Shay Murtagh Senior Championship Final:
St Lomans Mullingar 0-17 Tyrrellspass 2-09 AET
St Loman’s Mullingar claimed their eighth Senior Championship in dramatic fashion last Sunday in TEG Cusack Park. After having to settle for silver in 2018 and 2019. The Blues have won their first senior title since 2017 and their fifth title in eight years. It was a unique county final in that the crowd was reduced due to the covid-19 pandemic. It was a shame as it was a fantastic spectacle and deserved a packed Cusack Park but rightly so the crowds were reduced for safety of players, patrons and supporters. Both teams served up a wonderfully exciting game of football for people in attendance, watching at home, in the pub or on the big screen in Lakepoint Park.
The first quarter was tense and cagey which was not in keeping with the remainder of the game. Ger Egan kicked the first point with a well-executed free. However Lomans settled quickly and John Heslin slotted over three points two free kicks either side of a lovely score off his left boot. The game livened up when Tyrrellspass were awarded a penalty after Paddy Dowdall was deemed to have fouled David Glennon by referee Pat Fox. Egan took the penalty and smashed into the top corner, giving Jason Daly no chance. Kieran Garaghty then pointed to leave Tyrrellspass two in front. The Saints responded well though and replied with a trio of scores. A John Heslin double followed by a point from Fionn O’Hara put Lomans in front. O’Hara almost had a goal moments before but his effort was cleared off the line. Aaron O’Brien then pointed on the stroke of half time for Tyrrellspass to leave the team’s deadlocked going into the second half.
Egan once more got the opening point of the half but once again Declan Kelly’s man responded brilliantly. Ronan O’Toole pointed after typically tidy footwork and a well-judged effort on his left side. Peter Foy’s excellent point put the Blues ahead before Sam McCartan doubled the lead immediately after from an acute angle. Peter Foy then got one of the scores of the match with a brilliant long-range effort with the outside of his foot. Egan responded for Tyrrellspass with placed balls either side of a Kelvin Reilly point to leave The Saints in front by two heading into the closing stages. In truth Lomans dominated the second period and were denied two goals. First Heslin was foiled by a save fromm Darren Quinn before Conradh Reilly’s effort was once again blocked on the line, this time by Jamie Gonoud. The Mullingar men looked to be heading to victory but when Evan Connell hit Tyrrellspass second goal of the match in injury time to get their noses in front, it looked all over for the Blues. However this team doesn’t know when they are beaten. A combination of Kelvin Reilly, Fola Ayorinde and Conor O’Donghue forced a vital turnover in the 63rd minute, and the latter won a free but it was from a tight angle and only a couple of yards in from the side-line. John Heslin knew he had to score or else our dreams of winning the Flanagan Cup were over. Luckily the man thrives on pressure moments like this. The Tyrrellspass faithful’s attempt to put Heslin off were all in vain as Heslin split the posts as if it were a routine free. The pressure of the kick really cannot be overstated and in these moments you need your big players to step up and that’s what Heslin did. This was more or less the last kick of normal time and Pat Fox blew the full time whistle with nothing separating the sides and extra time looming.
Extra time was a tense affair, Dean McNicholas got the first score but Ronan O’Toole responded with an outstanding point. Both teams then traded scores with Adam Flanagan and Heslin on target for both sides. Lomans crucially got their noses in front before the end of the first period with a brilliant score from an unlikely source with Kevin Regan’s curled effort off his weaker left foot. The second period began and both teams went hammer and tongs to try get the upper hand, with both teams exerting huge effort. Heslin doubled our lead with another classy point. O’Toole then got his third with a typically brilliant effort at a crucial stage of the match. Egan pointed once more for Tyrrellspass to leave the deficit at two. Tyrrellspass searched for a goal in the closing stages but our defence (marshalled by the General Paddy Dowdall) held firm. The full whistle came and with it sheer jubilation form the Blues’ players, management and supporters.
It must be said that we thoroughly deserved the victory and played the better football on the day. Tyrrellspass put in a massive effort and commiserations to them as they never give anybody an easy game. A huge well done to Declan Kelly and his management team of Ciaran Kilmurray, Jonathan Plunkett and Gary Devine. Also thanks to Alan Bracken and Covid-officer Paul Devine for their tireless work throughout the year. This team has been criticised in some quarters after losing in two successive finals and losing big leads. However after coming back from the dead in this year’s final and semi-final respectively, any lingering questions about this team’s character have certainly been extinguished. What a fantastic achievement from Declan Kelly and his players. In his first year in charge, Declan was a breath of fresh air and gave us a new lease of life and we’ll forever be thankful to him for that. In my opinion this was the sweetest championship win since 2013, as it would have been devastating to lose three consecutive finals.
In truth every single player deserves a mention on the day, we were fantastic as a unit and our backs in particular tackled ferociously for eighty minutes. Just to mention a few players individually, Fola Ayorinde has had his most consistent year in midfield and put in a tireless shift in the middle of the park, gaining several key possessions at vital times. Peter Foy scored two crucial points but contributed brilliantly all around the pitch. Ronan O’Toole was his accomplished self and conducted the Lomans orchestra up front. John Heslin did what John Heslin does and delivered in the big moments, not least with the free to force extra time. Heslin kicked eight points on the day and was crucial in delivering a fifth county title for our club. Ryan Jones was solid and Rory Sheahan provided great energy from the bench. In terms of man of the match, it’s impossible to split Paddy Dowdall and Conor O’Donoghue. Dowdall defies logic with his super-natural fitness. There were questions before whether a man approaching his thirty-ninth birthday could last sixty minutes. Well not only did he last sixty, he lasted eighty. He’s a truly wonderful player and a legend of the club. He snuffed out several Tyrrellspass attacks at vital times, with numerous interceptions and turnovers at key stages. He’s a role model to any defender in the art of tackling. O’Donoghue had a similar game in terms of dogged tackling and several turnovers. Not to mention winning the vital free that won the free that brought extra-time. Mousy’s story is a nice one, after over a decade of trying to force his way into the starting fifteen, he never gave up and kept working harder and harder. He has had the season of his life in 2020 and is a lesson to everybody in the importance of hard work. There are so many sub-plots in the story of this squad but just to mention a couple more. Midfielder Sean Flanagan bringing the cup home to his granddad Paddy, who the cup is named after, is truly heart-warming stuff. Another man who has spent years trying to break his way into the starting fifteen, is Darragh O’Keefe. Darragh at one stage feared he’d never play again with health issues and was injured for last year’s final. Darragh is now a mainstay at full back and an extremely dependable one at that and similar to Mousy is a lesson in sheer determination. Also best wishes to Fionn O’Hara for a speedy recovery following a hefty collision on Sunday. Finally well done to all players, management and everybody involved on delivering a memorable day for St Lomans Mullingar.
Team; Jason Daly, Paddy Dowdall, Darragh O’Keefe, David Whelan, Kelvin Reilly (0.01), Ryan Jones, Conor O’Donoghue, Sean Flanagan, Fola Ayorinde, Conradh Reilly, Ronan O’Toole (0.03), Sam McCartan (0.01), Fionn O’Hara (0.01), John Heslin (0.08, 0.04f), Peter Foy (0.02). Subs used; Rory Sheahan, Kevin Regan (0.01), Enda Gaffney, Sean Kelly.
