Junior Football Championship: Mullingar Shamrocks 3-9 Garrycastle 1-9.

Mullingar Shamrocks restored some order to their junior championship campaign with a merited 3-9 to 1-9 victory over Garrycastle in Springfield on Tuesday night (7 June). The junior teams of the two most dominant clubs in Westmeath football since 1986 included some warriors from past battles at senior level between the two clubs and Shane Colleary, Donal O’Donoghue, Anthony Clinton, Dermot Curley Tom McHugh, Alan Daly, Alan Fox and Rory McGowan  all performed with credit in this off-Broadway production.

Garrycastle established an early 0-2 to 0-1 lead but this was wiped out by a fine Jordan Warde goal created by a superb foot-pass from Ross Corroon. Fine combination play from Sean Maguire and Jordan Warde released Darren Keena who pointed and the same player added another two points from frees to establish an 0-3 gap. Keena added his fourth point before the interval while two points by Robbie Shine kept Garrycastle in touch and trailing by 1-5 to 0-5 at half-time.  It was fitting that Jordan Warde and Darren Keena shared the first-half scores as both excelled and it was great to see both return in top form after their recent injuries.

Garrycastle set the early pace after the interval and a goal by Robbie Shine helped by some fumbling in the Shamrocks defence and a good point by Alan Fox wiped out the interval deficit. A great individual effort by Ross Corroon levelled matters but Garrycastle were now dominating and points from Alan Daly and Rory McGowan reflected this trend (1-8 to 1-6).  The key tactical switch was made with fifteen minutes remaining when Anthony Clinton and Nathan Smith were introduced; Smith with his first touch pointed and Clinton dominated the centre for the last quarter and showed how doing the simple things well can be very important in a football match. Jordan Warde made another great run before releasing to Shane Colleary who finished to the net for a crucial goal. Twelve years after he scored one of the goals that changed Westmeath’s football history in the Leinster semi-final against Wexford, it was good to see that the veteran can still find the net when the occasion demands. Darren Keena added a point from a free and then a great bout of combined play that involved Colleary and Pearse Corroon ended with a Jordan Warde goal to guarantee a Shamrocks victory. Garrycastle refused to surrender Tom McHugh after a run from deep in defence pointed but the last score belonged to Nathan Smith who hit a second long range effort.

This was an excellent game of football played at pace with both teams displaying excellent bouts of play. It was essentially a spirited team victory for Shamrocks but the displays of Jordan Warde and Darren Keena are worthy of special recognition.

Shamrocks: Daragh Ryan, Ryan Blundell, Robert Ryan, Mickey McKnight (Nathan Smith, 0-2); Mark McLoughlin, James Grogan, Kyle Maguire; Donal O’Donoghue and Pearse Corroon; Ross Corroon (0-1) [Dermot Curley], Dermot Curley (Anthony Clinton), Sean Maguire; Jordan Warde (2-1), Shane Colleary (1-0) [Sean Raeside], Darren Keena (0-5).