Greville goal the key as Killucan edge out St. Lomans

Gerry Buckley reportsLast year's Flanagan Cup finalists, St. Loman's, Mullingar are almost certainly out of the race for the 2010 Westmeath senior football championship after losing out by a goal to Killucan in the first game of last Sunday evening's double-header at Cusack Park.The match-winning score came in the 13th minute of the first half, Westmeath dual star Paul Greville reacting well to poke home an opportunist goal after Jason Daly failed to hold Conor Jordan's teasing long ball forward. Indeed, Greville was the best all-round attacker on show, adding four points (including three from play) throughout the hour, to leave Dermot Brady's charges well in contention for a place in the knockout stages.A small crowd turned up at the Lake County GAA headquarters and, in truth, the fare on offer was far from riveting, despite conditions being quite good for football and the surface, as always, looking resplendent. Killucan should have gone in front in the opening exchanges, with James Nugent particularly unlucky to see the ball from his improvised fly-kick come back off the butt of the post. Padraig Leavy opened the scoring in the seventh minute, ironically after his poorly-struck free kick was not cleared by the losers' defence.The men in saffron and white doubled their advantage when Cormac Boyle, who had a fine game at wing forward, slotted over a terrific point from near the stand sideline. In the 11th minute, John Heslin showed the first glimpse of his undoubted class with a lovely point from 30 metres, after taking John Aherne's pass.Then came what was to prove to be the crucial score of the contest, Paul Greville bundling the ball to the net from point-blank range, with colleague Alan Doyle in close attendance for good measure. Greville followed up with a sweet left-footed point from a tight angle, but this was cancelled out by an equally-good score from his opposite number, Kieran Lynam. Killucan stretched their lead with a point apiece from Rory O'Reilly and Greville again (from a free). Jonathan Plunkett and Paul Sharry (whose effort looked wide to this reporter) reduced the deficit with a point each in the 22nd and 27th minutes respectively. In the second last minute of normal time, Paul Greville struck again for an opportunist point. It could have got even better for the winners, but corner back Emmet Cahill atoned for another misjudgement by Jason Daly to clear the ball off the St. Loman's goal line. Two points in injury-time brought Walter Burke's men right back into contention, John Heslin (from a well-struck 40-metre free) and Conor Lynam (with a great score from play), leaving the scoreboard at half-time reading: Killucan 1-6 St. Loman's, Mullingar 0-6.The winners stretched their advantage within 20 seconds of the restart, Cormac Boyle rifling over a fine point and the same player widened the margin to five points with another great score in the fifth minute, after receiving the ball from Conor Jordan's free. John Heslin responded with a wonderful 50-metre free taken from his hands, but a low-trajectory shot from Paul Greville soon restored Killucan's five-point advantage.A foul on substitute Conor Cochrane after a dashing run goalward gave Paul Sharry a simple chance from a free which he duly converted. Jason Daly redeemed himself for his earlier errors by smothering James Nugent's goal attempt. The latter player then struck the upright before his team-mate John Shaw produced a timely interception at the other end. St. Loman's proceeded to shoot three costly wides in quick succession, but Conor Cochrane eventually found the range with a lovely point from a tight angle. In the 23rd minute, a badly-positioned referee Sean Sheridan turned down claims from the losers for a penalty, Conor Lynam appearing to be impeded after picking up the loose ball when John Heslin's long-range shot came back off the woodwork. Heslin and Paul Sharry both shot wides from '45's as the time ticked away and Sharry's attempt to lob the ball into the danger area to secure a last-gasp draw was also wide of the target in the final action of the game, deep into added-time.Killucan: David Bryan; Johnny Greville, Francis Boyle, Anthony Doyle; Christopher Leech, John Shaw, Mark Dunne; Conor Jordan, Padraig Leavy (0-1); Cormac Boyle (0-3), James Nugent, Rory O'Reilly (0-1); Alan Doyle, Paul Greville (1-4, 0-1 from a free), Barry Nea. Subs: Chris Canning (for Nea, 30 + 2 mins), Paul Briody (for Alan Doyle, 47 mins), Niall Flanagan (for Leech, 50 mins).St. Loman's, Mullingar: Jason Daly; Emmet Cahill, Gary Glennon, Sean Murphy; Shane Flynn, Paddy Dowdall, Stephen Gilmore; John Aherne, Jonathan Plunkett (0-1); Conor Lynam (0-1), John Heslin (0-3, 0-2 from frees), Willie McGovern; Shane Flynn, Kieran Lynam (0-1), Paul Sharry (0-2, 0-1 from a free). Subs: Tommy Lambden (for Aherne, 21 mins), Conor Cochrane (0-1) (for McGovern, half-time), Kelvin Reilly (for S.Flynn, 43 mins).Referee: Sean Sheridan (Tyrrellspass).