Fitzsimons goal the key as St Loman's win thrilling local derby

St Loman's Mullingar 1-12

Mullingar Shamrocks 1-8

Last Friday night amid the beautiful weather, Mullingar Shamrocks hosted local rivals St Loman's Mullingar in Springfield.

The home side started the brighter and raced into a four-point lead and they enjoyed a 1-5 to 0-5 advantage at the interval. The opening point came from Theo Kelly before Colm Clinton rattled the net with a terrific finish via the underside of the crossbar. Cathal Kilmurray got the Blues off the mark with a super point, but the four-point lead was restored at the other end following a great score from Darragh Daly.

Kilmurray responded for the saints to add to his tally before Paidí Slevin added another well-taken point to reduce the arrears to two points. The sides traded two scores each in the second quarter, Matthew Tully and Billy Lambden opening their accounts for the visitors, while the hosts did their scoring through a pair of frees from midfielder Scott Farrelly. Farrelly would go on to have the last word of the half with another effort from a placed ball, which left three between the teams at half-time.

INSURANCE SCORE

Despite the summery conditions there was a significant breeze at play and after playing against the conditions in the first period, Lomans had the aid of the wind in the second period. Within five minutes the blues were level with three unanswered points, two from Luke Fitzsimons either side of a Michael Brennan point. The visitors took the lead for the first time in the 40th minute with an excellent point from Billy Lambden. The lead was snuffed out instantly at the other end through a great point from Colm Clinton. The sides continued to trade scores with Kilmurray and Farrelly on target for their respective teams.

The defining moment of the game came in the fourth quarter when Kilmurray found Luke Fitzsimons who buried a low shot into the bottom corner of the net to put the side from Lakepoint into the driving seat. Paidí Slevin momentarily extended the advantage, but Farrelly once again responded with an excellent free to leave it as a one score game heading into the closing stages. Mullingar Shamrocks searched for a goal to level the game, but it was the blues who got the insurance score at the other end through Cillian Raleigh. It turned out to be the final score of an absorbing match, St Loman's running out four-point winners.

This local derby was played in great spirits with both sides playing a positive brand of football. The two sides put in a huge effort for sixty minutes and it was nip and tuck until the final whistle. The visitors ultimately deserved the victory for a strong second half display but credit to Mullingar Shamrocks who never gave up and fought until the end.

In terms of individual performances Mullingar Shamrocks midfielder Scott Farrelly was excellent, particularly from placed balls, Colm Clinton and Shay Leavy also caught the eye. For the victors, the likes of Paidí Slevin, Sean O’Connell and Shane Canning performed excellently, as well as match winner Luke Fitzsimons. However, man of the match was Cathal Kilmurray, the talisman who kept the Saints in the game for the first half and was instrumental in their victory.

St Lomans Mullingar team: James McHugh, Harry Brennan, Conor Raleigh, Eoin McGinley, Michael Long, Sean O’Connell, Shane Canning, Michael Brennan (0-1), Jack Daly, Billy Lambden (0-2), Cathal Kilmurray (0-3), Paidi Slevin (0-2), Matthew Tully (0-1), Luke Fitzsimons (1-2), Cillian Raleigh (0-1). Subs: Cian McDonnell, Jack Corroon, Shane McSherry, Jamie Lyons, Sam Sheerin, Louie Bracken, Joshua O’Brien, Liam Ford, James McDonnell.

Mullingar Shamrocks team: Tom McCaul, Carl Keane, Shay Leavy, MJ Burke, Manus Kelly, Sean Dooley, Conor Glynn, Oliver Keane, Scott Farrelly (0-5; 5f), Theo Kelly (0-1), Colm Clinton (1-1), Killian Hand, Darragh Daly (0-1), Jamie Timoney, Eoin Reddin. Subs; John Cleary, Paul Dooley, Jacob, Duncan, Conan Kelly, Eddie Leavy, Fionn Ledwith, Conor Matthews, Darragh McCabe, Kian Newcombe, Evan Nohilly, Alfie Rock, Rory Thornton, Cian Traynor, Cian McNamee.

Ref: Damien Maher (Ballynacargy).