Shay Murtagh Senior Championship Semi-Final:
St Lomans Mullingar 2-14 Coralstown Kinnegad 1-13
Last Sunday evening saw a titanic battle between St Lomans Mullingar and Coralstown Kinnegad for a place in the Senior final. Garrycastle had defeated the Downs in the early game so both sides were determined to be the ones facing the Castle in the county final. Coralstown Kinnegad won this fixture comfortably in the group stages but knockout football is where it counts. The match was filled with drama from first whistle to last, the game ebbed and flowed with both sides having their periods of dominance.
The game sparked into life instantly. Fola Ayorinde won the throw in and found midfielder Sam McCartan, who in-turn found his midfield partner Kevin Regan. Regan drove forward and chose the right pass to find Peter Foy and Foy made no mistake finishing in the bottom corner giving the Blues the perfect start. Lomans continued to turn the screw in the opening quarter and tagged on another four points through TJ Cox and a treble from John Heslin leaving the Blues seven points ahead at the first water break.
The second quarter brought a complete role reversal with Kinnegad scoring 1-05 without reply. Pointed free’s from Ger Leech, Callum Cruise and Darren Giles initially closed the gap. Then a long ball in found Jack Torpey who struck a low shot past Jason Daly into the net. Two more placed balls from Giles put Kinnegad in front. The Saints were momentarily level with a point from an unlikely source in corner back Darragh O’Keefe. Ger Leech got the final score of the half to leave Kinnegad a point ahead at the interval. The Blues had it all to do in the second Half.
Coralstown Kinnegad picked up where they left off in the early minutes of the second half with points from Callum Cruise and Jack Torpey. The Blues reduced the gaps with excellent points from John Heslin and TJ Cox respectively. It must be said that the standard of point-scoring from both teams throughout was exceptional with magnificent scores all round. Coralstown restored their lead with placed balls from Giles and Leech. Kinnegad were leading by three at the second half water break and looked to be heading towards their first county final in 26 years. The defending champions were in a pickle and looked to be crashing out of the championship.
In moments of adversity, we find out what players are made of, and this Loman’s team never know when they are beaten. Ronan O’Toole got the score of the match to reduce the gap to two after a stunning point from the touchline off his left boot. Heslin reduced the gap to one with an excellent pointed free, moments before another superb point from O’Toole drew the two teams’ level. Both sides traded points with monumental scores from Ronan O’Toole and Eoin O’Brien for their respective sides. Giles put Kinnegad in front again, but they couldn’t stop Ronan O’Toole who took matters into his own hands with another beautiful effort and the sides were level pegging once more. John Heslin’s free moments later put Lomans ahead before a superb effort from Kinnegad’s Eoghan Bracken leveled matters again.
With nothing to separate the sides in the final minute of normal time, St Loman’s were awarded a free kick in scoring territory. With the sound of a ferocious Kinnegad support doing their best to put him off, John Heslin did what John Heslin does and nailed it, the ball bisected the posts to leave the champions ahead going into injury time. On the Sixty-minute mark The Blues forced a turnover through Sean Flanagan, and he found fellow substitute Shane Dempsey. Dempsey spotted Fola Ayorinde bounding towards goal on his left-hand side, he slipped through Fola who thundered past the last line of Kinnegad defenders with the goal at his mercy. Fola hit a rocket past Kinnegad goalkeeper Sean Martin to seal our place in a seventh consecutive final sparking wild celebrations in TEG Cusack Park.
On the day there were some incredible individual performances from the Mullingar Men. Darragh O’Keefe was superb at the back and his experience was vital coming down the stretch. Kelvin Reilly put in another formidable performance at Centre- Half back. Sam McCartan delivered his usual consistent performance in midfield. McCartan won the ball back numerous times, and his driving runs caused a lot of problems for the Kinnegad defence. Peter Foy, Conor O’Donoghue and Rory Sheahan put in a huge shift. Substitute Sean Flanagan made a big contribution in the middle of the park, Flanagan brought intensity which was crucial coming down the stretch. However, the two match winners were John Heslin and Ronan O’Toole. Heslin won primary possession from kick-outs countless times and his free’s were immaculate. The man of the match was Ronan O’Toole. O’Toole stepped up in the closing stages, scoring four outrageous points in the final quarter, the sign of a great player is to deliver in big moments and O’Toole certainly delivered.
Any description of this match doesn’t do it justice as it was an absolute thriller in an emotionally charged TEG Cusack Park, a real classic for the ages. Both sides had their moments, and the level of football was second to none. Commiserations to Coralstown Kinnegad who fought until the bitter end. The St Lomans supporters should be so proud of this group of players and management. Getting to seven consecutive finals (also our eighth in nine years) is a phenomenal achievement. The players showed tremendous character scoring 1-07 in the final quarter. We face Garrycastle in two weeks’ time with date and time to be finalised this week. This is a repeat of the 2019 final which will bring back bad memories for the Lomans faithful when Garrycastle embarked on a remarkable comeback to snatch victory from the Blues. Hopefully for Lomans history will not repeat itself against a Garrycastle side who have a tremendous record in county finals. Ending on a positive note, get the bunting and flags up for another county final!
Team; Jason Daly, David Whelan, Oisín Hogan, Darragh O’Keefe (0.01), Jack Geoghegan, Kelvin Reilly, Conor O’Donoghue, Kevin Regan, Sam McCartan, Rory Sheahan, Ronan O’Toole (0.04), TJ Cox (0.02), Peter Foy (1.00), John Heslin (0.07, 0.07f), Fola Ayorinde (1.00). Subs Used: Sean Flanagan, Ken Casey, Shane Dempsey, Chris Gilbert.
