Westmeath LGF Minor Semi-final: Mullingar Shamrocks 5-2 Coralstown-Kinnegad 3-7

Another great battling performance from our minor LGF team in what was another great game of LGF played in bitterly cold conditions in the floodlit splendour of Kinnegad on Monday night. Great and brave defending, some great saves by Isabelle Clinton, some wayward shooting by Kinnegad and the scoring ability of Chloe Smullen were the key factors in securing this victory which secures a county final place for the Mullingar Shamrocks girls. The girls began by taking a leaf from the senior men's playbook and scored 1-1 in the opening minute - scores that proved vital in the end. Susanna Buckley pointed after a patient build-up and Katie Kelly's long range shot found the back of the Kinnegad net. This was something of a false dawn as the Kinnegad girls dominated for the next ten minutes and with Sinéad Murtagh dominant added 1-3 without reply from Shamrocks. A great Isabelle Clinton save prevented further damage before Chloe Smullen pointed after a great solo run. A great piece of combined play involving Katie and Chloe ended with a good save by the Kinnegad keeper and at the other end Isabelle again saved well before Patricia pointed (1-4 to 1-2). Another Kinnegad attack was brilliantly intercepted by Carla Gibney, this began a move that ended with Chloe shooting to the net. There was more to come when an Anna Jones free was fielded by Katie Kelly who transferred to Laura Culkin who crashed home Mullingar Shamrocks third goal and the final score of the opening half that ended with Shamrocks holding a four point lead (3-2 to 1-4).

Kinnegad dominated the second half and Patricia added a point on resumption before great perseverance by Chloe Smullen saw the corner-forward shoot her second goal (4-2 to 1-5). Kinnegad with a second goal from Sinéad Murtagh reduced the deficit before Anna Jones cut through the Kinnegad defence, combined with Katie Kelly who set-up Chloe Smullen who crashed home her third goal (5-2 to 2-6). Again Sinéad Murtagh responded with a brilliant individual goal and added a point to reduce the deficit to the minimum before the final whistle brought relief to Mullingar Shamrocks and a hard-earned place in the county final. This was another great team performance but a few individual efforts are deserving of mention. Isabelle Clinton's saves have been mentioned already and her kick-outs are also noteworthy. A notable feature of the second half was the great solo runs of Alison Bane which were so important in lifting the Kinnegad siege at crucial stages. Anna Jones showed her ability to defend on this occasion and this match will become something of a collector's item in the future - a match won by Mullingar Shamrocks without Anna getting a score. And of course, Chloe Smullen with 3-1 to her credit gets better and sharper with every game.

Mullingar Shamrocks: Isabelle Clinton; Ellen Sleator, Chloe Flood, Jenna Kelly; Máiread Newman (Holly McCormack), Carla Gibney, Catherine Tubridy; Susanna Buckley (0-1) & Laura Culkin (1-0) [Nicola Groenewald]; Allison Bane, Anna Jones, Sarah Geoghegan (Zara Gilligan); Sadhbh O'Brien, Katie Kelly (1-0), Chloe Smullen (3-1).