Classy Corroon kicks Shamrocks into knockouts

Mullingar Shamrocks 2-9 The Downs 0-9

Two household names of Westmeath club football met in TEG Cusack Park on Saturday night, and it was in-form Mullingar Shamrocks who booked their place in this year’s SFC quarter-finals, with two first-half goals propelling them to victory over The Downs.

The Black and Ambers welcomed back Kevin O’Sullivan and had the luxury of springing the returning Niall Mitchell from the bench, but they struggled in front of a well-drilled Shamrocks defence and managed only a point from play in the first half. Shamrocks, on the other hand, had the ball in the net twice in that period either side of missing a penalty, with former Westmeath star Denis Corroon raising one of those green flags with a stylish finish, and Conn O’Hanlon following up with a second.

Corroon was also outstanding from frees. Paddy Fagan, who won a lot of dirty ball for Shamrocks in the final third, never stopped barrelling his way through the middle and was probably the most fouled player on the pitch, leading to several of those conversions by Corroon. The Downs, heavily reliant on Luke Loughlin for much of their attacking ideas during the first half, hoped that Mitchell’s introduction would unlock their full capabilities. However, Shamrocks had all their angles covered and manager Enda Monaghan will be pleased with how his charges closed out a massive win for the club.

Loughlin opened the scoring for The Downs with a free and while Jordan Warde kicked wide for Shamrocks moments later, the men in green announced themselves with a goal inside the fourth minute. It came after a nice build-up ended with an inch-perfect pass from Shane Ormsby wide on the right. Corroon latched onto the ball, turned his marker and rifled to the net.

Shamrocks led 1-2 to 0-1 by the 11th minute, with Corroon adding two frees, each awarded after Paddy Fagan’s industry drew fouls, a reoccurring pattern during the game. The Mullingar men didn’t score for another 12 minutes though, and back came The Downs. Loughlin tacked on another free and, from the result kickout, Conor Coughlan won the ball and pointed well to reduce the arrears to two.

At the other end, Corroon and Fagan kicked short before Brian Guerin was adjudged to have been pulled down by The Downs netminder Trevor Martin on 19 minutes. Although the ball appeared to have gone wide before Guerin hit the ground, a penalty was awarded, but Dean Moore sliced it wide.

The Downs failed to take advantage of this succession of misses by Shamrocks, and should have had the ball in the net themselves on 22 minutes, when a blistering move led to Andrew Kilmartin teeing up Kevin Smullen. However, Smullen had his finish blocked by Shamrocks ‘keeper Eoin Doran, and Davy Gavin collected and cleared.

A minute later, The Downs were punished. While eyes were fixed on an off-the-ball scuffle between Gavin and Coughlan (who were both booked for their trouble), Shamrocks worked the ball into the Dunnes Stores end. Paddy Fagan fed Denis Corroon, who laid off a neat handpass to the inrushing Conn O’Hanlon, who finished to the net with aplomb.

Everything went Shamrocks’ way at this stage. At the other end, Marc Eivers pulled off a brilliant block on Luke Loughlin, and two minutes later John O’Reilly kicked a superb score from the terrace side to leave the full two goals between the sides.

Loughlin converted a free for The Downs in stoppage time, and they trailed 2-3 to 0-4 at the short whistle. The Downs had no reason to panic, and in Niall Mitchell – introduced at half-time by manager Johnny Murray – they had someone capable of reversing their fortunes and perhaps generating a goal or two.

They had plenty of reason to be hopeful. Shamrocks only found the target once in the third quarter – a handpassed effort from Jordan Warde, cancelling out an earlier free from Loughlin. Then, on 38 minutes, Operation Mitchell almost had its first success when the towering forward nudged a long ball into the path of Philip Martin, who had his shot blocked the outstretched limbs of Dillon Matthews.

This was the trouble for The Downs – the more they poured forward looking for scores, the more they encountered a tenacious and battling Shamrocks defence which had all areas covered. Aside from Loughlin’s free, Andrew Kilmartin was the only player to find his range in that third quarter.

While Shamrocks struggled for scores in this period, in the final quarter, they clicked into gear. On 46 minutes, Paddy Fagan was fouled yet again and Denis Corroon obliged with another well-taken free, and he added another three minutes later to restore Mullingar’s two-goal lead.

Shamrocks were now well in control and the fact that they could unleash such vastly experienced heads as Killian Daly, Lorcan Smyth and Efe Siode from the bench in the second half added another layer to that dominance.

They also had goalkeeper Eoin Doran to thank, not for the first time in the game. Conor Coughlan almost conjured a goal for The Downs on 51 minutes, but Doran was alive to his dipping shot and tipped it over the bar.

A Downs revival briefly looked on the cards when Ciaran Nolan fisted over the bar a minute later, but Corroon duly cancelled out this, as well as a point from play by Luke Loughlin, with a brace of excellent frees – the second after yet another foul on the relentless Paddy Fagan.

Five points clear (2-8 to 0-9), Shamrocks wrapped up the win with a swift move in the 60th minute, Guerin, Smyth and Siode all linking up before Dean Moore handpassed over the bar. Shamrocks lost Moore to a black card in stoppage time, but the result wasn’t in doubt. The Downs, looking to boost their points difference, almost had a late goal after a low shot from Charlie Drumm, but once again, Eoin Doran was equal to it.

Scorers - Mullingar Shamrocks: D Corroon 1-6 (0-6f), C O’Hanlon 1-0, J Warde, J O’Reilly and D Moore 0-1 each. The Downs: L Loughlin 0-4 (3f), C Coughlan 0-2, I Martin (free), A Kilmartin and C Nolan 0-1 each.

Mullingar Shamrocks: Eoin Doran; Marc Eivers, David Gavin, Dillon Matthews; Conn O’Hanlon, Matt O’Shea, Brendan O’Reilly; Conor O’Brien, Shane Ormsby; Brian Guerin, Paddy Fagan, John O’Reilly; Dean Moore, Denis Corroon, Jordan Warde. Subs used: Efe Siode for O’Hanlon (48), Killian Daly for B O’Reilly (50), Lorcan Smyth for O’Brien (55), David Coyne for J O’Reilly (58), O’Hanlon for Fagan (60+5).

The Downs: Trevor Martin; Éanna Burke, Charlie Drumm, Peter Murray; Joe Moran, Andrew Shaw, Oisín Loughlin; Kevin O’Sullivan, Conor Coughlan; Kevin Smullen, Andrew Kilmartin, Ciaran Nolan; Luke Loughlin, Ian Martin, Matthew Cunningham. Subs used: Oisín Murphy for Murray (26), Niall Mitchell for Smullen (h-t), Philip Martin for Shaw (34), Billy Moffatt for Cunningham (41).

Referee: Niall Ward (Garrycastle).