ACL Div.1 Mullingar Shamrocks 0-13 Moate All-Whites 1-10.
A good game of football with the points divided, probably a fair result given that we salvaged the draw with Denis Corroon converting two tricky frees at the end to tie the game.
Shamrocks fell behind to a Robbie Forde point in the early stages as Moate launched numerous attacks but impressively the Shamrocks defence stood firm and with quick counter attacks and patient possession play we reeled off five points without reply from the All-Whites. Brian Guerin (0-2), Jordan Warde, Denis Corroon and Dean Moore were the men hitting the target (0-5 to 0-1). Robbie Forde responded with two Moate points and Paddy Fagan kicked one for Shamrocks.
The turning point of the match landed in the twenty fifth minute when Philly Shaw saved brilliantly from Robbie Forde (yes you’ve read that correctly – like Cluxton, Philly returned and like the great Dublin net-minder seems to have lost nothing of his skills while on his sabbatical). However, in the movement, Pat Fox spotted an infringement and Robbie Forde converted the resultant penalty and levelled the match (1-3 to 0-6). Lorcan Smyth restored the lead but a Conor Sheridan point brought the sides level at the interval (1-4 to 0-7).
Shamrocks did much of the scoreboard chasing in the second half. Robbie Forde kicked three points in the opening ten minutes, three scores that completed a seven-point swing for the home side. Points from Deano and Denis reduced the deficit to the minimum but an Eoin Bracken point added to the daylight for Moate. Points from Dean Moore and Paddy Fagan levelled the game at 1-8 to 0-11 – Paddy’s point scored after some brilliant play from Efe. Points from Robbie Forde and Toby Conteh restored Moate’s two point advantage before Denis converted two frees in the final five minutes to salvage a league point.
Mullingar Shamrocks: Philly Shaw; Pearse Corroon, Marc Eivers, Dillon Matthews; Conn O’Hanlon (Efe Siode), Davy Gavin, Brendan O’Reilly; Paddy Fagan (0-2), Matt O’Shea (Alan Cashman); John O'Reilly (Trevor Keena), Lorcan Smyth (0-1), Brian Guerin (0-2); Dean Moore (0-3), Denis Corroon (0-4), Jordan Warde (0-1).