Senior Football Championship: Shamrocks 1-16 Killucan 4-7.

This contest, to decide the winners of Section A, ebbed and flowed throughout. It provided splendid entertainment for the spectators that included, as it transpired, our quarter-final opponents Athlone, who had a big and very impressive win in the opening game.  Killucan came into this match on the back of having scored nine goals in their previous four games: in contrast Shamrocks had scored only a single goal but had knocked over 54 points (at the same stage last year we had scored 4-62). In a neat example of history repeating itself the final score reflected the scoring trend of the two sides. Killucan ended with 4-7 to their credit (When was the last time Shamrocks conceded 4 goals in a championship match?) while Shamrocks finished with 1-16 on the board bringing their total for the five matches to a very impressive 2-70 (4-71 at this stage last year), a number that is even more impressive when it is recalled that we only managed 0-5 against The Downs in first match of the championship.  Based on this performance Shamrocks earn top marks for resilience, determination and refusal to accept defeat but ‘could and must do better’ will be stamped in big letters  on the report card for the defence.

Killucan scored twice in the opening minute with points from Paul Greville and Jason Gorman as Shamrocks struggled to come to terms with the task in hand and wasted some good ball early on with misdirected aerial attacks. The departure of Paddy Fagan on six minutes with a hamstring injury was a blow and meant that Fagan, Billy Flynn and Dylan McDermott, three certain starters, were now absent through injury.  Fagan was replaced by Denis Corroon who made a significant contribution to the Shamrocks cause in addition to scoring four good points. Seanie Daly opened Shamrocks account in the ninth minute with a pointed free, however within sixty seconds Paul Greville had the ball in the net to send Killucan into a four points lead. Seanie Daly was very prominent at this stage and when he was fouled, he duly tapped over the point.  A point each from Ciarán Curley and Tye Adamson, who showed well for the ball throughout, reduced the deficit to two points in the twenty-second minute but Shamrocks were rocked back on their heels with a second goal in the twenty-fifth minute. Short kick-outs carry a health warning and are an occupation hazard for a goalkeeper as Paul Durcan and Stephen Cluxton have discovered on the biggest stage of all. This time Philly Shaw was the unfortunate victim of the goalkeeping Gods and Killucan’s goal hungry forwards gladly accepted the opportunity to add to their collection.  Denis Corroon led the Shamrocks comeback and shot two valuable points to leave three between the sides on the half hour (2-4 to 1-7).  

Shamrocks on the restart upped their game significantly. Early points from Kilian Daly and Paddy Joyce (who replaced Anthony Clinton) and an excellent free from Seanie Daly levelled matters. A five point deficit had been clawed back and in the fourth minute Denis Corroon put Shamrocks in front for the first time in the game. Killucan were clearly unsettled, matters got a bit heated and referee Jim Rock issued a couple of yellow cards to help maintain law and order. Seanie Daly was at his very best with a sublime free to put Shamrocks further in front. It was Shamrocks fifth point in a superb seven-minute spell of football. These things rarely last and in a five minute period, from the tenth to the fifteenth, Killucan put 2-2 on the board and again established a six point lead. The goals showed the difficulty the Shamrocks defence had in trying to manage Paul Greville who ended the match with 2-5 to his credit. Shamrocks scored their only goal of the evening on twenty minutes when Killian Daly's   shot was diverted into the net by an alert Daragh Daly. Seanie Daly from a free and Paddy Joyce and Ciarán Curley from play brought the sides level with five minutes remaining. Again it’s worth noting that Shamrocks had clawed back a six point deficit and there is no doubt that in this championship outing the positives far outweighed the negatives.  It was all to play for and we had our chances.  Killucan scored what appeared the match winning point, from a free by Paul Greville out on the right touch line.  However Shamrocks never-say-die attitude was rewarded with a match levelling and very difficult free from Denis Corroon, as his first cousin Ross Corroon became the latest member of the famous footballing family to represent Shamrocks at senior level. This result secured the second position in the group for Shamrocks and as stated a meeting with a rejuvenated Athlone team in the quarter-final.

Mullingar Shamrocks: Phillip Shaw; Aaron Purcell (Ross Corroon), Effie Siode, Eddie Moore; Killian Daly (0-1), Micheál Curley, David Coyne; Daragh Daly (1-0) , Kieran Gavin; Paddy Fagan (Denis Corroon 0-4), Ciarán Curley (0-2), Sean Daly (0-6), Anthony Clinton (Paddy Joyce 0-2), Donal O'Donoghue, Tye Adamson (0-1) [Brian Melody].