the net for the last action of the game.
Declan Kelly will be the first to admit that St. Lomans are still far from being the finished article and probably wont be happy with Lomans 9-10 wides, nonetheless it was definitely an improvement from their previous game. Cox’s goal was a great way to end the match and hopefully the Blues can bring this momentum forward to their next match versus Mullingar Shamrocks.
Team; Jason Daly, Sean Kelly, Darragh O’Keefe, David Whelan, Jack Geoghegan, Kelvin Reilly, Conor O’Donoghue, Ryan Jones, Sam McCartan (0-1), Tristan Graham, Ronan O’Toole (0-1), Danny McCartan, Peter Foy, John Heslin (c) (0-5), Shane Dempsey (0-3). Subs used; TJ Cox (1-1), Paul Whelehan (0-1) & Kevin Regan.
Clarkes Bar Junior Championship:
St Lomans Mullingar 0-09 Mullingar Shamrocks 1-08
Our junior side travelled to Springfield last Friday evening to face neighbors Mulling Shamrocks in a must win match for both sides. The Blues were extremely slow starters and conceded three early points before David Morgan got the visitors off the mark. The Hosts were by far the better team in the first play and took advantage of the Saints sluggishness and hit a further two points followed by a goal from Trevor Keena to put Shamrocks firmly in the driver’s seat. Conor Cochrane responded with a placed ball, which was quickly cancelled out with a free from Shamrock’s talisman Gary Corroon.
The second half saw a stark contrast in attitude and intensity from the Blues who really kicked into gear with seven consecutive points. David Morgan got the ball rolling with the opener, followed up by two excellent points from Conor Cochrane and Conon O’Hara resspectively. Shane Flynn opened his account with an excellent score to reduce the deficit, followed by further scores from Morgan and Cochrane saw the gap fall to a single point. Morgan once again pointed to bring the sides level going down the stretch. Just when it looked like Lomans would push on and complete the comeback they fell behind after another free from Corroon (shamrocks first score of the half). Lomans pushed and pushed for the equaliser and had appeals for a free in after Conan O’Hara and David Morgan appeared to be fouled, but the appeals were waived away by referee Jim Rock. The hosts got a late score on the break to wrap up a two-point win.
In truth the Blues will feel they should have got something from the match after their second half performance but in truth the damage was done in the first half where the Saints just didn’t meet their level. Robbie Kenny’s men now need a minor miracle to reach the knockout stage of the Junior Championship after just a single point after three games.
Team; Rory Matthews, Ethan Browne, Rory Sheahan, Kealan Sleator, Shane Boyce, Eoghan O’Keefe, Jack Tyrell, Conor Regan, Darren Kavanagh, Nedas Bielicas, Frank Kavanagh, Conan O’Hara (0.01), David Morgan (0.04, 0.02f), Shane Flynn (0.01), Conor Cochrane (0.03). Subs used; Ross Clinton, Killian Browne, Cian Daly.
Club Lotto:
Draw Date: Thursday 28th July
This week’s jackpot: €10,000.00
Numbers drawn: 8, 11, 27, 28
No Jackpot Winner
Next Week’s Draw Date: Thursday 4th August
Remember it could be you
Congratulations:
Well done to our u15 ladies who won the All-Ireland 7’s Series u15 plate that took place in Kilmacud Crokes. All the girls were brilliant. The ladies also took home the gong for the TikTok challenge - special mention to Jane Charles for her commitment to this challenge. Thank you to everyone who made the journey to support the ladies