Firsts battle to earn a home draw against Dublin side
Leinster Men’s League Div 3
Mullingar 1s 2
Glenanne 3s2
Goalscorer’s:
Marc Watters x1
Holger Marl x1
Player Of the Match:
Adrian Quinn
Mullingar firsts had their opening home game of the season when they welcomed Glenanne 3s on a nippy Saturday afternoon in Wilson’s Hospital School. Mullingar started the better of the the two teams, with Marc Watters having two or three chances in the first quarter, but the Glenanne keeper was well placed to make some brilliant saves. Thankfully for Mullingar the first goal did come in the first quarter after Tom Bowers put in an astounding display of hockey on the left wing. Bowers got the ball in the D and slipped it to Holger Marl who slotted it into the goal from close range.
The second quarter did not go smoothly for a Mullingar. Mullingar’s defence and midfield began to fall apart from being too busy arguing with umpires after they made some very questionable calls. Glenanne took advantage of this and got their first goal from a short corner. Things went from bad to worse not long after when Aidan Hopkins got a green card. Glenanne also got their second goal when Mullingar’s vice-captain Craig Sweeny put the ball into his own goal.
The third quarter started with both teams being quite evenly balanced. Captain Marc Watters made a change at half time by putting 2s captain Stephen Wiltshire into defence to calm things down and Mullingar slowly started to dominate the game. Marc Watters yet again had multiple chances but couldn’t finish with the ‘keeper yet again making some good saves and some of Watters shots hitting the side netting.
With the game stuck at 2-1 to Glenanne, Mullingar really started to put pressure on the Glenanne defence. The home side were getting chance after chance, but with no success. Until Tom Bowers yet again worked his magic in the D to win a short corner. Watters was eyeing this one up hoping to finally get a goal after his many missed chances. Owen Wiltshire pushed the ball out to Holger Marl who stopped it for Watters and finally he got his goal to level the game with seven minutes to go. Watters nearly got the winner after a brilliant ball went across the goal from Bowers and Watters was just centimetres away from tapping it in.
Mullingar Men’s next game will be away to Naas 1s Saturday the 21st of October in the intermediate cup.
Mullingar Men’s 1’s squad that faced Glenanne 3s; (GK) Joshua Matthews, Craig Sweeny, Aidan Hopkins, Rob Ashley, Sören Marl, Adrian Quinn, Tom Bowers, Holger Marl, Owen Wiltshire, Marc Watters (captain), Tristan Couper, Conor Mount (GK), Stephen Wiltshire, Ben Saurin, Sean Glennon, Torben Marl.
Leinster Ladies League Div 9
Mullingar 1’s 3
Our Ladys 3’s 2
Goal Scorers:
Jennifer Bonham x2
Emma Harding x1
Player of the match:
Anna Gillespie
On Saturday morning, Mullingar 1s faced Our Ladys 3s in their third league match of the season at Wilson’s Hospital School. With a slow start to the season with a lot of match postponements, the Mullingar ladies were eager to get back on the pitch. Mullingar faced Our Ladys 4s the previous season, which always brought a competitive game, so it would be a match to test the waters with their next team up.
The Mullingar side started the match promisingly. Within a matter of minutes, Mullingar had broken into the attacking D where Jennifer Bonham easily got the ball from the top of the D and straight onto the backboard, bringing Mullingar 1-0 up. For the remainder of the first quarter Mullingar held strong possession of play. In the second quarter, more chances for Mullingar arose. An Our Ladys foot in the D gave Mullingar a short corner. Ruby Murray injected the ball straight to Sarah Cawley and Emma Harding, resulting in a cracker of a shot from Harding and brining Mullingar 2-0 up. Not long after Harding’s goal, Mullingar were awarded another short corner. Murray injected once again to Cawley and Harding, this time Harding giving a quick pass right to Bonham who slotted the ball into the the bottom left corner. Mullingar finished the first half in a strong and comfortable position being 3-0 up.
During the third quarter, play stayed even between both sides. A number of goal chances came to for both teams, but neither managing to get any scores on the board making for an uneventful quarter. The Mullingar side began to tire with more passes beginning to go astray, leaving Our Ladys with some easy chances to counterattack. The fourth quarter saw Our Ladys begin to put more pressure on the Mullingar defence. With the Mullingar side possibly more relaxed being 3-0 up with 15 minutes to go, Our Ladys saw their chance.
Our Ladys entered the D and took a shot on goal which was saved By Sophie Marry. The deflected ball was then loos in the D. With Mullingar not managing to clear the ball passed the attacking opposition, the ball stayed in attack right in front of Marry’s feet which Our Ladys took advantage of and got the ball in behind Marry bringing the score to 3-1. Not long after their first score, Our Ladys were on the attack again. A similar situation arose with a loose ball in Mullingar defending D and Our Ladys once again brought the ball across the front of the goal and onto the backboard. With Our Ladys now sending the chance to push for a draw game, Mullingar had to stay on their toes for the remaining 10 minutes to ensure their win. The remaining time saw possession even shared between both sides. Mullingar managed to get a number of goal chances with no luck, while their defence managed to keep Our Ladys out of the D for the remainder.
Mullingar’s next match is home to North Kildare 4’s in Wilsons Hospital School on Saturday October 21.
Squad: Ruby Murray (Captain), Sophie Marry (GK), Amelia Bruton, Anna Gillespie, Emer Donnelly, Sarah Cawley, Eva Cawley, Emma Harding, Jennifer Bonham, ElleAnna Zumerchick, Tori Trower, Katelyn Griffith, Niamh Turbitt, Grace Zumerchick.
Leinster Ladies Vets League Div 3
Mullingar 3
Avoca 3’s 0
Goalscorer’s:
Therese Russell x1
Laura Bell x1
Paula Connolly x1
Player of the Match:
Therese O’Keefe
History was made in Mullingar Hockey Club this weekend, when the club entered their first ever Ladies Vets team placed in Division 3 of the league. This was a home game for Mullingar who played Avoca 3 Friday night under floodlights and very cold conditions. A minute’s silence was observed for the family and friends of Pauric Kirby, who tragically passed away especially his wife Nikki, and their beautiful children.
In their first ever League match led by team captain Therese Russell, Mullingar hit the ground running scoring in both of the first two quarters with goals from Therese Russell, Laura Bell & Paula Connolly. Throughout the game, Mullingar had several offensive attacks, which is very promising for their upcoming season. During the third and fourth quarters, Mullingar's defence was put under pressure but held tight to deny Avoca from scoring. Louise Farrell pulled off some brilliant saves along with her very solid backs. This was a great start for the ladies.
Team: Louise Farrell, Maura Devine, Sarah Tormey, Una Coloe, Claudette Leonard, Laura Bell, Mel O' Neill, Eileen Murphy, Therese Russell, Therese O'Keeffe, Claire Wallace, Maria Baker, Kathy Jameson, Paula Connolly.
On October 20, Mullingar play their next match home to Avoca 2 at 8.00pm. All support is greatly appreciated.