Masterful McHugh inspires Garrycastle to local derby win

MJS Building & Development Westmeath U-17 FC

Garrycastle 4-11 Athlone 2-9

By Eamon A. Donoghue

James McHugh fired Garrycastle to victory over local rivals Athlone in this Westmeath U-17 football championship clash at Páirc Chiaráin last Monday evening.

This battle between the two near neighbours was competitive for the first two quarters, but a blistering third quarter by McHugh saw off the hosts to secure a comfortable win.

Jack Larkin was the Athlone goal scorer in the first quarter. Athlone were the better side at this stage and had the edge all over the field except in one area. Athlone were 1-5 to 0-2 in the ascendancy in the 22nd minute.

Garrycastle appeared to have no answer at this stage, but Athlone were unable to deal with the threat of James McHugh. Larkin added a point to his goal and Darren Keogh, Paddy Hussey and Tiernan Mitchell all found the target. But the one area where Garrycastle were making headway was McHugh at corner-forward.

McHugh kept Garrycastle in the game in the first half and his tally of 0-5, along with Oisin Mulvihill’s goal, had Garrycastle in front by half-time (1-6 to 1-5). They scored 1-4 without reply in the ten minutes before the break. In truth, however, they had the individual brilliance of McHugh to thank for this situation.

After the turnaround, Garrycastle picked up from where they left off before the interval as McHugh continued to score freely. He had bagged himself another 2-3 by the 40th minute and it was game over.

Mulvihill scored his second goal for the visitors and they had the game wrapped up by the 50th minute.

Athlone’s only response in the third quarter was two Luke Nicholson scores. It wasn’t that most of the Athlone players weren’t a match for their Garrycastle counterparts - it was just that McHugh was doing the damage. It didn’t matter if the ball was going in long and high, or if the attacker was getting possession on the loop, McHugh was scoring at will and Athlone made no change to attempt to halt his scoring exploits. Athlone did get a late goal from midfielder Kyle Mahon but it was a case of too little, too late.

Athlone were on top in the first 20 minutes, and they did battle right to the end. But one had to wonder why was there no switch made on McHugh by the Athlone management. It was obvious that Garrycastle were almost totally dependent on McHugh. Athlone actually were on top in most departments for long periods of the game. But McHugh was given the space to do as he wished.

Athlone did switch midfielder Mahon to full-back in the second half - but the damage wasn’t coming from full-forward. McHugh was taller than his direct opponent and the Marist College student scored 2-9 of Garrycastle's 4-11 tally, which tells the story of the game.

Garrycastle will be delighted with the win. They will be pleasantly surprised with the ease it was won in the end, but again it was McHugh that they can thank. They are unlikely to come up against such naivety again in the championship and they will need to work on sharing the scoring load with McHugh.

Player of the match: James McHugh (Garrycastle). McHugh scored 2-9 (2-5 from play) and he was fouled for two his frees. He almost singlehandedly won the game for Garrycastle. Anthony Mannion and Oisin Mulvihill contributed largely in support of McHugh. For Athlone, Rory McMickan, Ribeiro Tica José, Kyle Mahon and Luke Nicholson kept battling to the end.

Scorers - Garrycastle: J McHugh 2-9 (0-4f), O Mulvihill 2-0, D Glennon and C Hughes 0-1 each. Athlone: J Larkin 1-1, L Nicholson 0-4 (1f), K Mahon 1-0, P Hussey, T Mitchell, D Keogh and J Fleming 0-1 each.

Garrycastle: Cian Norris, Nathan McKeon, Anthony Mannion, Matthew Turner, Dylan Frawley, David Carter, Killian Keegan, Aaron Keegan, Oisin Mulvihill, Andrew Henson, Niadh Shine, Conor McCormack, James McHugh, Darragh Glennon, Conor Hughes. Subs: Jack Dolan for McCormack (47), Conor Hughes for Glennon (56), Conor McCormack for K Keegan (56).

Athlone: Ben Manning, Ian Rushe, Lorcan McCormack, Rory McMickan, John Fleming, Ribeiro Tica José, Shane Wheatley, Kyle Mahon, Cathal Hardiman, Paddy Hussey, Luke Nicholson, Tiernan Mitchell, Jack Larkin, Junior Miranda, Darren Keogh. Subs: Daniel Tierney for Larkin (48), Marc Kelly for Hussey (53).

Referee: Vinny Cox (Rosemount).