Under-16 Championship: Mullingar Shamrocks 4-22 Inny Gaels 2-6.

Shamrocks began their under-16 championship campaign with a comprehensive 4-22 to 2-6 victory against Inny Gaels. After some recent heavy defeats at under-age level the victory was most welcome. Mathew Maslin pointed for Shamrocks in the opening minutes but Inny Gaels responded almost immediately with a goal. The radar on Matthew Maslin’s left boot was finely tuned and he added two more points to level matters. Cormac Hynes added a point, a great Mark Eivers run ended with a fine point, Adam McCormack scored another and Trevor Keena ended a lively solo run with a point to establish a 0-7 to 1-2 lead. Cormac Hynes then cut loose and pointed off his left foot, goaled after he was put through by a great pass from Cormac Darby and followed this with two more long range-points.  Adam McCormack with a fine effort and John O’Reilly also contributed points to establish a 1-12 to 1-2 interval lead. The dominance of mid-fielders Luke Carton and Dylan Matthews and the half-backs as well as great defending by Brandon Heffernan provided the foundation for the lead.  

Inny Gaels won possession from the throw-in at the start of the second half and their first attack ended with a penalty which was dispatched to the net by Thomas Nally but Shamrocks quickly re-established their dominance. Cormac Hynes, Cormac Darby and Matthew Maslin added points before James Mahedy goaled after good combined play from Hynes and Maslin.  Matthew Maslin scored two more points, Cormac Hynes and James Mahedy goaled and also pointed before he was replaced by Dylan Roe. The goal scoring opportunity was created by a great tackle by Luke Carton to regain possession and a scintillating solo run by Trevor Keena. Matthew Maslin scored the final three points of the match to provide a nice balance to his evening’s work.  This was a fine team victory and a great confidence booster for the more serious championship matches to come. It is worthy of note that all 4-22 was scored from play, a notable feat in any circumstances, with Matthew Maslin and Cormac Hynes contributing 2-14 of the total.

Mullingar Shamrocks:  Marc Watters; Josh Haugh (Peter Bane), Conor Fitzpatrick, Brandon Heffernan; Cormac Darby (0-1) [James Battle], Mark Eivers (0-1), Eoin Kilduff; Dylan Matthews and Luke Carton; Cormac Hynes (2-5), Trevor Keena (0-1) [Aidan Duggan], Adam McCormack (0-2); Matthew Maslin (0-9), James Mahedy (2-2) [Dylan Roe]; John O’Reilly (0-1) [Peter Hynes].