ACL Div. 1: Mullingar Shamrocks 1-11 St Loman’s 1-10
A one-point victory over the neighbours in an ACL Div.1 match hasn’t happened in a while but as the man said walking out ‘half our junior team and they still could only beat us by a point’. As usual, context is everything and in fairness Mullingar Shamrocks were understrength also. And a win in a local Derby is always welcome. It was hard earned and required some great individual performances to get the team over the line.
Denis Corroon and Shane Dempsey divided four points equally over the first twelve minutes, Denis began by landing two points from frees and Shane scoring twice from play to equalise. Shane Dempsey then edged St Loman’s ahead with his third point from play. Emmet Walsh equalised as both teams tested the strength of the goalposts by rocketing shots off the timber when goals looked likely. St Loman’s rattled the crossbar too in the second half when a goal seemed inevitable. Apart from a few tap and go quickly taken free kicks Jim Gavin’s ‘rule enhancements’ were little in evidence in the opening half with a notable exception. Shamrocks were penalized for a three-up infraction and Shane Dempsey chose to take the ball outside the arc and attempt a two-pointer. This attempt fell short and was scrambled clear for a 45. This was played backwards to the unmarked Peter Foy who kicked high and over from outside the arc for the first two pointer of the night to give St Loman’s an 0-5 to 0-3 lead. This was Foy’s last significant contribution to the play as shortly afterwards he was sent off by referee Brendan Keena. For the next 40 minutes what was obvious at inter-county level for the past few weeks was now exhibited at club level. Having an extra man in the enhanced environment is no longer an advantage but this is in the process of being tweaked, which might pose a new set of problems (Imagine the screams when some team concedes a nest of goals when they are a man down at the back). Ollie MacNamara had the final point of the half to bring the score to 0-5 to 0-4 in favour of St Loman’s
Wind assisted Shamrocks began the second half with points from Alan Cashman and Dean Moore before a John Heslin point equalised in the tenth minute. Shamrocks’ ball retention was much improved in this half; the first half stats weren’t pretty. A great John O’Reilly run through the middle ended with a point that was followed by a brilliant Dean Moore finish for the game’s first goal and a four-point lead for Shamrocks (1-7 to 0-6). St Loman’s replied with two unanswered points, one scored by John Heslin, followed by a fine Ollie MacNamara point created by a superb Conn O’Hanlon pass (1-8 to 0-8). A second three-back infringement cost Mullingar Shamrocks as the ball was returned the length of the field for John Heslin to take the 20-metre free. Heslin’s shot dipped under the bar and rattled the back of Liam English’s net for the equalising goal. Mark Tunney pointed twice to establish a St Loman’s lead (1-10 to 1-8). In between, a superbly created goal finished by Ollie MacNamara was ruled out for the THIRD Mullingar Shamrocks three-man back infraction. Shamrocks responded to the setback and Denis Corroon kicked a two point free and Dean Moore had the last score of the evening – the point that earned Mullingar Shamrocks an 1-11 to 1-10 win, on the evening that Callum Rigney Clyne and Adam Glynn made their senior competitive debut.
The match was a lively affair devoid of the slow build-up that had choked the game for the past number of years but we still have quite a distance to cover before Gaelic football can be considered the best amateur field sport in the world to play and watch. A half-dozen phone calls within minutes of the final whistle wondering who had won adds a new dimension to the sport. Perhaps this element of mystery is part of the new excitement?
Mullingar Shamrocks: Liam English; Davy Coyne (Adam Glynn), Efe Siode, Dylan Matthews; Brendan O’ Reilly, Davy Gavin (Adam Glynn), Killian Daly; Alan Cashman (0-1), Conor O’Brien; Emmet Walsh (0-1) [Callum Rigney Clyne], John O’Reilly (0-1)[Neill Hannigan], Conn O’Hanlon; Ollie McNamara (0-2), Denis Corroon (0-4), Dean Moore (1-2) .
