Clinical St. Loman"s overpower indisciplined St. Malachy"s

Leading by a point at half-time in Rochfortbridge last Sunday afternoon, St. Malachy"s descended into self-destruct mode after the break and produced a very indisciplined second half display that now sees them in major relegation trouble in the Westmeath senior football championship, losing out by a 12-point margin to St. Loman"s, Mullingar.St. Malachy"s ended the game with 13 players and it could have been less. Referee Padraig Greene had his hands full controlling the game and, while some of his decisions were hard to figure out, this does not condone some of the losers" behaviour during and after the game. This took away somewhat from what was a fine display by St. Loman"s, who plugged away manfully all afternoon and were deserving winners in the end. Their second half display was clinical and fluent and one must not count them out when considering genuine championship contenders. Some of their scores, especially in the second half, were superbly conceived and executed, while their movement was exceptional throughout, even when Malachy"s had a full complement.On a sodden pitch after the recent spell of inclement weather, it was Loman"s who started the better with a goal chance in the opening minutes when Ciaran Kilmurray brought a fine save from Gary Jackson in the Malachys goal. St. Loman"s impressive centre half forward, Jonathan Plunkett opened the scoring when he pointed after a good pass by Conor Cochrane, but St. Malachy"s levelled when Sean Whelan cut through and passed to Alan Mangan who slotted between the posts. Shortly afterwards, we got a taste of what was to come when an ugly melee broke out under the stand and, when the dust settled, it was a yellow for Malachy"s Blaine Lehart, while there were a few others who were more than fortunate that they did not receive similar or even higher censure.The game became disjointed and there was a nasty undercurrent, but the Mullingar side hit two unanswered points from Conor Lynam, the second of which was a beauty from a very tight angle. Malachy"s needed to steady and points from a Mangan free and a super score from Shane Carey brought them level. Lynam was causing considerable annoyance for the Malachy"s defence and his magnificent effort in the 18th minute sailed over from distance and from a very narrow angle. Yellow cards then became commonplace and Eamonn Óg Clarke, Barry Whelan, Ronan Corcoran and Pat Clarke for St. Malachy"s and Ciaran Kilmurray for St. Loman"s had their names taken. Just before the break, Alan Mangan pointed a free when Tommy Carey was fouled and then a St. Loman"s player picked the ball straight off the ground right in front of the referee and, when he showed his displeasure, the ball was brought forward and again Mangan kicked a score to give his side the lead. Despite two good chances from Conor Cochrane and David Rushe, St. Loman"s could not equalise before the break and it was 0-5 to 0-4 in St. Malachy"s favour at half-time.With wind advantage in the second half, the blue and whites upped the ante and Lynam pounced on a poor clearance from the Malachy"s defence to level matters. Mangan pointed a free to restore Malachy"s advantage moments later, but it would be a full 28 minutes before they would score again. Conor Lynam and then a super score from Conradh Reilly pushed Loman"s in front and they would not relinquish that lead. What appeared to be a very harsh call on Paddy Corcoran was hotly disputed by St. Malachy"s but, while they complained, Reilly slotted over another and then Lynam increased his personal tally from a simple free. Paddy Corcoran"s protestations saw him seeing yellow and he was again punished rather harshly when he looked to have been fouled himself and Reilly punished them from the free. Whether it was this decision or a combination of events, one cannot be sure, but in the following three minutes, the team in red and black were down to 13 players. Firstly, Pat Clarke got a second yellow for a hefty tackle on Lynam and then Blaine Lehart seemed to incur the referee"s wrath off-the-ball and he too got his marching orders.The game was over as a contest at that point, as the life seemed to disappear from the Malachy"s team. Further pain was to occur when Ciaran Kilmurray was hauled down in the square and from the resultant penalty Conor Cochrane blasted the ball to the net expertly. Loman"s were now in full flow and Cochrane was again on target from a knockdown by Kilmurray and then Kilmurray himself kicked a super score. It was now all one-way traffic and Lynam added another with an excellent score followed by a fisted effort from sub Paul Martin. The game was now in the bag but the Mullingar side did not let up and finished with scores from Kieran Lynam, Reilly and a Paul Martin free to put a gloss on the scoreboard. The final score of the game went to Ronan Whelan when he got a last-gasp point for Malachy"s, just as the referee blew the final whistle.Loman"s were good value for their winning margin and in Conor Lynam they had the star of the show and his overall contribution was immense. He was ably assisted in the forward line by Conor Cochrane, Conradh Reilly and a superb display by Jonathan Plunkett at centre forward. At the back Jimmy Davitt led by example and Adam Carroll and David Rushe weighed in with fine contributions, but the only major concern would possibly be their lack of ball winning ability at centrefield and against stronger opposition they may have been punished. However, this was a clinical display by the blue and whites and gets them right back on track, looking certainly at a play-off place and maybe beyond.For St. Malachy"s this is a game they should forget, and quickly. Their discipline was poor and Cormac Davey"s charges will do well to recover from this effort. Alan Mangan, Sean Whelan and Shane Carey did well when given the opportunity, while Paddy Corcoran ploughed a lonely furrow in midfield. At the back, Ronan Corcoran was solid throughout as was Johnny Tuite, but they were simply overrun when reduced to 13 players and capitulated under the huge pressure.A noticeable feature again was the amount of team mentors on the sideline and it needed St. Mary"s officials to clear the line at one stage, a problem that needs to be looked at for all championship games. For now though, St. Loman"s look onwards and upwards while St. Malachy"s must look inwards.St. Lomans: Conor Lynam 0-7 (0-3 from frees), Conor Cochrane 1-1, Conradh Reilly 0-3, Paul Martin 0-2 (0-1 from a free), Jonathan Plunkett, Ciaran Kilmurray, Kieran Lynam 0-1 eachSt.Malachys: Alan Mangan 0-5 (0-4 from frees), Shane Carey and Ronan Whelan 0-1 eachSt. Lomans: Stephen Gallagher, Ollie Plunkett, Jimmy Davitt, Adam Carroll, Senan Russell, Kenny McKinley, David Rushe, Adrian Charles, John Ahearne, Conor Lynam, Jonathan Plunkett, Conradh Reilly, Enda Matthews, Ciaran Kilmurray, Conor Cochrane. Subs: Tommy Lambden (for Ahearne, 38 mins), Paul Martin (for Matthews, 47 mins), Paddy Dowdall (for O.Plunkett, 54 mins), Kieran Lynam (for Cochrane, 56 mins).St. Malachys: Gary Jackson, Johnny Tuite, Ronan Corcoran, John Gallagher, Eamonn Óg Clarke, David Langan, Pat Clarke, Paddy Corcoran, Tommy Carey, Barry Whelan, Ian Corrigan, Blaine Lehart, Sean Whelan, Shane Carey, Alan Mangan. Subs: Robbie Jackson (for E.Óg Clarke, 24 mins), Ronan Whelan (for T.Carey, 28 mins), Mark McDermott (for Corrigan, 51 mins), Alan Bouabbse (for Gallagher, 53 mins).Referee: Padraig Greene (Tubberclair)