Powerful Plunkett"s too good for ragged Ringtown

Mullingar based St. Oliver Plunketts renewed their bid for championship honours when they comfortably disposed of Ringtown in Cusack Park on Saturday evening last.Although Ringtown more then held their own at times it was their lack of scores and scoring chances that was their ultimate undoing and they wasted quite a lot of ball. When Plunketts upped the ante in the second half, Ringtown were found badly wanting.Plunketts pulled away at their ease and when they hit the front they never looked like they would lose this game. They were always the better team against a Ringtown side that sputtered its way through the match. Eleven points probably flatters the winners but when they needed scores they got them whereas Ringtown struggled badly and they now must now defeat Castlepollard in their final game of the group, if they are to have any say in this year"s Championship. Plunketts, on the other hand, are now looking at a semi-final spot and possible redemption after their poor early performance against Clonkill in the opening round.The game was barely a minute old when Plunketts impressive corner forward, Mick Cleary got the ball rolling when he converted a 21-yard free after he himself had been fouled. Aidan Lyons and then Govinda Geoghegan added two well-taken points as Plunketts dominated the opening exchanges but Colin Murtagh did get one back for Ringtown when he hit a lovely score from a very acute angle.Ringtown could not capitalise on this minor revival and when Ciaran Curley found Mick Cleary he made no mistake and increased the Mullingar"s side"s lead to three. Murtagh pulled another one back for Ringtown and he was posing the only threat to Plunketts at this stage, but Sean Maguire replied for the green and whites with a massive score from almost inside his own half of the field. Ringtown did have a sustained period of pressure then and should have had a number of scores but their only entry on the scoreboard was a John Paul Creggy score which was nullified when the Ringtown defence virtually handed the ball to Mick Cleary and he added another to his own personal tally and that of Oliver Plunketts.The game deteriorated for a time after that as the hurling became ragged and without cohesion. Johhny Hardman pulled one back for Ringtown from a "65" but that was cancelled out by a fine score from Kevin Baker. Darren Kilcoyne again pulled one back for Ringtown but Cian O"Leary restored Plunkett"s advantage with a superbly taken score after a good solo run. Again there was a minor hiatus in the game as both sides struggled and missed chances but Govinda Geoghegan put Plunketts four in front with a super score that he created and finished himself and the half finished with two Mick Cleary frees that were far too easily conceded by an under-pressure Ringtown defence. That left the half time score 0-11 to 0-5 in the Mullingar side"s favour.IntensityRingtown needed to increase their intensity at the start of the second and, to be fair they did that, but alas their forwards had left their shooting boots at home and after Darren Kilcoyne had missed a gilt-edged goal chance, Mick Cleary pulled Plunketts further ahead with a converted free. Ringtown were handed a lifeline when Darren Kilcoyne burst through the heart of the Plunketts defence and his pass found brother Niall who shot hard and low to the Plunketts net and raised the first green flag of the game.That should have rallied Ringtown but they could not punish Plunketts when in the ascendancy and hit some awful wides in that period. Plunketts too were guilty of wastefulness in front of goal and sub James Coyle should have goaled for them on 45 minutes but he completely mishit his shot when bearing down on goal. Mick Cleary kept the scoreboard ticking over for Plunketts with another free but the turning point of the game came on 53 minutes when Pat Burke made a fantastic save from Mick Cleary only to see sub James Coyle, in the right place at the right time, tap the ball to the net. It seemed to tear the heart out of Ringtown and they never truly recovered but Niall Kilcoyne did hit two points, one from play and another from a 65-yard free, but they were merely plugging the dyke and Cleary and Cian O"Leary kept Plunketts at arm"s distance as the game began to fizzle out.In the last minute of normal time, Plunketts got another goal in almost identical fashion to the first when again Burke in the Ringtown goal saved superbly, this time from Coyle but goalpoacher supreme, Cian O"Leary, was on hand to tap the ball to the net for the final score of the game. Burke was injured in the process and his replacement Michael Murphy made another great save from Mick Cleary in the final action of the game as, seconds later, referee Feichin Brennan blew the final whistle.Scorers: St. Oliver Plunketts - Mick Cleary 0-8 (6 frees), Cian O"Leary 1-2, James Coyle 1-0, Govinda Geoghegan 0-2, Sean Maguire, Aidan Lyons and Kevin Baker 0-1 each; Ringtown - Niall Kilcoyne 1-2, Colin Murtagh 0-2, Johnny Hardman, J.P.Creggy and Darren Kilcoyne 0-1 eachSt. Oliver Plunketts: Peter Collins, Conaire Flanagan, Sean O"Leary, Damian Kiernan, Sean Maguire, Noel Gavin, Oisin Clinton, Stephen McManus, Eoin O"Meara, Govinda Geoghegan, Cian O"Leary, Ciaran Curley, Mick Cleary, Aidan Lyons, Kevin Baker. Subs: James Coyle for Lyons 40 mins, Micky Harris for Flanagan 47 mins.Ringtown: Pat Burke, Dermot Cafferty, Shane Brophy, Keith Melia, Jeffrey Nea, Eanna Doolin, Gerry Goldrick, Johnny Hardman, Daire Doolin, Colin Murtagh, J.P.Creggy, Willie Murphy, Niall Kilcoyne, Marty Cunningham, Darren Kilcoyne. Subs: Martin Burke for Creggy H/T, Christy Fanning for Murphy 37 mins, Tossy Brady for Brophy 50 mins, Frankie Boyhan for Daire Doolin 54 mins, Michael Murphy for Pat Burke 62 mins.Referee: Feichin Brennan, Crookedwood.+