Athlone up the ante in second half to sink Shamrocks

Athlone 1-17 Mullingar Shamrocks 1-12

Athlone maintained an unbeaten starts to their Westmeath SFC campaign when a dominant second-half display saw the Shannonsiders overturn Mullingar Shamrocks' half-time lead to claim victory in Tang last Saturday evening.

In the second helping of double header before a sizeable attendance, Athlone started the game in ponderous mode but they gradually established a flow to their game and reeled in a Shamrocks team who enjoyed a six-point lead after the first quarter. Their momentum was sustained for the second half of the contest allowing Eoin Jordan's charges to exert their dominance.

Having emphatically defeated Tyrrellspass in their opening encounter, Mullingar Shamrocks will be disappointed with the manner in which they faded out of the contest in the second half. Playing with the aid of the elements, they appeared to be in complete command of the contest early on but allowed Athlone to reduce the deficit to a mere two points at half-time and with that came a momentum shift.

Shamrocks seized early control of the contest, with centre-forward Paddy Fagan opening the scoring. Davy Gavin added a point for Shamrocks two minutes later, before Fagan claimed his second score of the contest on five minutes following a neat handpass from Killian Daly.

Shamrocks goalkeeper Ross Corroon scored the game's first two-pointer from a placed ball on six minutes to extend his team's lead, before Athlone finally opened their account on nine minutes when Stephen O'Connor pointed a free. It was a momentary pause in the flow of the contest as Shamrocks soon responded with a quick brace of points from Conn O'Hanlon and Dean Moore as Micheál Burke's team pushed out their lead to six points.

Athlone stemmed the tide on 16 minutes when the impressive Eamon Martin clipped a left-footed point from distance. The score seemed to inspire his teammates with Martin then placing Ray Connellan in the clear for a point. O'Connor scored his second free on 19 minutes and with the lead now just two points in Shamrocks' favour, it appeared Athlone had wrestled momentum from their opponents.

However, Shamrocks responded in style and raised the first green flag of the game on 23 minutes when the impressive Fagan flicked the ball across the square for the inrushing Ryan Kelly to palm to the net. Unbowed, Athlone responded with a third O'Connor placed ball and a sublime two-pointer from Martin.

In an end to end contest, Conor O'Brien pointed on the run for Shamrocks (27th minute), before Athlone's Diarmuid Martin completing the first half scoring to leave his team within two points at half-time.

Athlone started the second half in determined mood, O'Connor scoring his fourth point of the contest (33rd minute). Two minutes later, Athlone achieved scoreboard ascendancy for the first time but the two-pointer was not without controversy as Kieran Colclough's angled shot from distance was not initially signalled but following consultation between referee Enda Kenny and linesman Pat Fox, an orange flag was raised.

The point galvanised Athlone who then reeled off three points in quick succession, Eamon Martin chipping over a point before corner-forward Kian Mitchell and Connellan added to the Shannonsiders' account. Their lead was now four points as the game approached its final quarter.

Moore responded on 45 minutes for a faltering Shamrocks and when Denis Corroon kicked a free wide from close range, it seemed to sum up his team's second half display as the green and white clad team failed to fain any flow to their play.

This miss was amplified e when a lofted ball into the edge of the square by Eamon Martin was pounced upon by Mitchell, who fired the ball to an empty net. The goal was swiftly complemented by O'Connor's pointed free, Athlone's lead now out to seven points.

Brendan O'Reilly, Daragh Daly and Ross Corroon responded with points for Shamrocks, but Athlone had the final scoring say when the ever willing O'Connor pointed on 57 minutes to ensure a merited five-point win.

Man of the match: Athlone had numerous contenders particularly in the second half. The probing angles runs of corner-forwards Stephen O'Connor and Kian Mitchell were a threat to the Shamrocks defence, while Ray Connellan was to the fore at centrefield. Ben Killian influenced play upon his half-time introduction, while Diarmuid Martin marshalled his defensive unit with aplomb. But on this occasion the accolade goes to Eamon Martin who kicked five points from play. His influence allowed his team to gain momentum when it was needed and proved pivotal to Athlone's win.

Scorers - Athlone: S O'Connor 0-6 (4f); E Martin 0-5 (1 2p); K Mitchell 1-1; R Connellan and K Colclough (2p) 0-2 each; D Martin 0-1. Mullingar Shamrocks: R Kelly 1-0; R Corroon 0-3 (1 2pf); P Fagan and D Moore 0-2 each; D Gavin, C O'Hanlon, D Daly C O'Brien and B O'Reilly 0-1 each.

Athlone: Darren Costello; Patrick Ryan, James Finlass, Michael Byrne; Kieran Colclough, Diarmuid Martin, Mark Egan; Ray Connellan, Shane Allen; Ryan O'Connor, Eamon Martin, Shane Reid; Kian Mitchell, Daniel Reid, Stephen O'Connor. Subs used: Sean Dowd for D Reid; Ben Killian for R O'Connor; D Prendergast for Egan.

Mullingar Shamrocks: Ross Corroon, Adam Glynn, Dillon Matthews, Mark Eivers, Brendan O'Reilly, Davy Gavin, Killian Daly, Daragh Daly, Conor O'Brien, John O'Reilly, Paddy Fagan, Lorcan Smyth, Ryan Kelly, Denis Corroon, Dean Moore. Subs used: Donnacha Maguire for Smyth; Conn O'Hanlon for O'Reilly, Efe Siode for Daly.

Referee: Enda Kenny (Ballinagore).