Goals send Ballynacargy into final clash with Maryland

Never was the cliché that "goals win games" more apt than in rain-drenched Lakepoint Park in Mullingar last Saturday evening, when Ballynacargy advanced to meet Maryland in this year"s Westmeath intermediate football final, mainly by virtue of three well-taken goals at opportune moments in a very entertaining penultimate round contest against a gallant Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall side. Conditions could hardly have been more miserable for football at St. Loman"s resplendent grounds but this did not deter two very committed sides from serving up an enthralling encounter. Despite the losers" best efforts, Ballynacargy were never headed and generally looked the more likely to qualify for the final and they are now just an hour away from a return to the top flight of Westmeath football. While awful weather meant that they were never going to replicate their huge scoring feats of recent games, again they poached three goals, a figure which will usually be enough to ensure victory, given even a reasonable haul of points. They had tenacious defenders in Ciaran Sheridan and Andrew Heduvan, while Mark Wallace worked very hard at midfield. Willie Murtagh and Dwayne Maher were the pick of a forward line, who will probably be hoping for an all-too-rare dry day, come the final showdown with Maryland, a club hoping to round off an already-memorable year in style. Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall will look back on this game and regret a few moments of indecision in defence and some wasted opportunities in attack, which could have made for a much tighter contest. Eanna Doolin was an imposing full-back, ably assisted by Willie Coyne and Colin Farrell. Midfielder Darren McCormack is far better known as a hurler but he can certainly play the big ball game also. Daniel McDermott mopped up a lot of loose ball, while Niall Kilcoyne and Ryan Plunkett were the losers" most dangerous attackers. Ballynacargy: Richard Price; Bernard Nally, Timmy Mescall, Ciaran Sheridan; Aidan Scally, Andrew Heduvan, John Keena; Aidan Lyons, Mark Wallace; Declan McGuinness, Willie Murtagh (1-1), Danny Scally; Mark Murphy, Liam Reilly (1-0), Dwayne Maher (0-5, 4f). Sub: Michael Loran (1-0) for Murtagh (49 mins). Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall: Gary Sullivan; Ray Sheridan, Eanna Doolin, Willie Coyne; Dermot Cafferty, Colin Farrell (0-1), Shane Egan; Darren McCormack, Ronan Doolin; Daniel McDermott (0-1), Niall Kilcoyne (0-3, 3f), Michael Moran; Ryan Plunkett (0-2, 1f), Barry Kennedy, Kevin Brazil (0-2, 2f). Subs: Darren Kilcoyne for Kennedy (35 mins), Eric Sullivan for Plunkett (46), Glen Plunkett for Moran (49). Referee: Pat Fox (Rosemount).