Garrycastle's title dream dashed by 14-man Portlaoise

Garrycastle's dreams of becoming the first Westmeath club to win the Leinster senior football title were shattered in Tullamore last Sunday afternoon, as championship specialists Portlaoise overcame the loss of a key forward for over half the contest to deservedly triumph for the seventh time at this level. The Laois champions were the bookies' favourites for this provincial decider, but the bulk of the green and red-clad supporters in the attendance of 3,400 were relishing their heroes' chances when the teams left the field at half-time. By that stage, Portlaoise were down a man, Peter McNulty having been dismissed for a second yellow card offence in the 28th minute and their four-point lead looked perilous, as the Lake County representatives had the advantage of a strong wind in their backs on the change of ends. However, far from reproducing their fabulous second-half display against Ballyboden St. Enda's in the penultimate round (albeit that day facing the wind), Garrycastle turned in a somewhat lacklustre second half-hour. Portlaoise never seemed to be unduly hampered by their numerical loss and their hunger and commitment, allied to some fine individual displays, saw them hold out by an unflattering four-point margin. The losers will regret not keeping their shape when Gary Dolan's well-taken fisted goal got them to within a point of the O'Moore County men in the fourth minute of the second half. An immediate reply by man-of-the-match Barry Fitzgerald cancelled out the Garrycastle captain's goal. So often over the years, his older sibling Des has pulled the game out of the fire for both club and county. However, on this occasion, the former All-Star was well curbed by tenacious defender Cahir Healy, who must have run Fitzgerald mightily close for the individual match accolade. The losers' shooting in the second half lacked conviction and, in the end, John Mulligan's troops were richly-deserving victors. It was clear from the outset that the wind blowing towards the main scoreboard end of the resplendent Offaly county grounds could be worth four or five points to the team playing in that direction. Portlaoise showed from the off that they were very determined to make the most of the elements and they raced into a 0-3 to 0-0 lead by the sixth minute. The lively Craig Rogers was to the fore in many of their opening forays into Garrycastle territory. The right half-forward opened the scoring in the third minute with a fine point under pressure, following good work by Colm Byrne. Rogers soon nabbed his second after playing a neat one-two with Barry Fitzgerald. When a rare Garrycastle attack broke down, Cahir Healy picked out former Glasgow Celtic panellist Paul Cahillane and the corner-forward kicked a fine score. Garrycastle badly needed a score to settle their nerves and great work from Des Dolan teed up Paul Dillon for a well-taken score in the seventh minute. Paddy Mulvihill, who lacked his normal sharpness for the 50 minutes he spent on the pitch, then soloed directly into trouble and a Garrycastle broke down. A less-than-precise pass from the same player contributed to a wide from James Dolan in the 11th minute, before Des Dolan was wide from a shot he may well have scored on another day. Three points in a two-minute Portlaoise blitzkrieg opened up a five-point lead by the midpoint of the half. The first two came directly from Garrycastle kick-outs, with David O'Shaughnessy's aerial prowess unfortunately absent on the day, despite his midfield partner Seanie O'Donoghue excelling in terms of work-rate and application. Full-back Kevin Fitzpatrick kicked the first from 40 metres and an unchallenged Aidan Fennelly got in far too easily for the second. When a first-time pull from Gary Dolan was blocked by a tigerish winners' defence, an immediate counterattack yielded a sixth point for the white and green-clad side, Colm Byrne applying a simple finish. In the 17th minute, Seanie O'Donoghue took the ball from a quickly-taken free by Karl Henson and he rounded off a great run with a terrific point. Michael Nolan's monster kick-out was fielded by Peter McNulty, who was then fouled, but Barry Fitzgerald missed the ensuing placed ball. Substitute Tom McHugh made an immediate impression with three fine pieces of defending, but at the other end Gary Dolan shot weakly at Michael Nolan. However, Paul Dillon was soon to convert a simple free, unnecessarily conceded by the winners' otherwise-frugal defence. With four minutes of normal time remaining, Paul Cahillane kicked a lovely point from 25 