Clarke’s Bar Junior 1 Championship: Mullingar Shamrocks 1-10 The Downs 1-20

The adult championship began on Wednesday 13 July for Mullingar Shamrocks and The Downs in Springfield with the opening round of the Clarke’s Bar Junior 1 Championship. The scoreboard was in operation for the first time this season and the operator was kept reasonably busy with scores being clipped over regularly. The James Clinic jerseys received their first championship outing. The Downs welcomed back Adam O’ Loughlin Stones after a successful playing spell in New York and one of the all-time greats of Westmeath hurling, Brendan Murtagh lined out at midfield looking fitter than ever it should be noted.

Shamrocks got off to a flying start and after 15 minutes held a 0-5 to 0-1 lead thanks to points by Andrew Shaw, Neill Hannigan, and Seán Hynes (0-3). A superb point from Dylan Carroll narrowed the gap and a good save by Mikey Curley maintained Shamrocks’ grip on the game. The Downs dominated the second quarter and mainly due to the efforts of Jack Carroll drew level. Shamrocks responded and points by Neill Hannigan and Andrew Shaw restored the lead. However, four unanswered points secured an interval lead of 0-9 to 0-7 for The Downs.

A Zach Aherne goal opened the second half scoring and edged Shamrocks ahead and over the next 15 minutes the sides were level on four occasions. Points by Seán Hynes, Paddy Joyce, a great save from Mikey Curley, and another point from Neill Hannigan maintained Shamrocks’ interest in the game and after 20 minutes the sides were level (0-13 to 1-10). Unfortunately, The Downs dominated the final stages as a second yellow card reduced Shamrocks numbers. Adam O’ Louglin’s goal was crucial and a few more classy strikes from Jack Carroll secured the championship points for The Downs.

Mullingar Shamrocks: Mikey Curley; Eamonn Breslin, Aaron Purcell, Matthew Siode (Tomass Turks); Neill Hardiman, Pearse Corroon, John O’Reilly; James Larkin, Zach Aherne (1-0); Neill Hannigan (0-3) [Ollie MacNamara], Trevor Keena, Paddy Joyce (0-1); Emmet Walsh, Seán Hynes (0-4), Andrew Shaw (0-2)