Athlone denied title as St Loman's have a little extra
St Loman's, Mullingar 2-9 Athlone 1-8 (aet)
In fading light at Cusack Park last Sunday afternoon, St Loman's Mullingar eventually got the better of a gallant Athlone outfit in the replayed final of the Westmeath minor club football division one championship with an extra-time success after an exciting hour had again ended on level terms.
The Mullingar lads looked in dire straits midway through the second moiety of normal time, but an improvised goal from outstanding wing back Daniel Sheridan brought them back into contention. In extra-time, a well-taken goal from the hitherto very wasteful Shane Dempsey always looked like it would be the clinching score, and so it proved as Aidan Canning's charges eventually recorded a four-point win.
Conditions were ideal for football but, in truth, the exchanges were disappointing for long stretches, with the closeness of the scoring disguising some ragged play and quite an amount of poor shooting (the winners alone had 14 wides in the opening hour).
However, the last quarter and all of extra-time saw a marked improvement in quality, with both sets of players going through the pain barrier in search of the much-cherished trophy.
St Loman's, Mullingar went two points up by the fourth minute via Cormac Corroon and Shane Dempsey. By the midpoint of the half, the Shannonsiders were on level terms courtesy of points from Seamus Byrne (moments before he blazed the ball wide with a goal on his mind) and Niall Boland (availing of sloppy St. Loman's defending).
Team captain David Whelan showed the way for the lads in dark blue and white with a composed point at the end of a patient move, but midfielder Gavin Downey soon equalised with a fine point. Dylan Lynch was badly wide for the losers from a great goal chance, but his colleague Ray Connellan edged his side ahead before the break from a terrific left-footed free from an acute angle. The scoreboard at half-time read: Athlone 0-4 St. Loman's, Mullingar 0-3.
Within five minutes of the restart, St Loman's were level when Cormac Corroon slotted over his second point of the afternoon. John Connellan's troops then struck for an unanswered 1-2 by the 42nd minute. The points both came from frees, the first from their captain Glen Costello and another from Ray Connellan, sandwiched between which substitute Jordan Marshment slapped the ball against the crossbar from close range.
However, a three-pointer soon arrived when Costello teed up another sub Warren Conroy, who buried the ball low to the St. Loman's net from 15 metres. Conroy also made a notable impact when introduced as a sub in the drawn final on the previous weekend.
The eventual winners badly needed a boost and it duly arrived when David Whelan and Cormac Corroon were both foiled in quick succession by the Athlone defence and the woodwork respectively and the loose ball fell for Daniel Sheridan, who volleyed it superbly to the net.
Michael Duddy's 48th-minute point put the lads in the sky blue and white hoops three points ahead, but St. Loman's dominated the last quarter.
Indeed, they should have scored more than the three points which took the game to extra-time, those scores all coming from frees by David Whelan (two) and Cormac Corroon.
After two minutes of added-time, the scores were tied at 1-7 apiece.
St Loman's scored 1-1 without reply in the first ten-minute period, the point from overlapping half back Sean Dinnegan and the goal from Shane Dempsey who found the net after taking Mark Browne's pass in the last action of the first period. This left St. Loman's ahead by 2-8 to 1-7.
The teams traded a point apiece in the second period as bodies visibly tired, the scores coming from Odhran Martin (St. Loman's) and Glen Costello (Athlone).
Sandwiched between them, Ben McCabe did very well to keep out Warren Conroy's rasping shot for a goal.
After the match, the chairman of the Westmeath GAA Minor Board, John Weir presented the Darren Price Cup to the winning St. Loman's, Mullingar captain, David Whelan, in the presence of Adrian Price (the late Darren's father).
Scorers
St. Loman's, Mullingar: S Dempsey 1-1, D Sheridan 1-0, D Whelan (2 frees) and C Corroon (1 free) 0-3 each, S Dinnegan and O Martin 0-1 each. Athlone: W Conroy 1-0, G Costello (1 free) and R Connellan (2 frees) 0-2 each, G Downey, M Duddy, N Boland and S Byrne 0-1 each.
St. Loman's, Mullingar
Ben McCabe; Luke McGrath, John Wallace, Cian Burke; Sean Dinnegan, Patrick Shanley, Daniel Sheridan; Andrew Purcell, Adam Gaffney; Darragh O'Keeffe, David Whelan, Mark Browne; Cormac Corroon, Shane Dempsey, Evan Maleady. Subs: Odhran Martin for Maleady (43), Cathal Burke for Wallace (43), Conall Brady for Browne (e/t 19), Aaron Cahill for Purcell (e/t 19).
Athlone
Darren Cassidy; Tommy McCoy, Eoghan O'Reilly, Daniel Lynam; Eoin Maher, Brian Gill, Aaron Watts; Gavin Downey, Ray Connellan; Luke Dully, Glen Costello, Niall Boland; Seamus Byrne, Robbie Henshaw, Dylan Lynch. Subs: Warren Conroy for Boland (inj, 30 + 4), Michael Duddy for Dully (half-time), Jordan Marshment for Lynch (38), John Breen for Cassidy (inj, 49), Ben Cunniffe for McCoy (57), Niall Boland for Costello (start of e/t), Glen Costello for Duddy (e/t 7).
Referee
Michael Gordon (Shandonagh).
