Lyster goal decisive as St Mary’s win local derby

St Mary's, Rochfortbridge 1-14 Milltownpass 0-12

Gerry Buckley

A very well-taken goal in the 39th minute from arguably the best player on show, Sean Lyster, proved to be the score which propelled an impressive St Mary’s, Rochfortbridge side to a deserved win over neighbours Milltownpass in an entertaining Westmeath intermediate football championship contest at sun-drenched TEG Cusack Park last Saturday evening.

Remarkably, there was never more than a point separating two evenly-matched sides until moments before Lyster’s strike. Try as they might thereafter, the men in white and black were unable to claw back the deficit and the two precious points on offer correctly ended up in St Mary’s account.

The first half proved to be an astonishing series of tit-for-tat point exchanges, with the teams tied on no less than seven occasions. The scores came courtesy of Brandon Kelly and Ned Cully, Niall Cully and Finbar Coyne, Ned Cully (a free) and Sam Duncan (a fisted effort), Eddie Alford (after an injury to Shane Corcoran had delayed the contest) and Kelly (a quality individual effort), the respective number 14s, Ned Cully and Coyne (both classy finishes), Niall Cully and Coyne (both frees), and Ned Cully (a free) and Kelly (another terrific solo score). At the interval, the scoreboard read 0-7 apiece.

Unsurprisingly, the trend continued on the change of ends with Shane Flanagan (shortly before he was replaced) and Sean Lyster (a delightful score) swapping points by the 33rd minute. Impressive wing back Enda Cully rounded off a fine move for the green and white-clad outfit before his colleague Lyster opened up the first two-point gap of the evening in the 38th minute.

The same player put Alan Gavin’s troops five clear a minute later, cleverly fielding Paul Carey’s angled delivery on the edge of the square and duly planting the ball past Ruairí Coyne. Jordan Ajani could have increased the winners’ lead, but he shot high and wide when at least a point beckoned.

At the other end, Coyne was narrowly wide with a low shot for a three-pointer. Kelly brought his tally to 0-4 approaching the end of the third quarter. Niall Cully scored a brace for the winners (the second when teed up by his brother Ned) before Coyne responded with a converted free for Louis Ennis’ charges.

Ned Cully was black-carded in the 51st minute. His opposite number Coyne slotted over another free, but St Mary’s sub Sean Carroll cancelled this out with a point which flew high over the Milltownpass crossbar. Niall Cully (a free) and Noel O’Reilly (a fisted score) traded late points, and the final whistle blew just as Ned Cully was preparing to return to the fray.

Scorers –

St Mary’s, Rochfortbridge: S Lyster 1-2, Niall Cully 0-5 (2f), Ned Cully 0-4 (2f), E Cully, E Alford and S Carroll 0-1 each.

Milltownpass: F Coyne 0-5 (3f), B Kelly 0-4, N O’Reilly, S Duncan and S Flanagan 0-1 each.

St Mary’s, Rochfortbridge: Eoin Gorman; Brendan Brady, Aidan Robinson, Dan O’Sullivan; Peter Lalor, Adam Kavanagh, Enda Cully; Jake Byrne, Sean Lyster; Eddie Alford, Jordan Ajani, Paul Carey; Niall Cully, Ned Cully, Kehn Raqueno. Subs used: Ian Keelan for Raqueno (43), Sean Carroll for Carey (53).

Milltownpass: Ruairí Coyne; Robbie Cleary, Michael McCormack, Darragh O’Connor; Mark Gorman, Noel O’Reilly, Tony Loftus; Sam Duncan, Shane Corcoran; Eoin Geraghty, Shane Flanagan, Gavin Glennon; Darren Ryan, Finbar Coyne, Brandon Kelly. Subs used: Evan Gorman for Corcoran (inj., 17), Shane Corcoran for M Gorman (h-t), David Devine for Flanagan (33), Niall Manning for Corcoran (43).

Ref: Keith O’Brien (Moate All Whites).