Lynch absence hit St Malachy’s hard admits proud Mangan
Alan Mangan admitted that the absence of Westmeath football star David Lynch was a major blow to St Malachy’s chances in last Saturday’s Leinster club IFC game against Allenwood.
Mangan’s terrific second-half save ensured St Malachy’s remained in contention against a strong Kildare club side. He expressed great pride in the team’s overall display and noted the significance of a few fine saves by Allenwood goalie Luke Anderson.
“David Lynch is going to be a loss for Westmeath, never mind for Malachy’s. He’s a big, big loss for us, but these lads have to do what they have to do; he had something arranged for a long, long time. He was going to meet somebody, that’s life. We all put our lives on hold for GAA, but some things have to take precedence,” remarked Mangan.
“To be fair, their goalkeeper made three fantastic saves, I think a double save in the first half and another couple in the second half. All in all, I’d say Allenwood were just that slight bit better than us. We got lucky in the end to bring it to extra-time. They have a lot of armoury there, a few good lads up in the forward line that probably put us to the sword. But you would have to be very proud of our lads; they battled to the very end; they don’t give up, they never do and they are a credit to everyone.”
While his side lost out in extra-time, Mangan was keen to take a positive view on how the season panned out. They won the Westmeath title against Milltownpass and enjoyed victory over Carlow’s Clonmore in Leinster.
“We started off this year not knowing if we’d even get out of the group and then we go unbeaten in the whole championship. We played reasonably well in some matches. I still think there’s a lot left in the tank in Malachy’s that we need to get out of it. We have to be very happy. If someone told us at the start of the year that we’d win the championship and win the first round of Leinster and get beaten after extra-time by one of the best clubs down through the years, Allenwood,” he observed.
He paid tribute to legendary Kildare footballer Johnny Doyle, who scored four precious points in Saturday’s game. “He’s a great fellow, a credit to any club. Any GAA club would be proud of him and he kicked some serious points in the match. He’s probably the reason they beat us,” he remarked.
Doyle was full of praise for the St Malachy’s effort, pointing to the goal by Jack O’Brien in extra-time as being key to have the result panned out.
“The goal in extra-time was probably the key score. We were fortunate. Luke Anderson made some fantastic saves, but he has been doing that all year, he has had a brilliant year. We were lucky that St Malachy’s didn’t rattle the net a couple of times,” said Doyle.
“Our lads are young; they don’t know when they are beaten and they will keep going and going whether they are ten points up or ten points down.
“They never quit and that was a big thing for us today. Eoin Bagnall was very sharp on the frees, but still it could have gone either way. We knew we were going to have a really difficult afternoon here.
“We knew a bit about St Malachy’s coming through and we knew the quality they had all over the field. It showed today and it could have gone either way,” Doyle added.