Under-13 Football Final: Mullingar Shamrocks 0-6 St Loman’s 0-8

Two evenly matched teams played an absorbing County Under-13 final on Sunday afternoon on an immaculate billiard-table like Ballynacarrigy pitch. Scores were hard to come by with both defences on top. Mullingar Shamrocks’ player Colm Clinton had the pleasure of being double marked for the duration of the game – a tribute to Colm’s abilty while at the other end Shamrocks’ MJ Burke excelled in the role of sweeper. Gaelic football even at Under-13 level is now a tactical occasion but extensive hand-passing and lateral movements have yet to reach the Under-13 level.

St Loman’s enjoyed a good early spell but this wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard. Michael Brennan from a converted 45 opened their scoring account after seven minutes but the Shamrocks response was almost immediate and a great run by Scott Farrelly ended with a foul. Colm Clinton pointed the subsequent free. Shamrocks dominated the middle third of this half but they too struggled to convert this dominance to scores on the board. Instead, it was St Loman’s who found the range and kicked four successive points, which ultimately made the difference. Luke Fitzsimons kicked a good free off his left boot that was dipping under the crossbar before it was helped over by an alert Tom McCaul. Jack Corroon displayed his soccer skills and first timed a point with his left boot and Cathal Kilmurray added two points from frees to give St Loman’s a four point lead. Oliver Keane reduced the deficit with a great long-range point but this was neutralized by a similar effort from Michael Brennan to secure a 0-6 to 0-2 lead for St Loman’s at the interval.

Shamrocks dominated the second half thanks to some great defending with Conor Glynn leading the way but were unable to break down the St Loman’s defence. Scott Farrelly kicked a great point followed by a Theo Kelly point from a difficult angle in the twelfth minute. Unfortunately, Shamrocks were not to score again for twenty minutes. A brilliant Tom McCaul save prevented a St Loman’s goal. St Loman’s registered their first score of the half in the twenty-third minute when Michael Brennan scored with a fine effort from long range. Three minutes later, Cathal Kilmurray skipped through the Shamrocks defence and pointed to restore St Loman’s four-point advantage (0-8 to 0-4).

Shamrocks piled on the attacks at this stage and with the game drifting into injury time Colm Clinton pointed a free. Shamrocks next attack ended with the award of a close range free and Colm’s blast for the equalizing goal was just over, clipping the top of the crossbar on its way.

Both teams are to be complimented on their play on the day; indeed both sets of mentors also deserve recognition. This was the most local of derbies but there wasn’t a cross word exchanged between the parties at any stage during the day. We thank our management team led by lead mentor Anthony Clinton, Micheál Burke, Oisín Masterson, Emerson Farrelly and Tom Keane for their countless hours of work with the boys.. Last year when the teams met at Under-12 level, the match was embarrassingly one sided, the improvement in twelve months has been magnificent. It didn’t happen by accident; the hard work of the players was the essential ingredient to closing the gap that was there 12 months ago.

Pat Collins is the man behind the scenes making certain that all the logistical ingredients are in place. We would also like to thank the boys’ parents for their contribution at many levels bringing the boys to training, driving to matches, lending their support in countless other ways. Thanks for all the help and support.

Mullingar Shamrocks: Tom McCaul; Seán Dooly, Carl Kane, MJ Burke; Manus Kelly, Shay Leavy, Conor Glynn; Oliver Keane (0-1), Scott Farrelly (0-1); Theo Kelly (0-1), Marias Buividavicius, Fionn Ledwith; Darragh Daly; Colm Clinton (0-3), Eoin Reddan. Other Panellists: John Cleary, Evan Nohilly, James Timoney, Cian Traynor, Conor Matthews, Mayus Virketis, Killian Hand, Sam Phillips, Darragh McCabe, Conan Kelly, Rory Thornton, Pau Dooley, Eddie Leavy, Kian Newcombe, Cian McNamee, Dylan Hanly, Harry McLouhglin.