Heslin comes good in second half to overpower Caulry

St Loman’s, Mullingar 1-17 Caulry 1-6

Gerry Buckley

After a very sluggish start in the second game in TEG Cusack Park last Sunday evening, St Loman’s, Mullingar went on to show why they are hot favourites to retain the Flanagan Cup by defeating an understrength Caulry by an unflattering 11-point margin.

There was a distinct drop in atmosphere after the closely-fought opening game and perhaps it was also the sticky conditions, but it took a long time for the game to even resemble a senior-standard contest. However, when they belatedly clicked into gear, Declan Kelly’s troops proved why they are widely expected to complete a championship three in-a-row come the autumn.

Frankly, the opening ten minutes were entirely forgettable. Neither the champions nor the underdogs, who were short their holidaying talisman Kevin Maguire, could string together a meaningful passage of play. John Heslin opened the scoring from a routine free in the 12th minute and Peter Foy (one of the few players to perform in the first half) added a second on the quarter-hour mark.

Jack Connaughton pulled off a great save from Ryan Jones in the 17th minute, but he was powerless to prevent five unanswered points from the blue and white-clad outfit by the 27th minute – a brace apiece from Jones and Shane Dempsey (the second from a ‘mark’), and one from Danny McCartan.

Prior to Jones completing his hat-trick, incensed Caulry manager Shane Curran was red-carded by the referee after sub Senan Baker (who surprisingly didn't start the game) had a goal attempt blocked.

Dempsey was denied a goal by another fine Connaughton save, and the losers eventually opened their account when Paddy Sleator converted a ‘mark’ in the first minute of added-time. The South Westmeath side doubled their tally via an Alan Malynn free with the last kick of the first moiety, but they still trailed by 0-7 to 0-2 at the interval.

Caulry mentors were still clearly unhappy with Gary Hurley before the players belatedly took the field for the second half – Curran eventually retreated behind the perimeter fence a few minutes after play resumed. Half-time sub Emmet Nally finished off a fine team move to reduce the deficit before Danny McCartan’s shot came back off the crossbar.

The holders began to click into gear at this juncture – none more so than Heslin – with Dempsey starting a scoring spree with a 41st-minute point. Jason Daly kept out a Sleator shot, but all the action was soon at the other end with points from sub Paul Whelehan and Heslin (two – classy finishes off either foot) putting the Mullingar blues 0-11 to 0-3 ahead with 47 minutes on the clock.

A successful Malynn free followed, but Heslin was now on song and he quickly rattled over two more points from play. Sleator pointed for the men in red and white, but Sam McCartan (who had a quiet game overall) picked out his Westmeath colleague Heslin who duly found the net in the 53rd minute.

Baker (a fisted effort) and Heslin traded points before Dempsey brought his tally to 0-4 and sub Kevin Regan opened his account. Caulry sub Conor McCormack scored a well-taken consolation goal on the hour mark, but Sam McCartan rounded off match scoring with a neat point in added-time.

Scorers –

St Loman’s, Mullingar: J Heslin 1-6 (0-1f), S Dempsey 0-4 (1m), P Foy 0-3, S McCartan, D McCartan, K Regan and P Whelehan 0-1 each.

Caulry: C McCormack 1-0, P Sleator (1m) and A Malynn (2f) 0-2 each, S Baker and E Nally 0-1 each.

St Loman’s, Mullingar: Jason Daly; Sean Kelly, Darragh O’Keeffe, David Whelan; Jack Geoghegan, Kelvin Reilly, Conor O’Donoghue; Ryan Jones, Sam McCartan; Tristan Graham, Ronan O’Toole, Danny McCartan; Peter Foy, John Heslin, Shane Dempsey. Subs used: Gerry Grehan for Whelan (h-t), Kevin Regan for Graham (38), Paul Whelehan for Jones (40), Eoghan Hogan for O’Donoghue (54), Chris Gilbert for Foy (55).

Caulry: Jack Connaughton; Sean Doyle, Eoin Fox, Dylan Lowry; Sean Murphy, Eoghan Grennan, Neil Clinton; Stephen Connolly, Sean Clinton; Damien Dolan, Paddy Sleator, Alan Malynn; Thomas Dunning, Colin Murphy, Andy O’Sullivan. Subs used: Senan Baker for Dunning (20), Conor McCormack for O’Sullivan (24), Emmet Nally for C Murphy (h-t), Olan Healy for S Murphy (47), Tom Cloonan for Clinton (60).

Ref: Gary Hurley (Moate All Whites).