Plunkett's recover to score noteworthy win over Clonkill

Gerry Buckley reportsSt. Oliver Plunkett's pulled off a significant win in their third game of the winners' group of the Westmeath senior hurling championship when they edged out reigning champions Clonkill in a very enjoyable game at Cusack Park on Sunday afternoon last.The Mullingar outfit now look well-placed to reach the knockout stages in the race for the Westmeath Examiner Cup, while the holders are still very likely to be there or thereabouts at the business end of the championship, despite this undoubted setback. The winners, who had the advantage of a decent wind in the first moiety, did exceptionally well to recover from a seven-point deficit after only nine minutes, albeit helped by being awarded what looked to be a very soft penalty in the 11th minute, which was expertly converted by returning star forward, Ciaran Curley. There was very little between the sides in a closely-contested second half with the late dismissal of Clonkill's Enda Loughlin adding to the tension in a generally tough but sporting encounter.The men in green and gold went ahead after 90 seconds, Brendan Murtagh's low-trajectory free (which could easily have been a penalty) being deflected over the crossbar by Ian Egerton. St. Oliver Plunkett's spurned a few early chances and duly paid the price when an eye-catching solo run by Luke Folan set up Paddy Dowdall who buried the sliotar in the net, with less than seven minutes elapsed. It soon got worse for the town side when the latter player tapped in his second goal after Ian Egerton fumbled the ball close to his goal-line. However, St. Oliver Plunkett's got a lucky break when the referee, to the surprise of most spectators and reporters, deemed that Peter Collins had been fouled close to goal and Ciaran Curley despatched the ensuing penalty with aplomb to the Clonkill net. Noel Gavin followed up with a converted free from all of 85 metres, but this was soon cancelled out by a great point from 55 metres from Shane Power. In the 18th minute, a remarkable game took another twist when Peter Collins picked out Connaire Flanagan who rifled home the winners' second goal.The marquee duo of Brendan Murtagh (from play) and Andrew Mitchell (a huge free against the wind) added a point apiece for the losers. John Dooley (a 40-metre free) and Luke Folan (a neat score from 30 metres) traded points, before Brian Murray rescued Clonkill by keeping out Govinda Geoghegan's goalbound effort. However, the champions' netminder was powerless to keep out a 24th-minute goal from Peter Collins, who batted the ball home from the edge of the small square.The sides were now level and, therefore, it seemed strange when Ciaran Curley elected to try unsuccessfully for a goal from a 25-metre free with a point at his mercy. Noel Gavin edged St. Oliver Plunkett's ahead with a converted '65', but this was cancelled out in the second minute of injury-time by a Brendan Murtagh free from 25 metres.A softly-conceded '65' by Adam Price gave Noel Gavin the opportunity to convert his second such placed ball of the contest in the last action of the first moiety, leaving the scoreboard at the interval reading: St. Oliver Plunkett's 3-4 Clonkill 2-6.Govinda Geoghegan doubled the green and whites' advantage within two minutes of the restart with a well-taken point. A fine point under pressure from Brendan Murtagh halved the deficit, but St. Oliver Plunkett's proceeded to rattle off four unanswered points by the midpoint of the second half, courtesy of Ciaran Curley (a fine solo effort), Aaron Craig (after taking a pass from 'blood sub' David Gavin), Govinda Geoghegan (seconds after returning from treatment on the sideline) and Peter Collins (from 45 metres out). The holders rallied with three points without reply - a 60-metre free from Andrew Mitchell and a lovely brace from Alan Dowdall. Controversy soon arose when Aaron Craig was left prostrate on the ground and, after consulting with the linesman near the incident and the umpires at the Dunnes Stores end, the referee eventually heeded the demonstrative protests of the winners' mentors to consult the linesman on the stand side. After doing so, Feichin Brennan brandished a straight red card to a far-from-happy Enda Loughlin. In a tense finale to a riveting game, John Dooley and Luke Folan exchanged points, with Alan Dowdall firing the ball wide deep into added-time as Clonkill went vainly in search of what could have been a winning goal.St. Oliver Plunkett's: Ian Egerton; Clive Kenny, Sean O'Leary, Stephen McManus; Greg Gavin, Noel Gavin (0-3, 0-2 from '65's, 0-1 from a free), Micheal Curley; Cian O'Leary, Mickey Harris; Aaron Craig (0-1), Connaire Flanagan (1-0), Ciaran Curley (1-1, 1-0 from a pen); Peter Collins (1-1), John Dooley (0-2, 0-1 from a free), Govinda Geoghegan (0-2). Subs: Paddy Layde (for Kenny, 20 mins), David Gavin (for Collins, inj, 45 mins), Damien Kiernan (for Harris, 50 mins), Jimmy Duggan (for Craig, inj, 57 mins), Sean Maguire (for Geoghegan, 60 + 1 mins).Clonkill: Brian Murray; Steven Cleary, Adam Price, Martin Scally; Fergal Fagan, Andrew Mitchell (0-2, both from frees), Sean Loughlin; John Fagan, Shane Power (0-1); Luke Folan (0-2), Brendan Murtagh (0-4, 0-2 from frees), Enda Loughlin; Anthony Price, Paddy Dowdall (2-0), Alan Dowdall (0-2). Sub: Niall Dowdall (for Anthony Price, 40 mins), Christopher Austin (for Power, 58 mins).Referee: Feichin Brennan (Crookedwood).