Clarke’s Bar Junior Football Championship: Mullingar Shamrocks 1-16  Coralstown-Kinnegad 0-16

“This was the type of football  you could watch”,  a veteran watcher of the Gaelic code commented at the end of this high quality junior football match in Springfield. The match was a mixture of the old and the new with plenty of emphasis on possession but forward momentum was also very much part of the agenda of both teams. Perhaps the fact that both teams were already qualified for the knock-out stages may have encouraged a less cautious approach; whatever it was, the game of Gaelic football was the winner on a night that saw 32 points kicked from all angles. Some were works of individual brilliance; others completed bouts of great combined play. 

Fifteen minutes into the first half the sides were tied at 0-6 each before Stephen Bracken edged the Kinnegad combination ahead with a fine point from the wing. Ross Corroon and Trevor Keena equally shared the six Shamrocks points. In the second quarter, Mullingar Shamrocks played some superb football and outpointed Coralstown Kinnegad 0-6 to 0-0 to take an interval lead of 0-12 to 0-7. Alan Cashman equalized, Trevor Keena pointed after Emmet Walsh with a great catch and pass created the opportunity; Nathan Smith pointed after some great work by Dónal Lane who had his finest outing in a Shamrocks jersey; Niall Hannigan kicked the tenth point and completed a great sequence of combined play; Ross Corroon added another point to his collection made possible by Ross’s superb catch. The final point might well have been the best of the lot as Conor Fagan rifled a superb shot over from long range. The remarkable bout of scoring secured by the mid-field dominance of Dónal O’Donoghue and Pearse Corroon brought Mullingar Shamrocks from 0-7 to 0-6 behind to an interval lead of 0-12 to 0-6.  

Coralstown-Kinnegad with five points in succession from Jack Cole applied the pressure after the restart. In between Cole’s scoring spree, Niall Hannigan pointed and a great shot from Pearse Corroon dipped under the bar despite the best efforts of Clive Kiernan for the game’s only goal (1-13 to 0-12).  Alan Cashman and Dónal Lane combined to set-up Eddie Moore and Eddie pointed, a crucial score that provided a bit of added security for Shamrocks. Eddie’s point was followed by  points from Enda Leonard, Rory Cole and Jack Cole again that reduced the Shamrocks lead to the dangerous two points.
 

Andrew Shaw stepped in and broke the trend with two excellent points that completed the scoring for Shamrocks before Neil Carthy pointed for Coralstown. Andrew Shaw’s two points secured the 1-16 to 0-16 victory and second place in the Junior I division.
 

Mullingar Shamrocks: Philly Shaw; Eamonn Breslin, Aaron Purcell, Conor Fitzpatrick; Emmet Walsh; Eddie Moore (0-1)[Matthew Siode], Dónal Lane;  Pearse Corroon (1-0), Dónal O Donoghue;  Alan Cashman (0-1), Trevor Keena (0-4) [Gary Corroon], Niall Hannigan (0-2); Ross Corroon (0-4)[Andrew Shaw 0-2], Nathan Smith (0-1) [Ciaran Kiernan],  Conor Fagan (0-1) [Nathan Cornally].