Junior Football Championship; Mullingar Shamrocks 1-11 Shandonagh 1-15.

History was repeated in Shandonagh on Friday evening as for the second time in a matter of weeks Shamrocks allowed a potential match winning lead evaporate. This time a seven-point lead was condensed into a four-point defeat, as youth, fitness, training and practice conjured  an eleven-point swing over the final quarter.  

Shamrocks began impressively and Ross Corroon kicked two fine points in the opening minutes before Shandonagh responded with similar scores from Michael Boyle and Conor Hayden. The second of these represented a let-off for Shamrocks as Hayden was clear on gaol but shot well over Daragh Ryan’s crossbar. A neat Jordan Warde point from play restored the Shamrocks advantage before Shandonagh equalised from a free. Jordan Warde provided an opening for Shane Colleary who pointed but two Conor Hayden pointed frees sent Shandonagh into the lead for the first time (0-5 to 0-4). At this stage Alan Hughes was orchestrating matters and was the score-maker in chief for the home team. Shane Colleary used his power to win a good possession and pointed as Shamrocks began their best period of the game and Jordan Warde who had a superb first-half, scored 1-2 before the interval. A Conor Moore lobbed shot was punched into Warde’s path by the Shandonagh goalkeeper Conor Smyth, and Jordan accepted the gift to crash the ball to the net. Michael Boyle pointed for Shandonagh when clear on goal and after a relatively even first-half Shamrocks emerged with a four-point interval lead (1-7 to 0-6).

Shamrocks blitzed the opening ten minutes of the second-half and points by Nathan Smyth (balanced by a Conor Hayden effort for Shandonagh), Ross Corroon, Brian Melody (after a great piece of patient approach play) and an Alan Cashman beauty established what appeared to be a match-winning lead in the difficult conditions (1-11 to 0-7). However, this was it from a Shamrocks perspective and the scoring was done for the night at the rainbow end. An Alan Hughes point in the twelfth minute began what proved to be a scoring spree of 1-8 for Shandonagh over the final quarter. The Hughes point was followed by the goal that the home team so badly needed, a goal conceded rather than created when Daragh Ryan’s poor clearance bounced off Roy Smyth and entered the net. A succession of Shandonagh points followed with three superb efforts by Ronan Ward particularly noteworthy, Barry McWade and Conor Hayden had 0-2 each and only a superb save from Daragh Ryan prevented a second goal.  A late Shamrocks goal opportunity fell to Nathan Smyth but Conor Smyth made the save and our interest in the junior football championship was terminated in disappointment with Smyth’s save.

Mullingar Shamrocks: Daragh Ryan; Conor McEntee (James Grogan), Ryan Blundell, Robert Ryan (Gary Corroon); Mark Irwin (Cormac Murphy), Alan Cashman (0-1), Eamonn Breslin; Ross Corroon (0-3) and Nathan Smyth (0-1); Kenneth O’Reilly (Michael Ayibiowu), John Ganly, Brian Melody (0-1); Jordan Warde (1-3), Shane Colleary (0-2) and Conor Moore.