Under-15 Div. 2 League Final: Mullingar Shamrocks 6-9 Killucan 3-3.
A convincing victory for the Mullingar Shamrocks boys in this Under-15 Division 2 League final played in Springfield on Tuesday evening. The victory margin of 15 points was somewhat flattering and did not reflect the efforts of the Killucan boys particularly in the first half when the visitors created numerous scoring opportunities but poor finishing, the woodwork and great defending limited their first half total to 2-2.
Dylan Dixon opened the scoring with a fine long range point for Killucan. In the sixth minute a superb run down the sideline and along the end-line by Hugo Corroon unhinged the Killucan defence and a knock back by Rory Kilmartin was collected by Paddy Colleary who shot to the Killucan net. Rory and Ted Aherne added points as great defending kept the Killucan forwards in check. One bout of defending included a foot block and Dylan Dixon made no mistake from the penalty spot (1-2 to 1-1). Ted Aherne and Donnacha Briody exchanged pointed frees before Declan Noonan and Paddy Colleary combined to create a goal scoring opportunity for Hugo Corroon who smashed the ball past Tyler Flynn in the Killucan goal. A brilliant save from Flynn deprived Rory Kilmartin of a goal before Tom Shaw ended a great bout of individual play by smashing the ball to the Shamrocks net, a goal that took the half-time score to 2-3 to 2-2 in favour of Shamrocks.
Ted Aherne and Hugo Corroon scored early second half points before Donnacha Briody notched a similar score for Killucan. Hard work by Conor Walsh created a chance for James Ryan and the hardest working player on the field pointed; Hugo Corroon collected the restart and pointed to extend the gap (2-7 to 2-3). Sloppy defending gifted Dean Geraghty a third Killucan goal. Rory Kilmartin followed with two goals, the first when he superbly fielded a high delivery from James Ryan, turned and crashed the ball to the net, the second when he collected a superb long range Hugo Corroon pass and finished in style. A foul deprived Rory of his third goal and the resultant penalty was expertly converted by Ted Aherne and a mazy solo-run by Ted was rewarded with a second penalty and Ted’s penalty kicking expertise was again rewarded with a second goal. Hugo Corroon and Ryan McNamee completed the scoring. Ryan’s point completed a move that began deep in the Shamrocks’ fullback line by the high fielding James Ryan, the man who was everywhere on the night.
The league title was a reward for a solid team performance supported by some great individual performances. Liam Heffernan and Zak Coyne anchored the defence from fullback and centre back respectively and were well supported by Rian Sheeran, Harry Tilson, Darragh Ryan and Seán Hickey on the flanks. Behind them Óisin Gavin was secure in his handling and his restarts were top class. The high fielding Rory McCaul and the hard working James Davitt dominated midfield whilst Rory Kilmartin, Ted Aherne and Hugo Corroon dominated the scoring, Paddy Colleary and Declan Newman inflicted considerable first half damage as James Ryan roved the field to great effect. Other panellists also contributed and made it possible to reach the final stage with their input throughout the campaign.
And of course none of this would be possible without the input of the management team of Adrian Regan, Barry Maguire, Oliver Keating, Seamus Wallace, Barry Kelly and Derek Sheeran. Well done to all.
Mullingar Shamrocks: Óisin Gavin; Rian Sheeran (Zak Masterson), Liam Heffernan, Harry Tilson; Darragh Ryan, Zak Coyne, Seán Hickey; Rory McCaul, James Davitt (Ryan McNamee, 0-1); Declan Newman (Gareth Sweeney), Ted Aherne (2-3), Hugo Corroon (1-3); James Ryan (0-1), Rory Kilmartin (2-1), Paddy Colleary [1-0] (Conor Walsh).Other Panellists: Dylan Byrne, Aaron Conroy, Ruairí Kelly, Isaac Haughey, Luke Kelly, Charlie Murtagh, Padraig Regan.
