ACL Div. 1: Mullingar Shamrocks 0-17 Tang 0-5

It was Paddy’s Day in Springfield on Friday as Paddy Fagan kicked 0-8 from play to provide the foundation for a comfortable victory in this ACL Div.1 game against an understrength Tang played in atrocious conditions on St Patrick’s Day. In fact given the day that was in it, it is not inappropriate to suggest that Paddy shone as brightly as the famous fire lit by his namesake-saint on the Hill of Slane all those years ago. Someone else suggested it was the day Paddy walked on water, but the pitch wasn’t that waterlogged.

Shamrocks were leading 0-9 to 0-4 at the interval after a relatively even first quarter that saw Tang lead by 0-3 to 0-2 at one stage thanks to the free taking ability of Adam Neary and the needless fouls conceded by the Shamrocks defence. However, four points by Paddy Fagan and two points from Denis Corroon secured the Shamrocks lead. A good goal scoring opportunity was wasted by Tang and Jordan Warde responded immediately with a point. Denis Corroon pointed twice and Zach Aherne put the finishing touches to a combined move before Alan Coyne called for the interval break. It is appropriate that on a day when conditions were difficult that we acknowledge the fine refereeing of Alan Coyne.

On resumption, three quick points by Zach, Conor O’Brien and Jordan virtually guaranteed the league points. Paddy Fagan added three more points to his total, Ross Corroon also pointed before Paddy completed his and Shamrocks tally for a very satisfactory victory with a lot of positives from the outing (it’s been a while since we scored 0-17 in a match). But we can be sure of this: the championship will be a different matter.

Mullingar Shamrocks: Eoin Doran; Dillon Matthews (Eddie Moore), Efe Siode, Marc Eivers; Davy Coyne (Niall Hardiman), David Gavin, Conn O’Hanlon (Matthew Siode); Zach Aherne (0-2), Denis Corroon (0-3); Emmet Walsh (Neil Hannigan), Dean Moore, Alan Cashman; Patrick Fagan (0-8), Conor O’Brien (0-1), Jordan Warde (0-2) [Ross Corroon, 0-1].