Outstanding win for wholehearted Athletic side

Gerry Buckley reportsThe Mullingar Athletic first team made it a hat-trick of cup wins in as many weeks when they garnered a memorable win over Freebooters from Kilkenny at Gainstown last Saturday night, in the second round of the Leinster Junior Cup.Gerry Hynes’ side showed two changes from the previous brace of knockout victories - in goals and at right back. The Marble County team went all the way to the FAI Junior Cup semi-final last season and last Saturday’s scalp is, therefore, noteworthy by any standards. Undoubtedly, Lady Luck smiled Athletic’s way on the night in a contest dominated by defences - their first goal being fortuitous and the second coming from a somewhat dubious free kick.The visitors controlled a number of phases of the match but only managed one goal, a scrambled effort in the 75th minute, at which stage the team in gold and green were two up. Two minutes later, ace penalty-taker Kevin Dunleavy missed from the spot for the home team and they were made to battle manfully to the final whistle to eke out an outstanding win.Darragh Kiernan, who was a real will o’ the wisp on the left wing for Athletic, almost put Michael Fadian through after 90 seconds. Some six minutes later, Shane Weir got down smartly in the winners’ goal to keep out a deflected shot from William Flood. At the other end, Kevin Dunleavy was prominent in two attacks and, indeed, almost ‘scored’ a freak goal, just past the quarter-hour mark, when Derek Brennan’s clearance struck Dunleavy’s back but the ball flew wide.Claims for a foul on Darragh Kiernan in the penalty area were waved away by referee Adrian Martin, who had a fine no-nonsense game in charge of the whistle. Just past the midpoint of the first moiety, a somewhat off-colour David Noonan sidefooted the ball well over the Freebooters’ crossbar from a great position, ten metres from goal. A minute later, Michael Fadian showed great skill in the losers’ penalty area but a weak shot on goal ensued.The Kilkenny men then took control and good efforts from William Flood and Dominic Raggett showed their real worth. However, Athletic went ahead in the 37th minute when, what was surely an attempted cross by wholehearted central defender Stephen Markey from an acute angle well outside the box, turned into a lucky goal. Both sides spurned half-chances before the break and the angry exchanges between management and players at the interval in a Freebooters’ huddle in the dugout - they decided to forego the comfort of the dressing room on a very cold night - showed that the visitors had not expected to be in such a competitive game.The Kilkenny men dominated the first 14 minutes of the second half with Damien Raggett, William Flood and Desmond Hayes all going close, and Kevin Morrissey’s close-range effort being cleared at the expense of a corner by Shane Kavanagh. At this juncture, totally against the run of play, the Mullingar men doubled their advantage. What seemed an innocuous free kick was awarded to the home side and Darragh Kiernan curled a 20-metre free around the wall and past Donal Brennan.A quarter of an hour later, the visitors deservedly pulled back a goal, albeit not a thing of beauty. A throw-in by Damien Raggett was almost headed into his own net by Willie McGovern and, from the resultant corner, an attempted goal line clearance by Kevin Dunleavy ricochetted off Micahel Fadian and the ball nestled in Shane Weir’s net.Within two minutes, Athletic had a chance to seal a famous win when the referee deemed that Darragh Kiernan was impeded in the penalty area - the Freebooters’ mentors did not concur - but Kevin Dunleavy was unable to replicate his two excellent spot-kicks from a week earlier and his penalty went high and over the Freebooters’ crossbar. The remainder of the contest was mainly a backs-to-the-wall job for the home side and a looping header from Edward Clifford was perilously close to an equaliser. An extremely tight offside call against Desmond Hayes also went Athletic’s way. The winners did manage one further chance, with Michael Fadian producing a superb shot out of nothing in the last minute of normal time, but Donal Brennan managed to parry the centre forward’s effort. Added-time was nerve-racking for Athletic and claims for a foul on Edward Clifford in the Mullingar box were waved away. Deep into injury-time, Shane Weir got down well to smother Damien Raggett’s effort. Moments later the management team of Gerry Hynes, Noel Croash and Niall Dunne were celebrating a famous win.Mullingar Athletic: Shane Weir, Shane Kavanagh, Mark Brady, Stephen Markey, Willie McGovern, Mark Syron, David Noonan, Kevin Keegan, Michael Fadian, Kevin Dunleavy, Darragh Kiernan. Subs: Michael Loran (for Noonan, 81 mins), Dalibor Pesic (for Dunleavy, 86 mins).Freebooters: Donal Brennan, John Hayes, James Kelly, Michael Falsey, Derek Brennan, Kevin Morrissey, William Flood, Edward Clifford, Desmond Hayes, Damien Raggett, Paul O’Brien. Subs: Keith Mulcahy (for Morrissey, 69 mins), Martin Doyle (for O’Brien, 76 mins), Owen Kavanagh (for Flood, 86 mins).Referee: Adrian Martin.