The 2026 Westmeathgaaofficial ACL season ended with an injury time goal loss to Castledaly on Thursday in Springfield. Mullingar Shamrocks won 14 of the 27 games played across the Div.1, Div. 2 and Div. 5 of the ACL and drew twice. In the process, we scored m aggregate 463 points and conceded 418 points. It was a good campaign with a place in the Div. 1 final secured, survival in Div. 2 (the object of the exercise) and we just missed out on a place in the Div. 5 final.
There was a lot of positives on offer against Castledaly, especially in the first half when Shamrocks led by 0-15 to 1-4 at the break. The 0-15 included five 2-pointers - a record for Shamrocks in a single game. Gavin Pierce pointed in the second minute after great work by Donnacha Maguire. This was followed by a wonderful Efe two-pointer – an outside of the boot effort straight from the book of Denis Corroon’s sublime skills. Clearly, there is no limit to Efe’s talents – two rocket shots on the run in the second half that blasted off the post were wonderful pieces of football skill. Effe’s two-pointer was followed by another double from Donnacha – it might even have been a better effort than Efe’s. Nathan Gavin pointed before Trevor Keena added a third two-pointer to the mix midway through the half to give Shamrocks an 0-8 to 0-2 lead. Aaron Nugent pointed for Castledaly; it was then Ross Corroon’s turn to kick a two pointer – a mighty free kick from a distance. Ross added a single point before Castledaly tore through the Shamrocks defence and Aaron Sheerin finished to the net, for a crucial score. It kept Castledaly in the game. Efe added his second two-pointer and Gavin Pierce and Conor Heffernan added points to bring the interval score to 0-15 to 1-4.
Castledaly opened with a two-pointer from Kevin Stone and a pointed 45 from Alan Stone before corner-back Ben Sheerin pointed for Shamrocks after a great pass into space by Neil Hannigan. George Kearney pointed twice and Conor Heffernan pointed for Shamrocks – it was to be the last score of the evening (0-17 to 1-10). Efe’s effort rocketed off the post to Gavin Pierce who also rattled the post and Castledaly escaped. Aaron Nugent and Adam Turley pointed to bring the score to 0-17 to 1-12 as Mick Gordon signalled 4 minutes of injury time. Efe again rattled the post and from the restart Castledaly recovered possession and a combined move ended with Aaron Sheerin shooting his second goal of the evening, a score that secured the lead for Castledaly for the first time and the victory that guaranteed them a place in the ACL Div. 2.
Castledaly never looked like a team threatened by relegation from the division. In a match played at near championship intensity, the men from the south were hungrier, more aggressive and physically stronger and for our younger players the match provided a good lesson in what adult football is all about.
Mullingar Shamrocks: Eoin Doran; Dónal Lane, Davy Coyne, Ben Sheerin (0-1) [Peter Finch]; Matthew Shaw, Conn O’ Hanlon, Efe Siode (0-4); Nathan Gavin [Dylan Carey], Donnacha Maguire, (0-3); Neil Hannigan (0-1)[Ciaran Kiernan], Trevor Keena (0-2), Brian Farrell; Conor Heffernan (0-2), Ross Corroon (0-3), Gavin Pierce (0-2).
