Ballinahown have no answer as McCullagh grabs treble
Mullingar Town 5 Ballinahown 0
By Eamon A. Donoghue
Mullingar Town blitzed Ballinahown in this Paddy Cotter Cup semi-final played in Moate last Sunday.
Ballinahown claimed a notable victory over Willow Park in the Combined Counties Cup recently, but their hopes of reaching the Cotter Cup final were crushed by the Mullingar men.
Many sporting teams dream of having the perfect day, where everything falls into place; well that day was last Sunday for Mullingar Town FC. From keeper to their five substitutions, everyone played their part.
With their team work, support play, control of the ball and their passing, they played Ballinahown off the park. Jason Charles, Daragh Kiernan and Paul Reid deserve special mention; those three set the trend and the pace of the game, with the rest of the squad responding in kind.
Ballinahown did actually have the better of the exchanges in the first ten minutes. Lee Scanlon went close with a shot and a volley but that’s where their hopes dwindled.
Mullingar’s first goal came in the 15th minute. Reid beat two players before pushing the ball through to Nathan McCullagh and the striker calmly beat Rytis Liaukevicius in the Ballinahown goal.
Their second came five minutes later, this time a cross from right back Jamie Loran found found Greg Kozicki and he volleyed to the back of the net from outside the box.
They should have added another goal but the post denied David Dyer; the winger exploded into the box and his left footed shot hit the post and Greg Kozicki failed to put away the rebound. Mullingar deservedly had a 2-0 lead at half-time.
Mullingar continued to showcase their combination play when play resumed and were threatening to add to their total. Dyer timed his pass in behind the Ballinahown defence perfectly and McCullagh chipped Liaukevicius for his second. Everything Mullingar were doing was turning into gold.
At that stage Mullingar were starting to give the bench a run out. They introduced Tristan Finnane and within moments of his introduction, he had the ball in the Ballinahown net.
They extended their lead in the 63rd minute. Reid and Dyer combined to set up McCullagh and the centre-forward completed his hat-trick.
Ballinahown simply had no answers to the slick passing and movement of the Mullingar players.
To their credit, Ballinahown kept their heads up and didn’t give up, although this game was up long before half-time. David Harrington kept looking for the ball off his defence in a bid to keep his team competitive. They introduced Eoin Monaghan at half-time and his efforts on the right wing did keep the Mullingar defence honest.
They had shots from Terry Byrne and Michael Monaghan but that was the best they could come up with on a day when their opponents were on fire. The game declined in the last quarter with Mullingar and Ballinahown emptying their benches and both teams accepting the result.
Mullingar are into the final where they will meet St Peter's and, if they reproduce this form, it will take a special performance to deny them the Paddy Cotter Cup.
Player of the match: Paul Reid (Mullingar Town). Jason Charles, Daragh Kiernan and hat-trick scorer Nathan McCullagh all played crucial roles. But Reid’s work rate, tackling, and support play was the heartbeat of Mullingar’s display.
Key moment: The key moment was the first goal, scored by McCullagh. From then on Mullingar grew in confidence and Ballinahown just couldn't recover.
Mullingar Town: Alan Farrell, Jamie Loran, Daragh Kiernan, Alan Cashman, Jason Charles, Paul Reid, Liam Brennan, David Dyer, Nathan McCullagh, Seán Watkins, Greg Kozicki. Subs used: Seán Reid, Tristan Finnane, Enda Morris, Barry Egerton, Gerry Bowen.
Ballinahown: Rytis Liaukevicius, Kieran Colclough, Eoin Reilly, Ciaran O'Reilly, Neil Scally, Michael Monaghan, Jason Nugent, David Harrington, Lee Scanlon, Terry Byrne, Paul McManus. Subs used: John Dunican, Seán Cloherty, Eoin Monaghan, Cathal Mannion, Kevin Lawless.
Referee: Leslie Buckley.