Westmeath Senior Football Championship: The Downs 1-6 Mullingar Shamrocks 0-5

This result belongs firmly in the ‘we didn’t see it coming’ category. Shamrocks were outplayed, outthought and outfought by a determined and spirited Downs team who arrived in Cusack Park determined that the Feis Cup final result would not be repeated. Shamrocks began with three players, Billy Flynn, Stewie Flynn and Tye Adamson making their senior championship debut and shortly after half-time Brendan O’Reilly also made his first senior championship appearance for Shamrocks when he replaced the injured Conor Twomey. The result will not be remembered with any great pleasure by the debutants. A bout of all in-wrestling at the start of the first half announced the serious intent of the men from The Downs and earned Niall Mitchell and Denis Corroon yellow cards. Twenty minutes later Mitchell earned a second yellow and his game was over; Denis Corroon saw his second yellow in the dying moments of the match.

A few missed frees early in the first half established a pattern that was to be repeated through the match by Shamrocks, who recorded thirteen wides in total some of which were very high, very wide and not very handsome. Tye Adamson had two good goal scoring opportunities foiled by good last gasp defending by a Downs defence that never surrendered throughout.  Niall Mitchell opened the scoring and after sixteen minutes Killian Daly (the outstanding player for Shamrocks) equalised.  Daragh Daly edged Shamrocks ahead and after twenty minutes Luke Folan equalised and followed this with pointed frees in the 23rd and 28th minute (0-4 to 0-2). Paddy Joyce added a point to the Shamrocks total and at the interval we trailed by a single point (0-4 to 0-3) and looked to be in a strong position as we were wind assisted against a fourteen man opposition for the second half. This reading did not take into account the resilience of the opposition and Shamrocks were unable to make any progress against the determined defence of the Downs. It was also a disciplined defence; on the night Shamrocks did not get a single score from a free.  In the 35th minute Dylan McDermott equalised (the first score by a Shamrocks forward). A pointed free by Folan restored the advantage for The Downs but Seanie Daly levelled matters after 16 minutes (0-5 each).  Incredibly this was to be the last Shamrocks score despite the wind assistance and numerical advantage. In the final stages, Shamrocks were vulnerable and Luke Folan scored the crucial point, a superb effort from play from close to the side-line. As Shamrocks pushed for the equaliser, possession was lost and a counter attack by the Downs sent Dean Egerton through for the goal that guaranteed victory.

There was a ghostly presence in Cusack Park on Sunday evening that veteran supporters of both clubs can recall with mixed emotions. These were the days, before most of our current players were born, when The Downs rolled into town and routinely beat Mullingar Shamrocks. On Sunday, the present generation of players experienced what these days were like. The lesson will be absorbed.

However it is important to place this result in context. Sunday was the first of five league matches, qualification for the knock-out stages is the name of the game and there is plenty of time to achieve this objective.

Shamrocks: Philly Shaw, Eddie Moore,  Kieran Gavin, Billy Flynn; Paddy  Joyce (0-1), Killian Daly (0-1), Micheál Curley; Denis Corroon and Daragh Daly (0-1); Seanie Daly (0-1), Dylan McDermott (0-1), Conor Twomey (Brendan O’Reilly); Tye Adamson,  Stewie Flynn (Aaron Purcell), Patrick Fagan