metres as Garrycastle played a dangerous short-passing game near their own goal area. In the 28th minute, a late challenge on James Duignan earned Peter McNulty a second yellow card, much to the dismay of the Portlaoise fans. Des Dolan was prominent in a defensive role for the losers before Colm Byrne was wide from a scoreable opportunity in added-time. Portlaoise led at the break by 0-7 to 0-3, but the consensus over the very welcome half-time cup of tea in the excellent O'Connor Park press box was that Garrycastle had a wonderful chance to break Westmeath's duck in the competition. Doran Harte was clearly visible as Garrycastle's spare man when play resumed, but Portlaoise showed no signs of being impeded by their numerical disadvantage in the early exchanges of the second moiety. In the fourth minute, Harte picked out Paddy Mulvihill whose high lob was met by the fist of the in-rushing Gary Dolan for a tonic goal. Many people present were then briefly distracted by an incident in the crowd which was quickly sorted out by the Gardaí. When they looked up, they saw fine approach work by Brian McCormack set up Barry Fitzgerald for a well-taken goal, which instantly altered the entire complexion of the game. Des Dolan set up his brother Gary for a great point from a tight angle in the eighth minute, to leave three points between the sides. However, this was as close as the Westmeath men were to get, despite wind and numerical advantage. Aidan Browne was by now on in place of the off-colour David O'Shaughnessy and the towering young midfielder produced a great catch, but he made poor use of his delivery. After Barry Fitzgerald was fouled in the 13th minute, the dashing corner-forward dusted himself down and converted a very tricky free. An ambitious effort by Seanie O'Donoghue tailed off wide before Des Dolan got his name on the scoresheet with a tap-over free, moved forward for dissent following an illegal challenge on substitute Donovan Hermbusche. Two attempts to replicate Gary Dolan's goal failed when the full-forward could not direct his fisted efforts from balls forward by James Duignan and Doran Harte respectively. Conversely, Portlaoise were more composed and a one-two between Brian McCormack and Barry Fitzgerald ended with the latter calmly fisting over his side's ninth and last point. Remarkably, there was to be no further scoring in the 14 minutes (including injury-time) remaining. Garrycastle proceeded to kick a number of disappointing wides, allied to which a few shots were lobbed harmlessly into the grateful arms of Michael Nolan. There were a number of guilty parties in the green and red ranks as their frustration told, while the winners' defence, superbly spearheaded by Cahir Healy, mopped up loose ball and used it wisely. Gary Dolan's last-gasp attempt to manufacture an added-time goal was indicative of his side's second-half ineptitude, in stark contrast to the memorable late shows against Clonguish and Ballyboden. It was a dejected Garrycastle entourage who sportingly remained on the pitch as Brian McCormack received the Leinster cup in the stand, followed by a lengthy rendition of a Portlaoise song by a diehard fan. With the Flanagan Cup a very difficult trophy to win in its own right, it will not be easy for Garrycastle to get this far again. It was therefore an enormous pity that so many key players all had rare off-days together last Sunday. Coming just 24 hours after Tubberclair also failed at the last provincial hurdle (at intermediate level), it was a bitterly disappointing weekend for Lake County Gaels, despite the commendable achievements of both South Westmeath clubs in getting as far as they actually did. PORTLAOISE: Michael Nolan; Eoin Bland, Kevin Fitzpatrick (0-1), Malachy McNulty; Brian Mulligan, Cahir Healy, Kieran Lillis; Aidan Fennelly (0-1), Brian McCormack (capt); Craig Rogers (0-2), Brian Glynn, Peter McNulty; Paul Cahillane (0-2), Colm Byrne (0-1), Barry Fitzgerald (1-2, 0-1 free). Subs: Jack Fennell (for Byrne, 38 mins), Conor Boyle (for Glynn, 49), Brian Smyth (for Rogers, 56), Adrian Kelly (for Mulligan, 60). GARRYCASTLE: Cathal Mullin; Padraig Rattigan, John Gaffey, Enda Mulvihill; Mark McCallon, Karl Henson, Doran Harte; Seanie O'Donoghue (0-1), David O'Shaughnessy; James Dolan, Des Dolan (0-1, free), Paddy Mulvihill; Paul Dillon (0-2, 0-1 free), Gary Dolan (1-1), James Duignan. Subs: Tom McHugh (for Rattigan, inj, 18 mins), Aidan Browne (for O'Shaughnessy, 34), Donovan Hermbusche (for McHugh, 36), Shane Mulvihill (for P. Mulvihill, 50), Alan Daly (for Duignan, 57). REFEREE: Derek Fahy (Longford).