ACL Div. 1: Mullingar Shamrocks 2-10 Tang 0-12

Some tentative green shoots were evident in Springfield on Saturday evening as Mullingar Shamrocks showed some glimpses of the form that secured the Flanagan Cup in 2018 against a feisty Tang side who top the league. Adam Neary was first to score when he effortlessly chipped a 45 over Philly Shaw's crossbar. This was the first of five super left-footed frees converted from long range, by Neary who treated Springfield spectators to an exhibition of free taking off the ground. Tang dominated the opening exchanges but found themselves trailing by 2-1 to 0-2 after twelve minutes. A Jordan Warde goal squeezed past the Tang goalkeeper from the tightest of angles sent Shamrocks into the lead (a possible case for VAR) and Jordan turned provider for the second goal as he provided the final pass of a great move that set up Daragh Daly for the second goal. Denis Corroon pointed a free and Jordan Warde added a point from play to complete the scoring sequence that provided the winning foundation. Two points from Aidan Burke reduced the deficit before a Denis Corroon point extended the lead (2-3 to 0-4) in the seventeenth minute. Tang outscored Shamrocks 0-5 to 0-2 in the ten minutes prior to the interval with Dean Moore clipping over the two Shamrocks points. After a little initial confusion and some scrutiny an interval score of 2-5 to 0-9 was declared. The Tang good play continued after the resumption and points from Shane Coughlan and Aidan Burke levelled matters. It was a source of wonder that Adam Neary actually missed a free at this stage. Another Denis Corroon point edged Shamrocks ahead but Adam Neary pointed to level matters. This proved to be Tang's final score as Shamrocks finished strongly. Dean Moore kicked two fine points - the first on the run completed a move that began with Philly keeping the ball in play at his end of the field and included a fine Paddy Fagan pass in the creation process. Paddy Fagan pointed and a Denis Corroon free completed the scoring with Shamrocks ahead by 2-10 to 0-12 at the final whistle. There was one downside to this important victory as ten minutes from the end Jordan Warde suffered a serious knee injury when he dislocated his kneecap in a freak injury that is likely to sideline Jordan for some time as the star forward has had previous knee injuries. Jordan's recover to full fitness last season and his goal scoring was instrumental in Shamrocks' regaining the county title. We wish Jordan a speedy recovery and hope that he is back tormenting defences in a matter of weeks. We need Jordan's attacking flare.

Mullingar Shamrocks: Philly Shaw; Efe Siode, Kieran Gavin, Eddie Moore; Killian Daly, Micheál Curley, Brendan O'Reilly; Paddy Fagan (0-1), Denis Corroon (0-4); Darren Keena, Dónal O'Donoghue, David Gavin; Dean Moore (0-4), Daragh Daly (1-0), Jordan Warde (1-1).