Loughlin and The Downs impress in defeat of holders

The Downs 3-14 St Loman’s, Mullingar 0-11

Gerry Buckley

The Downs laid down a marker in TEG Cusack Park yesterday evening that they may well be the biggest threat to the Flanagan Cup hat-trick ambitions of St Loman’s, Mullingar when they defeated the latter by an unflattering 12-point margin in their second round robin game.

The reigning champions were short the services of the irreplaceable John Heslin, but Lar Wall was also unable to tog out two influential regulars in Charlie Drumm and Kevin O’Sullivan. Accordingly, it would be unfair to take from the very impressive nature of the performance of a fit and focused side in black and amber, again led in style by full forward and captain Luke Loughlin.

After a wide at either end, The Downs went into a lead they never looked likely to relinquish when Tom Tuite availed of great play by the aforementioned Loughlin to rifle a low shot to the net in the third minute. Points ensued by the tenth minute from the boots of Loughlin (a '45', after Joe Moran’s shot had been deflected over the endline) and Andrew Kilmartin.

The latter turned provider for the second goal, Niall Mitchell then doing well to hold off his opponent before finding the net with aplomb. Point exchanges followed between Loughlin (at the end of a great move in which he was twice involved) and Shane Dempsey (a free), and Kilmartin and Dempsey (a terrific score from play in the 16th minute). Mitchell cleverly teed up Tuite (who had a fine game overall) for a point before Dempsey was almost gifted a goal at the other end. However, The Downs continued to dominate proceedings and the hard-working Moran pointed ahead of their third goal in the 24th minute finished by Ian Martin from close range.

The Mullingar blues spurned a great chance to reduce the deficit a minute later when Sam McCartan’s spot kick was wide via the butt of the post after sub Fola Ayorinde had been fouled. The sides equally shared four points during the remainder of the first moiety – Dempsey (a free) and Danny McCartan (play) on target for the holders, with Martin and Moran adding to their tallies for the winners. Declan Kelly had already used three subs by the break, at which point they trailed by an astonishing 3-8 to 0-4.

Unsurprisingly, St Loman’s came a little more into the game on the change of ends, but the damage had already been done. In the third quarter, they outscored The Downs by four points (a Sam McCartan ‘45’, great solo scores from the latter and Ronan O’Toole, and a lovely finish by Danny McCartan) to two (a routine Luke Loughlin free and a neat effort by Tuite). Loughlin’s breathtaking speed almost led to a 44th-minute goal for the winners.

It was still a case of damage limitation for the Delvin Rd outfit at this stage. However, despite Mark Kelly picking up a second yellow card in the 52nd minute, The Downs still had enough in the tank to ‘win’ the final quarter by four points (a brace from Tuite – a great free and another from play – and a point apiece from subs Jack Carroll and Adam Loughlin) to three (a Dempsey free, and scores from play by O’Toole and Danny McCartan – who had a goal on his mind).

Scorers

The Downs: T Tuite 1-4 (0-1f), I Martin 1-1, N Mitchell 1-0, L Loughlin 0-3 (1f, 1‘45’), A Kilmartin and J Moran 0-2 each, J Carroll and A Loughlin 0-1 each.

St Loman’s, Mullingar: S Dempsey 0-4 (3f), D McCartan 0-3, R O’Toole and S McCartan (1‘45’) 0-2 each.

The Downs: Trevor Martin; Darragh Egerton, Peter Murray, Éanna Burke; Conor Coughlan, Mark Kelly, Joe Moran; Jonathan Lynam, Dean Clarke; Ciaran Nolan, Niall Mitchell, Andrew Kilmartin; Ian Martin, Luke Loughlin, Tom Tuite. Subs used: Dean Egerton for Clarke (47), Jack Carroll for Kilmartin (50), Harry Caulfield for Coughlan (52), Adam Loughlin for Mitchell (55).

St Loman’s, Mullingar: Jason Daly; Sean Kelly, Darragh O’Keeffe, Gerry Grehan; Jack Geoghegan, Kelvin Reilly, Conor O’Donoghue; Paul Whelehan, Sam McCartan; Kevin Regan, Ronan O’Toole, Danny McCartan; Peter Foy, Chris Gilbert, Shane Dempsey. Subs used: Eoghan Hogan for Geoghegan (15), Fola Ayorinde for Gilbert (20), Ryan Jones for Whelehan (30 + 3), Oisín Hogan for O’Donoghue (47), Tristan Graham for Regan (53).

Ref: Barry Kelly (Mullingar Shamrocks).

MATCH AT A GLANCE

Man of the match: Luke Loughlin (The Downs). For the second match running, the Westmeath star led the way for his club, his blistering speed and all-round skill set causing untold problems for the champions’ defence.

Key moment: There was already no way back for St Loman’s when Ian Martin scored The Downs’ third goal to put them 13 points clear in the 24th minute.