Mulvihill goals drive 'Castle into another county final

Garrycastle are now just 60 minutes from achieving a Flanagan Cup hat-trick after a deserved win over their great rivals in recent years, Tyrrellspass, in an enjoyable first semi-final of the Westmeath senior football championship at Cusack Park last Sunday afternoon. While Anthony Cunningham's charges were flattered by the nine-point winning margin, there was no denying that they were the superior outfit and on Saturday's evidence it will take a monumental effort from Mullingar Shamrocks to stop the title going to the Shannonsiders for the third year in-a-row next month. For their part, Tyrrellspass are likely to be relatively happy with reaching the penultimate round after a shaky start to the campaign, but a return to the heady days of the 'noughties' may take some time with replacements likely to be needed for some veterans in their ranks, the once-majestic Martin Flanagan being a prime example. The Tidy Town outfit had the advantage of a strong wind blowing into the scoreboard end of the ground in the first half and they took an early lead when Dean McNicholas converted a difficult free with his left foot. Paddy Mulvihill - how great it would be to see him return to the Westmeath senior panel - levelled with a terrific right-footed point in the seventh minute and further points from Des Dolan (a 30-metre free) and Mulvihill again (with his left foot on this occasion) put the holders two points to the good by the tenth minute. Brian Slevin then halved the deficit with a well-judged effort and the navy and sky blue colours in the stand were even more to the fore a minute later when Ger O'Toole slapped the ball to the net after a Denis Glennon thunderbolt rebounded from Cathal Mullin's crossbar. However, the men in green and red responded in the style of champions by scoring an unanswered 2-2 between the 13th and 18th minutes. Conor Cosgrove scored both points (the first from a free) while Paddy Mulvihill raised both green flags. The first was a superb finish to a wonderful end-to-end move, while the second was an expertly-struck penalty kick, albeit after a somewhat harsh award against Darren Quinn, who was deemed to have fouled Conor Cosgrove. Dean McNicholas (a free) and Des Dolan (a classy score from play) traded points, but further well-taken Tyrrellspass points from Philip Sheridan and Denis Glennon had the deficit down to four points by the 28th minute. A subdued Martin Flanagan could not get a touch to a perceptive lob by Denis Glennon in the first minute of added-time, before Conor Cosgrove (who appeared to be fouled in the large parallelogram as he shot) and his opposite number Dean McNicholas (from a routine free) exchanged late points. At the break the electronic scoreboard read: Garrycastle 2-7 Tyrrellspass 1-6. Rain during the interval made for slippery underfoot conditions but the football remained of a decent standard. Indeed, the opening score of the second half after a mere 25 seconds was a thing of beauty, with Dean McNicholas firing a superb shot to the roof of the net past a posse of Garrycastle defenders. However, the winners had cancelled this score out by the 40th minute courtesy of points from Doran Harte (his probing shot from 65 metres showing the strength of the wind as the ball hopped over the crossbar), Paddy Mulvihill and Des Dolan (a 45-metre free). The respective number 13s, Dean McNicholas (a free) and Conor Cosgrove swapped points and when substitute John Corcoran tapped over a free, the margin was three points (2-11 to 2-8) with 12 minutes left on the countdown clock. However, Frank Ryan's charges failed to score in the time remaining as Garrycastle proved their undoubted superiority by adding six more points. Substitute Paul Dillon scored the first of these before setting up Des Dolan for another. The latter player - who remains a joy to behold at club level - converted a free on the stroke of 60 minutes and there was still time for further points from Enda Mulvihill (a composed score), Robbie Shine and Des Dolan again (his blistering shot shaving Darren Quinn's crossbar), to round off an impressive afternoon's work by the champions. GARRYCASTLE: Cathal Mullin; Mark McCallon, Enda Mulvihill (0-1), John Gaffey; Karl Henson, Doran Harte (0-1), Alan Fox; Seanie O'Donoghue, David O'Shaughnessy; Rory McGowan, Des Dolan (0-6, 3 frees), James Dolan; Conor Cosgrove (0-4, 1 free), Paddy Mulvihill (2-3, 1-0pen), James Duignan. Subs: Paul Dillon (0-1) for Henson (44 mins), Gary Dolan for Cosgrove (49 mins), Robbie Shine (0-1) for Fox (inj, 54 mins), Alan Daly for McGowan (59 mins), Johnny McGuire for O'Shaughnessy (60 + 1 mins). TYRRELLSPASS: Darren Quinn; Shane Arthur, Cathal Daly, Eoghan O'Neill; Jamie Gonoud, Keith Scally, Philip Sheridan (0-1); Gavin Hoey, Adrian Corcoran; Ger Egan, Denis Glennon (0-2, 1 free), Ger O'Toole (1-0); Dean McNicholas (1-3, 0-3 frees), Martin Flanagan, Brian Slevin (0-1). Subs: John Corcoran (0-1, free) for O'Toole (46 mins), Ronan Dunbar for Slevin (52 mins). REFEREE: Damien Maher (Ballynacargy).