Solid win not enough for Shamrocks to advance

Mullingar Shamrocks 0-13 Moate All Whites 0-10

The senior footballers from Mullingar Shamrocks did all they could do in The Downs last Saturday afternoon to maintain their interest in the Flanagan Cup, but their deserved win against Moate All Whites proved to be in vain when news came through that Athlone had beaten Garrycastle.

Enda Monaghan’s charges were well worth their three-point winning margin, a better-balanced outfit on the day against the men in white who were overly dependent on Robbie Forde for scores.

Shamrocks had the aid of a slight wind blowing from the clubhouse end of the complex, but neither side was able to trouble the scoreboard operator during the opening six minutes, with the winners’ hard-working midfielder Paddy Fagan going closest on two occasions.

His centrefield partner Denis Corroon opened the scoring from a well-judged 40-metre free, and the same player soon repeated the dose from slightly closer to the target. Dean Moore registered the first point of the match from open play in fine style in the 12th minute. Fagan opened his account a minute later after a fine piece of fielding from promising youngster Shane Ormsby.

The aforementioned Forde got Moate on the scoresheet in the 17th minute from a routine free, and he doubled his tally within a minute with a great score from play. Intermittent rain had made for slippery underfoot conditions, with players from both sides occasionally finding it difficult to adopt. In the 21st minute, a difficult free for Forde became a ‘gimme’ after dissent by the winners, with the gap now down to the bare minimum (0-4 to 0-3).

Corroon replied immediately, but he was denied another score by great defending from Andrew Gorman. Forde soon halved the gap from a tricky free. On the half-hour mark, Davy Gavin and Efe Siode (who both played well in central defensive roles) combined to set up Fagan, but his piledriver was superbly turned over the crossbar by Richie Price. Jordan Warde spurned two chances in injury-time for the men in green and white, but they still led by 0-6 to 0-4 at the interval.

Gavin rounded off a delightful move with the Mullingar men’s seventh point shortly after the resumption of play. However, Liam McNeill’s charges were on level terms by the 39th minute courtesy of points from Billy Berry (via Eoin Doran’s fingertips), Forde, and Eoin Bracken.

In the 42nd minute, the energetic Darragh Lowry was penalized for charging – there were mixed views about the award in the crowd – and Corroon kicked a great point from the resultant free. Fagan doubled Shamrocks’ lead from the ensuing kick-out. Forde went close from a 50-metre free before Fagan kicked an opportunist point, to leave Mullingar Shamrocks ahead by 0-10 to 0-7 at the end of the third quarter.

A Forde brace – a routine free and a great long-range point from play – had Moate within a point of their opponents with six minutes of normal time remaining. Siode had a goal chance cleared off the line and Dillon Matthews was also denied a three-pointer, with Moore sensibly taking a point in the ensuing passage of play.

In the first minute of added-time, Forde slotted over a difficult free. Corroon showed his mettle with a superb catch from the resultant kick-out and this led to a neat point from Warde. Marc Eivers rounded off match scoring with a tidy point at the end of a patient move.

However, it needed a few minutes for news to emerge from the Shannonside derby in Tubberclair, and that result scuppered Shamrocks’ chances of securing a quarter-final slot much to the visible disappointment of all associated with the Springfield-based club.

Scorers – Mullingar Shamrocks: D Corroon (3f), P Fagan 0-4 each, D Moore 0-2, M Eivers, J Warde, D Gavin 0-1 each.

Moate All Whites: R Forde 0-8 (4f), B Berry, E Bracken 0-1 each.

Mullingar Shamrocks: Eoin Doran; Marc Eivers, Efe Siode, Dillon Matthews; Killian Daly, Davy Gavin, Conn O’Hanlon; Denis Corroon, Paddy Fagan; Lorcan Smyth, Dean Moore, Alan Cashman; Brendan O’Reilly, Shane Ormsby, Jordan Warde. Subs used: Oliver MacNamara for Cashman (45), Conor O’Brien for Smyth (41), John O’Reilly for B O’Reilly (59).

Moate All Whites: Richie Price; Sam Fannin, Andrew Gorman, Philip Price; Eoin Bracken, James Bracken, Darragh Lowry; Cathal O’Brien, Harry Niall; Conor Bracken, Ruairí Cunningham, Luke Whitney; Billy Berry, Robbie Forde, Ronan Murray. Subs used: Tobby Conteh for Whitney (h-t), Ronan Conway for Price (51).

Ref: Barry Nea (Killucan).