St Lomans GAA Club Notes 15/05/2023:
ACFL Division 1:
St Lomans Mullingar 2-12 Shandonagh 0-09
Our division 1 side continued their rich vein of form with a hard-fought victory over Shandonagh last Friday night in Lakepoint Park. The visitors started the brighter with points from Ryan Donnelly and Tom Molloy before Oisin Hogan responded to get the blues on the scoreboard. Shandonagh then hit three points in a row to lead by four midway through the first half. The saints found their feet in the second quarter with five consecutive points via Tristan Graham and doubles from Shane Dempsey and Enda Gaffney respectively to lead by the minimum at the break.
The hosts began the second half by scoring the opening goal of the match. Danny McCartan won the ball and spotted a darting run from Tristan Graham, McCartan’s pass was inch perfect, Graham was clean through and showed superb composure to dummy the keeper and find the empty net. The teams went on to trade two scores each with Ryan Jones and Danny McCartan opening their accounts for the home side. Brendan Killian pointed for the visitors with less than ten minutes to play and left two between the teams.
All game the blues found out difficult to kill off Shandonagh but in the last five minutes cut loose and managed to secure the win. TJ Cox pointed either side of a McCartan point to make it a five-point match. Moments later Cox was on hand to covert the rebound when Conor Regan’s initial shot was blocked, with this Paddy Dowdall’s side had their second goal and the game was over as a contest. Cox had the last word with a super point from play to seal a nine-point win.
On the face of it, a nine-point victory may seem somewhat routine, but Lomans were made to work hard for the two points against a well-organised and stubborn Shandonagh side. This win confirms that St Lomans will play in the league final against Coralstown Kinnegad. A first league final for the blues since 2019 and a huge improvement on their 2022 campaign. On the night, David Whelan, Enda Gaffney and Gerry Grehan were superb. Substitute TJ Cox was also instrumental in the victory scoring 1-03 off the bench. Our final group game against Garrycastle is in two weeks’ time with date and time to be confirmed.
Team; Rory Matthews, Gerry Grehan, Darragh O’Keefe, Eoghan Hogan, Conor O’Donoghue, David Whelan, Jack Geoghegan, Enda Gaffney (0.02), Ryan Jones (0.01), Tristan Graham (1.01), Oisín Hogan (0.01), Rory Sheahan, Conor Regan, Danny McCartan (0.02), Shane Dempsey (0.02, 0.01m). Subs used; TJ Cox (1.03, 0.01f), Peter Foy, Jason Daly, Seanie Dinnegan, Eoghan O’Keefe.
ACFL Division 3:
St Lomans Mullingar 2-20 Garrycastle 0-11
Last Thursday evening our division 3 side travelled to Garrycastle in the penultimate round of the league. Ger Heneghan got the scoring underway for the host, but the Blues quickly got the upper hand, hitting 1-07 without reply. The flurry began with Paddy Dowdall pointing either side of a David Morgan free. Chris Gilbert opened his account with a beautifully struck 45, before moments later finding the net after a brilliant team move. A further trio of points from Dowdall, Gilbert and Adam Lynch extended the lead to nine points. The sides traded three scores each before the break with Seanie Dinnegan, Seanai Bracken and David Morgan on target for the Saints.
The Second half began similarly to the first with Garrycastle getting the opner before a scoring spree from the Mullingar men. This time it was six unanswered points with a hat trick of points from Morgan, along with well-taken points from Bracken, Dowdall and Tadhg Kenny. Garrycastle replied with a point before Chris Gilbert increased his tally with a point from play. Gilbert wasn’t finished there as he was on hands moments later to convert a super team move, scoring the second and final goal of the game.
David Morgan widened the gap before Garrycastle had their best spell of the game with four points on the spin. Robbie Kenny’s side responded with Tadhg Kenny and Ethan Browne getting on the scoresheet. Ger Heneghan had the first word and the last word of the night with a well-executed free, but it was a mere consolation as Lomans ran out comfortable fifteen-point winners and rounding off a seventh consecutive victory in division 3.
Robbie Kenny’s men were superb on the night with super performances all over the field from the likes of Ciaran Smyth, Eoghan Hogan, Paddy Dowdall and David Morgan. Man of the match however was Chris Gilbert who has been in blistering form when fit this season, ending the night with an individual tally of 2-03. The final round sees Lomans face St Malachy’s in Lakepoint Park, where a win would secure promotion to division three.
Team; Rory Matthews, Sean Kelly, Shane Flynn, Seanie Lancaster, Seanai Bracken (0.02), Seanie Dinnegan (0.01), Ciaran Smyth, Paddy Dowdall (0.04), Eoghan Hogan, Eoghan O’Keefe, Adam Lynch (0.01), Eoghan Kenny, Chris Gilbert (2.04, 0.02f), David Morgan (0.05, 0.01m), Tadhg Kenny (0.02). Subs used; Ethan Browne (0.01), Tristan Johnson, Evan Johnson, Killian Browne, Nedas Bielicas, Adam O’Connor, Mark O’Gara, Tom Dorr.
Club Fixtures:
Sunday 21at May:
Ladies League Division 2:
St Lomans Mullingar vs Coralstown Kinnegad at 6pm in Home Instead Lakepoint Park
Club Lotto:
Draw Date: Monday 8th May
This week’s jackpot: €12,600.00
Numbers drawn: 3,9,17,24
No Jackpot Winner.
The winner of the €50 Lucky Dips each were;
Barry Leonard and Grainne Sheerin
Next week’s jackpot: €12,700.00
Next Week’s Draw Date: Monday 15th May
Remember it could be you!
