Shamrocks power to U14 final victory over Tubberclair

Mullingar Shamrocks 4-15 Tubberclair 1-7

Robert Kindregan

Three second-half goals helped Mullingar Shamrocks claim U14 Division One football honours with an emphatic win over Tubberclair in Milltown on Sunday afternoon.

It looked like a tough day at the office for Tubberclair from the opening play when Shamrocks rattled the net through Jesse Mbiarachere, with Tom Frayne adding two goals after the break to finish as the game’s top scorer with 2-3.

Tubberclair soaked up plenty of Shamrocks pressure in the first half, limiting their strong opponents to 1-5 and going into the break five points down, but a couple of missed chances early in the second half appeared to kill off any hopes of a comeback.

It had the signs of what could have been a close match before throw-in, with Tubberclair having got the better of the Mullingar side by two points during their league campaign. The first half was very entertaining, played at a high intensity, but the result was clear from early in the second half.

Played on a warm afternoon, with a slight wind, in front of hundreds of noisy supporters, the game began with intensity when Mbiarachere charged down the pitch, receiving the ball back from Gavin Mooney in support, and struck to the corner to raise the green flag.

After a spell when both sides found scores hard to come by, Tubberclair added their first score in 12 minutes when Ronan Bourke, one of the brighter sparks for his side all game, kicked over from outside the arc for two points.

Shortly afterwards, Bourke sent a nice pass into Kyle Madden in space for the later to equalise. Gavin Mooney went on a run down the other end, passing to Josh Burke and receiving the ball back from Paul Donlon before clipping over a point to creep one ahead.

Josh Burke converted a free after a foul on Dylan Conlon, before James O’Grady missed a goal chance for Tubberclair, shooting across the keeper from a difficult angle.

A dogged defensive performance from Shamrocks for the last ten minutes of the first half was complemented by two points from Tom Frayne, one off his boot and one off his fist, and a second free from Burke from around 30 metres out. The half-time whistle blew with Shamrocks leading by five, 1-5 to 0-3.

Shamrocks hit back-to-back wides on the resumption before Mbiarachere burst through and passed the ball over the defence to the onrushing Frayne, who struck to the net. It was followed by an excellent two-pointer from Gavin Mooney.

Tubberclair registered their first score in about 20 minutes with a point from team captain Denis Igoe. It was cancelled out quickly by a point from Aaron Smith, with Frayne inflicting more damage when he rattled the net for a second time with 42 minutes played, benefitting from an excellent pass from Seaghán Óg Collins.

Madden and Frayne exchanged scores before Shamrocks went 18 points clear when Collins scored a goal to the left of the keeper and Mooney scored his second two-pointer from a placed ball.

Adam Chatterton scored a point off the bench, Tubberclair’s fifth. Mbiarachere ran the length of the pitch with a rapid turn of pace and played in Collins to kick over.

Madden scored Tubberclair's goal from a penalty, also adding a point from play with five minutes remaining to reduce the deficit, but it would be their final score.

Shamrocks kicked on, scoring two points through substitute Caolan Murphy and a free from Collins to finish 17 points clear in what was a one-sided contest in the second half.

Player of the match: Tom Frayne. He was the difference-maker for Shamrocks, finishing with 2-3 and his goals set his side on their way in the second half.

Scorers - Mullingar Shamrocks: T Frayne 2-3; S Collins 1-2 (0-1f); G Mooney 0-5 (1tp, 1tpf); J Mbiarachere 1-0; A Smith and J Burke (2f) 0-2 each; C Murphy 0-1. Tubberclair: K Madden 1-3 (1-0pen); R Bourke 0-2 (tp); D Igoe and A Chatterton 0-1 each.

Mullingar Shamrocks: Kaedan Govender; Evan Palmer, Rogan Moore, Donnacha Doyle; Jamie Byrne, Dylan Conlon, Harry Gavin; Gavin Mooney, Jesse Mbiarachere; Oisin Thornton, Paul Donlon, Josh Burke; Seaghán Óg Collins, Aaron Smith, Tom Frayne. Subs: Matthew Leavy for O Thornton (50), Caolan Murphy for J Burke (50), Dylan O’Reilly for D Doyle (52), Cian Gavvin for E Palmer (55), James Casey for P Donlon (55).

Tubberclair: Paddy Naughton; James Ghee, Jerome Kearns, Oisin Killian; Riann Fagan, Sénan Rafferty, Ciaran Reid Toolan; Ronan Bourke, Damien Clerkin; Sean Slevin, Denis Igoe (captain), James O’Grady; Kyle Madden, Daniel Connaughton, Jacob Keane. Subs: Adam Chatterton for S Slevin (42), Ronan Ghee for J O’Grady (42), Luca Flynn for D Connaughton (47), Luke Quigley for J Keane (50), Liam Reddan for R Fagan (54), Ethan Nally for D Clerkin (57), James Coghill for S Rafferty (57), Jimmy White for O Killian (57).

Referee: Kenneth Gunning (St Mary's).