Westmeath LGF Senior Championship: Tyrrellspass 3-12 Mullingar Shamrocks 1-13

Another brilliant game of Ladies Gaelic Football in Springfield in what is the best kept secret of Westmeath sport. This match was played with great intensity, pace and skill and featured some superb individual performances as two very fit teams displayed all that’s best in the sport. Unfortunately for Mullingar Shamrocks, the result means elimination from the knock-out stages of the senior championship which is also probably the maddest championship in Westmeath sport with three matches played over an eleven-day period in August after a shut-down of competitive senior club activity since mid-May. Club players in the GAA may feel hard done by but their situation is a paradise compared to the their LGF counterparts.
Tyrrellspass began the match in whirlwind fashion and had 2-2 on the scoreboard within six minutes of the throw-in. Fears of a rout entered minds but gradually Mullingar Shamrocks working as a team and inspired by Carole Finch began to establish their presence. It is not much consolation but Shamrocks outscored Tyrrellspass for the final 54 minutes of the match, a bit like Waterford in last year’s All-Ireland hurling final. Karen Hegarty pointed a free, Carole Finch and Casey McDermott also pointed after great bouts of combination play. Tyrrellspass goalkeeper Sarah Keegan was treble tested but saved well on each occasion. Points might have been a better option. Johanna Maher added two points to extend the Tyrrellspass lead before Carole Finch pointed again to complete a move that began with a great long-ball pass from Finch to Karen Hegarty before Carole looped around to finish what was a great move. Emma Morris was also flying at this stage and added three points before the interval. The Fagans and Niamh Kennedy were defending in style. Carole Finch added a point and Karen Hegarty scored twice to bring the Shamrocks interval total to 0-10. Johanna Maher scored the third Tyrrellspass goal during this period of frantic football to leave the half-time score 3-6 to 0-10.
On the restart Shamrocks outscored Tyrrellspass 1-3 to 0-1(Johanna Maher) to level the match within twelve minutes. Karen Hegarty pointed and then raced through the Tyrrellspass defence before releasing sister Sophie who crashed the ball to the net; Carole Finch kicked her fourth point of the evening before Emma Morris scored a beauty to equalise (3-7 to 1-13), it was Emma’s fourth point from play also. Carole and Emma have given amazing service to the club. Unfortunately, that was Shamrocks last score of the evening, an Anna Jones goal was disallowed at a crucial stage but the Tyrrellspass use of the sweeper system kept Shamrocks at bay despite the best efforts of Karen Hegarty and Emma Morris to engineer scores. Some great breaks by Johanna Maher were crucial in lifting the siege and a fine Lorna McGovern save kept the Shamrocks hopes alive (Pauline Earley had also drifted deep into midfield for Tyrrellspass at this stage). Johanna Maher added two more points and created two more before the final whistle.
In the end what was a great team effort fell just short on the night; Mullingar Shamrocks now play St Mary’s, Rochfortbridge with a place in the 2019 senior championship at stake.
Mullingar Shamrocks: Lorna McGovern; Melek Fagan, Chloe Swarbrigg (Claire Fagan), Lorna Morris; Niamh Kennedy, Tara Fagan, Sophie Hegarty (1-0); Michelle Buckley and Anna Jones; Gemma Kerrigan (Liveta Lavauskaite), Emma Morris (0-4), Áine Melody; Carole Finch [0-4] (Katie Kelly), Karen Hegarty (0-4), Casey McDermott (0-1).