St Loman’s reach final four following dominant victory

St Loman's 2-15 Ballycomoyle 3-6

St Loman’s never looked like losing in a cloudy, breezy and drizzly Ballynacargy on Saturday evening last as they thundered past a Ballycomoyle side who could never quite stamp their authority on this encounter. The Mullingar men were dominant, and always kept their opponents at arm’s length in a powerful team performance. With their senior team doing well at the moment, St Loman’s would be delighted to see their junior footballers find their way deep in their competition too.

St Loman’s opened the scoring in the fourth minute, and availed of the breeze behind them, as Danny McCann let fly from 45 metres in the fourth minute to score. A further four points within the next seven minutes followed; Tristan Graham scored a lovely point off his left to start procedures, Chris Gilbert cut inside to score a super score, Shane Mulderry assisted Danny McKeon to convert while the half-back fed Danny McCann, who repeated his earlier feat. Brendan Doyle slotted over a free for Ballycomoyle in response in the 16th minute, when a minute later, Tadhg Kenny cut inside and found Chris Gilbert, who showed great trickery to pass by one defender and put the ball low and hard into Garry Lynch’s net.

It was an uphill battle from there for Ballycomoyle, as Tommy and Brendan Doyle would put points on the board for their team, while St Loman’s took control. Chris Gilbert pointed on the run to begin the purple patch in the 20th minute, while teammates Danny McCann from a free, Eoghan O’Keefe’s glided point and Ryan Jones’s monster score from 55 metres out pushed the Mullingar men into a nine point lead.

Their opponents would have the last say of the half, however; Tommy Doyle’s goal chance was foot-blocked a minute from the interval, which resulted in David Williams firing the resulting penalty into the corner of the net to leave St Loman’s 1-9 to 1-3 in front.

St Loman’s remained six points ahead in the 49th minute when Ballycomoyle were given a lifeline; a high, dropping shot spilled out to an in-rushing Tommy Doyle, who forced the ball into Rory Matthews’s net, while John Egan added a point moments later to cut the gap down further. A brace from Tristan Graham and quick thinking from Tadhg Kelly had Thomas Meegan fire in a goal in the 57th minute to evaporate any chance of a Ballycomoyle revival. A high-delivery had full-back Sean Kelly palming the ball into his own net two minutes into added time, though Chris Gilbert sent a ’45 sailing over the bar a minute later to put the chef’s kiss on a St Loman’s victory.

Scorers - St Loman’s: Chris Gilbert 1-4 (0-1f, 0-1’45), Danny McCann 0-5 (0-2f), Sean Kelly (own-goal) and Thomas Meeghan 1-0, Tristan Graham 0-3, Ryan Jones, Eoghan O’Keefe, Tadhg Kelly and David Morgan 0-1 each.

Ballycomoyle: Tommy Doyle and David Williams (1-0pen, 0-1f) 1-1 each, Brendan Doyle (0-1f) and John Egan 0-2 each.

St Loman’s: Rory Matthews; Gerry Grehan, Sean Kelly, Riley Sheehan; Shane Mulderry, Conor Regan, Tristan Graham; Cillian Plunkett, Ryan Jones; Danny McKeon, Eoghan O’Keefe, Chris Gilbert; Tadhg Kenny, David Morgan, Mark Tunney. Substitutes: Thomas Meeghan for David Morgan (43), Tom Dorr for Riley Sheehan (48).

Ballycomoyle: Garry Lynch; Brian Caffrey, Daniel Reilly, TJ Higgins; James McHugh, Billy Ryan, Michael Daly; Brendan Doyle, Colm Dermody; Dan Higgins, Max Charles, Eoin English; John Egan, Tommy Doyle, David Williams. Substitutes: Alex Little for Eoin English (50), Ciaran English for TJ Higgins (56), Dara Hennon for Dan Higgins (59).

Referee: Brendan Keena.