Multy advance on penalties in thriller with Tubberclair

Multyfarnham 3-15 Tubberclair 2-18

(Multyfarnham win 5-4 on penalties)

If Jim Gavin had been in TEG Cusack Park for the first game of last Sunday’s Westmeath championship quarter-final double-header, he would probably have informed his committee that there is little wrong with the modern game of Gaelic football.

After a lengthy and pulsating encounter, which caused a 45-minute delay to the ensuing senior fixture, it was Multyfarnham who had secured a penultimate round showdown with Peter Geraghty Cup favourites Garrycastle following a sudden death penalty shootout win over a Tubberclair side who finished extra-time with just 13 men after picking up a late brace of red cards.

The Sweeney brothers emerged as heroes in the much-criticised, yet always enthralling, spot-kick format, with Craig saving Fred Kelleher’s second kick prior to Stephen finding the net for the third time overall from the spot (the first of them in the ‘normal’ game). However, as has been the case throughout the campaign, inter-county star Ronan Wallace proved to be a real leader throughout as the plucky men in maroon and white always rallied admirably when looking like they were exiting the championship.

Conor Elliott (a great mark) and Stephen Sweeney (after a laboured build-up) traded early points before Tubberclair, who had the aid of a slight wind, edged ahead with points from Matthew Whittaker (when a goal beckoned) and Fred Kelleher (availing of an opposition error) with five minutes elapsed.

The strong-running Anthony McGivney was pulled for ‘steps’ when almost in on goal – he may have been fouled seconds earlier – but his colleague Ronan Wallace soon halved the deficit from a difficult free. A fine free from Eoghan McCabe and a neat score by Oisín O’Meara put Daniel Sammon’s charges 0-5 to 0-2 clear by the end of the opening quarter.

James Greene pointed for the winners (after a cleverly-executed mark by Adam Bate). Finn Duffy cancelled that out at the other end when a goal looked on the cards. A quickfire brace from the boots of Bate and Niall McDermott left the deficit at the bare minimum (0-6 to 0-5) with 22 minutes on the clock. A goal exchange followed between Bate (whose soccer-style shot crept past Simon Fagan) and Kelleher (who availed of McCabe’s clever pass to rifle an unstoppable shot to the roof of the Multy net). Kelleher added a classy point in the 29th minute, leaving the South Westmeath side ahead by 1-7 to 1-5 at the interval.

Within 20 seconds of the resumption of play, Tubberclair went three points ahead via a fine solo point from Kelleher. Some seven scoreless minutes later, Bate teed up Wallace, who did well to fire a low shot to the net from close range to tie up the scoring. Jamie Coffey neatly nudged the men under the tutelage of Darren Rigney and Graham Corcoran ahead, and Gareth Mullaniff doubled their advantage with aplomb in the 40th minute.

However, a rapid-fire hat-trick of points had the men in green and gold ahead again, the scores coming courtesy of McCabe (a great free from 45 metres), sub Paul Garvey, and Duffy. A terrific point from Wallace had the teams on level terms yet again (2-8 to 1-11) at the end of the third quarter.

The same player was just short from a ‘45’ close to the stand sideline and an immediate Tubberclair counterattack yielded the lead score from Duffy. A Wallace brace (a 40-metre free and a great score from play after the resultant kick-out) regained the lead for Multyfarnham, but McCabe levelled matters up again from a routine free in the 54th minute.

Wallace (a ‘45’) and McCabe (a fine score from open play) traded points towards the end of normal time. A McCabe lineball was narrowly wide as a minimum of three minutes of added-time was announced. Kelleher looked to have won the day for Tubberclair in the second of these minutes, but there was still time for Wallace to coolly slot over the equaliser from a routine free with seconds remaining. The scoreboard now read: Multyfarnham 2-12 Tubberclair 1-15.

A handling error by Craig Sweeney allowed McCabe to set up Whittaker for a goal just 35 seconds into the first 10-minute period of extra-time. Remarkably, Multy equalised two minutes later when Stephen Sweeney netted from the spot after a foul on influential sub Mark Reynolds. The hard-working Gavin Delaney was soon dismissed after picking up a black card to go with an earlier yellow. However, points from his colleagues Robbie Curley and McCabe (a free) put Tubberclair ahead by 2-17 to 3-12 at half-time in extra-time.

Whittaker put the losers three points clear from a mark just 20 seconds after play resumed. Two hopeful punts goalward by Multy proved fruitless, but they received an unexpected boost when Stephen McGonagle was sent off after picking up a quickfire brace of yellow cards. The winners patiently tagged on three points via a Wallace free, and two from sub Ian McGovern (a mark and a fisted score). Indeed, Wallace had the chance to prevent the dreaded shootout with seconds remaining, but he was narrowly wide from a difficult free with seconds remaining.

The penalty shootout followed at the Dunnes Stores end and it needed sudden death for Multyfarnham to eke out a precious semi-final slot to keep their very impressive season going for at least another fortnight.

Scorers - Multyfarnham: R Wallace 1-7 (0-4f, 0-1‘45’), S Sweeney (1-0pen), A Bate 1-1 each, I McGovern 0-2 (1m), N McDermott, J Greene, G Mullanifff, J Coffey 0-1 each. Tubberclair: F Kelleher 1-4, M Whittaker 1-2 (0-1m), E McCabe 0-5 (4f), F Duffy 0-3, R Curley, O O’Meara, P Garvey, C Elliott (m) 0-1 each.

Multyfarnham: Craig Sweeney; Ronan Greene, Feichin Brennan, Aaron Whelan; Niall McDermott, Ronan Wallace, Adam Bate; Cian Lee, James Greene; Louis Greene, Anthony McGivney, Jude Auld; Stephen Sweeney, Gareth Mullanniff, Jamie Coffey. Subs used: Mark Reynolds for J Greene (inj., 37), Ian McGovern for Coffey (46), James Greene for L Greene (e/t, 15), CJ Tighe for Whelan (e/t, 15), Colm Hogan for R Greene (e/t, 19).

Tubberclair: Simon Fagan; Stephen McGonagle, Aaron Brady, Jason McHugh; James Madden, Peader Dolan, Kevin Claffey; Gavin Delaney, Sean Claffey; Oisín O’Meara, Fred Kelleher, Finn Duffy; Eoghan McCabe, Matthew Whittaker, Conor Elliott. Subs used: Paul Garvey for Elliott (35), Robbie Curley for O’Meara (46), Cathal Tighe for K Claffey (50), Charlie Kennedy for McHugh (58), Jason McHugh for Duffy (inj., e/t, 19).

Ref: Enda Kenny (Ballinagore).