O’Toole excels in reversal of last year’s final result
St Loman’s, Mullingar 4-13 The Downs 2-13
Gerry Buckley
Very often in the past, an opening round robin game between two of the main contenders for the Flanagan Cup has amounted to mere ‘shadow boxing’, but not so last Saturday evening’s riveting game in TEG Cusack Park between the winners and runners-up in last year’s final.
At the end of a wonderful 32-score contest, St Loman’s, Mullingar had reversed the result of last year’s decider against the worthy champions from 2022, the men from The Downs. Given that the challengers lined out without John Heslin and Shane Dempsey, 4-13 was a great score to post – albeit shared between four players – but the black and amber-clad outfit also showed more than enough on the day to suggest that they will not lightly relinquish their grip on the blue riband silverware in Lake County football.
Paddy Dowdall’s troops got off to a great start, Ronan O’Toole and Sean Flanagan (after a fine piece of fielding) combining for Danny McCartan to find the net with aplomb after just 80 seconds. His brother Sam then shot weakly for another three-pointer, and The Downs made the most of this let-off by pouncing for three unanswered points between the fourth and tenth minutes, courtesy of Ian Martin (from a tight angle), Dean Egerton (with his fist), and Luke Loughlin (a free).
Danny McCartan had very strong claims for a penalty waved away in the 11th minute. A wide at either end preceded the lead point for the champions, Loughlin feeding Egerton for his second fisted point. The Mullingar men responded in style by kicking five points without reply by the 29th minute, O’Toole displaying an array of skills in scoring the first four of them – points from play with either foot, a free, and a fisted score – before TJ Cox opened his account when set up by Danny McCartan.
In the 29th minute, Egerton completed a very unusual hat-trick by fisting over another point after good work from Kevin O’Sullivan and Niall Mitchell. A foul on Flanagan, after being picked out by Cox, correctly resulted in a St Loman’s penalty on the half-hour mark, and that man O’Toole sent Trevor Martin the wrong way from the resultant spot-kick. A point exchange between Sam McCartan and Loughlin (a routine free with the last kick of the first moiety) left the scoreboard at the interval reading: St Loman’s, Mullingar 2-6 The Downs 0-6.
Ian Martin fisted his side’s seventh point just 30 seconds after play resumed. A teasing delivery from Mitchell was then touched over the bar by the inrushing Jonathan Lynam. O’Toole pointed neatly for the winners, but Lar Wall’s men reduced the deficit to two points (2-7 to 1-8) when an Éanna Burke cross was flicked to the net by the towering Mitchell in the 35th minute.
Danny McCartan, who had a fine game overall, pointed neatly for the blue and white-clad side, before Cox raised his side’s third green flag of the evening in some style after a great solo run goalward. Loughlin showed great awareness to catch the winners’ defence off-guard and rifle a close-range free to the net, and the Westmeath star soon added a point from another free. A laboured St Loman’s move ended with Sam McCartan pointing, to put his side a goal to the good (3-9 to 2-9) midway through the second half.
If anything, the entertainment for the good-sized crowd in the final quarter was even higher than the first three. A point exchange between Egerton and O’Toole preceded a great goal from Sam McCartan (when set up by O’Toole) in the 50th minute to put St Loman’s two goals to the good (4-10 to 2-10). Lynam (a lovely score) and Cox (a terrific effort) swapped points, as did Liam Moran and Danny McCartan (after receiving a great pass by Jack Geoghegan).
Mitchell blazed the ball wide after pulling off a trademark catch in the 58th minute. A minimum of six minutes of added-time was announced. This seemed excessive, but nobody was complaining given the quality of the football on show. Jason Daly kept out a Philip Martin effort, and Mitchell was again denied his second three-pointer in the follow-up. Danny McCartan (a fine individual effort) and Loughlin (a free via the upright) traded late points, to round off a thoroughly enjoyable contest.
Scorers –
St Loman’s, Mullingar: R O’Toole 1-6 (1-0pen, 0-1f), D McCartan 1-3, S McCartan, TJ Cox 1-2 each.
The Downs: L Loughlin 1-4 (1-4f), Dean Egerton 0-4, N Mitchell 1-0, J Lynam, I Martin 0-2 each, L Moran 0-1.
St Loman’s, Mullingar: Jason Daly; Jack Geoghegan, Darragh O’Keeffe, Gerry Grehan; Eoghan Hogan, David Whelan, Conor O’Donoghue; Enda Gaffney, Ryan Jones; Tristan Graham, Ronan O’Toole, Sam McCartan; Danny McCartan, Sean Flanagan, TJ Cox. Subs used: Peter Foy for Grehan (inj., 39), Kevin Regan for Graham (43), Fola Ayorinde for Cox (inj., 54).
The Downs: Trevor Martin; Darragh Egerton, Oisín Murphy, Éanna Burke; Liam Moran, Charlie Drumm, Joe Moran; Dean Clarke, Jonathan Lynam; Oisín Raleigh, Luke Loughlin, Kevin O’Sullivan; Dean Egerton, Niall Mitchell, Ian Martin. Subs used: Trevor Fitzpatrick for Raleigh (38), Philip Martin for Clarke (38), Jack Carroll for O’Sullivan (57), Tom Tuite for Dean Egerton (60+3).
Ref: Alan Coyne (Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall).
EXAMINER’S EYE ON THE MATCH
Man of the match: Ronan O’Toole (St Loman’s, Mullingar). Last year’s Tailteann Cup player of the year remains a joy to behold when in top form, and yet again he pulled the strings for the Delvin Rd outfit in very impressive fashion last Sunday evening.
Key moment: Sam McCartan’s splendid 50th-minute goal gave St Loman’s a useful cushion at an important stage.
Match officials: Alan Coyne’s progression at club and inter-county level is to be commended. He was much closer to the action than spectators, but most of the latter felt that Danny McCartan should have been awarded a penalty in the 11th minute.
Talking point: The quality of the game came as a surprise to many patrons who got great value for their admission fee. It was further proof after a so-near-and-yet-so-far six months for Westmeath’s U20 and senior teams that the county is laden with top-class footballers.