Loughlin leads Coláiste Mhuire to emphatic victory

Coláiste Mhuire 1-27, Terenure College 1-6

Castlepollard hurling club played host to the clash of Coláiste Mhuire of Mullingar and Terenure College of Dublin on a cold and crisp Thursday noon match, where the Westmeath side powered through their opponents to record an emphatic victory.

Coláiste Mhuire held an eight-point lead at half-time, and, helped by two second yellow cards shown to Terenure’s Daniel O’Kelly in the 35th minute and Alan Del with seven minutes remaining in the match, the Westmeath men built on their advantage to bulldoze past the metropolitan representatives, who were helpless to stop the onslaught. One of the Dublin side’s coaches was also dismissed on a straight red card in the early moments of the clash.

The early signs were promising; Coláiste Mhuire held a four-point lead ten minutes into the contest thanks to a trio of frees from Kian Loughlin and points from Dillon Burke and first Conor Heffernan, who pointed after 25 seconds, while Daniel O’Kelly converted for Terenure College. Conor Quinn was next to point for the Dublin side, but in the 11th minute Coláiste Mhuire struck gold: Pádraig Monaghan broke the tackle and tucked the sliotar past Harry Lynch’s near side and the net bulged.

Kian Loughlin and an inspiring point from Oisín Costello were traded before Loughlin’s brace and Conor William’s score pushed the Westmeath men ten clear after 20 minutes when Kian Loughlin’s free was added to the tally. A lifeline would come for Terenure College a minute later, when Conor Quinn raced through the heart of the opposing defence, showing great skill, and the shot was riffled low and hard. He backed up the goal with a super point two minutes later, and Daniel O’Kelly’s long-rage free cut the gap down to only five points. Kian Loughlin’s free and points from Darragh Smith and Conor Heffernan pushed Coláiste Mhuire into a 1-13 to 1-5 interval lead.

Terenure College could only muster one score in the second-half, that being Conor Quinn’s point from a difficult angle in the 55th minute. As for Coláiste Mhuire, the pushed on impressively. Kian Loughlin from frees and from play was at the forefront, while teammates Darragh Smith, Seán Hayes, Dillon Burke, Conor Williams and substitute Ted Aherne also contributed to their 21-point win.

Scorers - Coláiste Mhuire: Kian Loughlin 0-14 (0-9 frees), Pádraig Monaghan 1-0, Conor Williams (0-1 free) and Conor Heffernan 0-3 each, Darragh Smith, Seán Hayes and Dillon Burke 0-2 each, Ted Aherne 0-1. Terenure College: Conor Quinn 1-3, Daniel O’Kelly 0-2 (0-1 free), Oisín Costello 0-1.

Coláiste Mhuire: Cathal Óg Fagan; Charlie Foy, Mikey Weir, Conor Daly; Donnacha Maguire, Darragh Kenny, Jamie Kelleghan; Darragh Smith, Seán Hayes; Dillon Burke, Pádraig Monaghan, Eoin Meehan; Conor Williams, Conor Heffernan, Kian Loughlin. Subs: Luke Meyler for Pádraig Monaghan (42), Ted Aherne for Eoin Meehan (49), Seán Byrne for Jamie Kelleghan (51), Matthew Thornton for Darragh Smith (55), Eoin McGrath for Conor Heffernan (59).

Terenure College: Harry Lynch; Tommy Crosny, Luca O’Reilly, Cillian Neville; Billy Sholdice, James Norris, Joe Rafter; Conor Quinn, Joe Clohessy; Declan Power, Daniel O’Reilly, Joe Plunkett; Oisín Costello, Alan Del, Adam Gorman.

Substitutes: Daithí Gann for Adam Gorman (40), Peter Candon for Joe Rafter (42), Conor Ellis for Billy Sholdice and Seán Ringwood for Joe Clohessy (54).

Referee: Jimmy Greville (Castlepollard).