St Lomans GAA Club Notes 20/03/2023:
ACFL Division 1:
St Lomans Mullingar 2-08 Tyrrellspass 0-07
On St Patrick’s morning a heavy spell of rainfall meant our fixture against Tyrrellspass which was originally fixed to be an away match was moved to Home Instead Lakepoint Park. The Visitors started the brighter outscoring the hosts by four points to one, courtesy of a hat-trick of frees from Ger Egan and a Dean McNicholas point from play, the Lomans point was a placed ball from Daniel McCann. Tyrrellspass were stronger team in the first half but after that the Mullingar men took complete control.
Gerry Grehan reduced the deficit with an excellent score, followed by a point from Sean Flanagan capping off a great team move. The blues took the lead after Ryan Jones found Oisín Hogan in space, Hogan in-turn laid the ball off the to the onrushing Tristan Graham who evaded the tackle before slotting the ball calmy in the bottom corner. Ryan Jones had the last word of the half, after winning the ball back he burst through a challenge before firing the ball between the posts to give the Saints a three-point lead at the interval.
The start of the second half was relatively cagey with both sides trading a single point each, Tristan Graham adding to his tally for the hosts. Paddy Dowdall’s men stretched out their lead when Sean Flanagan’s effort seemed to go through Conor Regan and beat the goalkeeper for the second goal of the game. Egan responded with a pair of frees but the home side rallied late on with Oisin Hogan on target before a double from Peter Foy (one from play and one free) to see Lomans run out seven-point winners.
A second win of the season for St Lomans and still unbeaten in division 1 is a big improvement on this time last year when we had one solitary victory. The Saints performed well across the board but the likes of Darragh O’Keefe, Conor O’Donoghue and David Whelan were excellent. Rory Sheahan and substitute Ciaran Smyth impressed also. Tristan Graham was arguably the best player on the pitch, he was involved in all that was good, as well as ending up with a tally of 1-01.
Team; Rory Matthews, Sean Kelly, Darragh O’Keefe, Gerry Grehan (0.01), Shane Flynn, David Whelan, Conor O’Donoghue, Ryan Jones (0.01), Oisín Hogan (0.01), Tristan Graham (1.01), Conor Regan, Rory Sheahan, Daniel McCann (0.01f), Peter Foy (0.02, 0.01f), Sean Flanagan (1.01). Subs used; Ciaran Smyth, Chris Gilbert, Andrew Daly, Tadhg Kenny, Daire Smyth.
ACFL Division 3:
St Lomans Mullingar 2-13 Maryland 3-08
Last Saturday afternoon St Lomans Mullingar got their third consecutive victory in division 3 after a win over Maryland in Home Instead Lakepoint Park. The hosts struck early when Seanai Bracken went on a rampaging run and after being initially denied, Bracken converted the rebound for a brilliant individual goal. Callum McCormack got the visitors off the mark before the blues replied with a pair of well-taken points from Tadhg Kenny.
Maryland cut the deficit to three points before a chaotic period of the half. There were three goals in the space of five minutes, two for Maryland and one for Lomans, with both defences at sea. David Morgan was the source of the second goal for the Saints. The sides traded two scores each afterwards with Conan O’Hara and Seanai Bracken on target for the home side. McCormack pointed for Maryland before the interval to see the visitors lead by a solitary point at half time.
Robbie Kenny’s side began the second half strongly with a Conan O’Hara from placed balls which saw them regain the lead. The teams then exchanged three scores each with the Blues’ scores coming via an O’Hara free and two stunning points from Paddy Dowdall and David Morgan respectively. The Saints then hit three scores on the bounce with O’Hara, Dowdall and Shane Mulderry all on target.
The outcome looked inevitable at this stage but Callum McCormack netted for the visitors late on to leave a tense finish with only a single point on the board. Conan O’Hara stepped up with a superb late free to give the Mullingar side a small amount of breathing space. Maryland looked for a late goal in stoppage time but the Lomans defence held firm to ensure another two points on the board.
This game although entertaining was riddled with errors from both sides particularly in the second half. The home side can count themselves lucky as they spurned many late chances particularly late on to kill off Maryland. However strong performances from David Morgan, Paddy Dowdall and Seanai Bracken were key in securing the win.
Team; Frank Kavanagh, Evan Johnson, Seanie Dinnegan, Mark O’Gara, Sean Lancaster, Eoghan Hogan, Daire Smyth, Paddy Dowdall (0.02), David Morgan (1.01), Seanai Bracken (1.01), Darren Kavanagh, Eoghan Kenny, Shane Mulderry (0.01), Conan O’Hara (0.06f), Tadhg Kenny (0.02). Subs used; Tom Dorr
ACFL Division 4:
St Lomans Mullingar 2-06 St Joseph’s 1-11
Last Sunday morning our division 4 side welcomed St Joseph’s to Lakepoint Park. The visitors flew out of the traps, hitting 1-04 without reply in the opening stages before the hosts eventually got off the mark courtesy of an Oisín Hogan point. St Joseph’s pulled further clear with three unanswered points to extend the lea. The sides traded scores on the stroke of half time with Enda Gaffney on target for the blues, to see them trail by nine at the break.
The Mullingar men responded well in the second half with two quickfire points from an Enda Gaffney free and a point from Niall Dowdall. Kelly was on hand to fist the ball into the back of the net moments later to reduce the gap. St Joseph’s stretched their lead to six with two points in reply, before Kelly netted once again for the blues after a brilliant run and finish. The Sides traded points once more with Enda Gaffney on target once more. Oisín Hogan hit a point to reduce the deficit to two going into injury time to set up an exciting finish, however the saints couldn’t find a winning goal giving St Joseph’s a narrow one.
Once again a disappointing result for this team with another in game comeback but once again they’ve been made to pay for a slow start. Oisín Hogan, Evan Johnson and substitute James Kelly were the standout performers for the Mullingar side.
Team; Rory Matthews, Evan Johnson, Nigel Graham, Adam Brady, Mark O’Gara, Oisín Hogan (0.02), Tom Dorr, Enda Gaffney (0.03, 0.02f), Hugh Mulhern, Tristan Johnson, Darren Kavanagh, Eoghan Kenny, Luke Heduvan, Frank Kavanagh, Nathan Sleator. Subs used; James Kelly (2.00), Niall Dowdall (0.01), Adam Carroll
Fundraiser:
A massive thank you to all that came and kindly donated to our Bring and Buy morning on Satruday in aid of Lucy Thompson. Despite the weather conditions it was a great success. Thank you to all that donated prizes for our raffle which was drawn afterwards by Kris Thompson, Carla McManus and their other daughter Romy. Congratulations to all our winners. Final thanks to all who helped put the morning together and a special mention to Tony Robinson who was instrumental in organising the event.
Club Lotto:
Draw Date: Monday 13th March
This week’s jackpot: €11,800.00
Numbers drawn: 6,9,14,18
No Jackpot Winner.
The winner of the €50 Lucky Dip is Liam Davitt
The winner of the €50 voucher is Trish Cronin
Next week’s jackpot: €11,900.00
Next Week’s Draw Date: Monday 20th March
Remember it could be you!
