St. Marys overcome Heywood CS with late goal

A TRIP to Tullamore for the day probably meant that the students of St. Marys CBS and Heywood Community School didn"t absorb a lot of academic lessons last Wednesday in O"Connor Park, but they certainly will have learned a thing or two about hurling for the full duration of a game.Despite playing second fiddle for almost three quarters of the match, a late goal from Willie McGrath ensured that St. Mary"s sneaked a win that never looked to be on the cards.Heywood were comfortably the better side in the first half and their five point lead at that point was very much deserved, but they failed to raise their game in the face of sustained pressure from St. Marys and eventually got reeled in at just the wrong time.It is to the immense credit of the young hurlers from Mullingar that they were within striking distance at all and whatever one might say about their touch or accuracy - skills which were extremely difficult to apply on a wet and wintry October afternoon - their application and consistent effort will bring them a long way in the sport.Either group would have been forgiven for turning back into the dressing room and asking to be sent back to the comfort of their biology lab or French classroom, such was the sheer misery of the conditions that greeted the players. Solid, persistent driving rain, a sharp diagonal breeze and a wet, sodden surface combined to present an extremely difficult environment in which to hurl. One point each in the opening ten minutes from MJ Dunphy and Willie McGrath reflected the amount of time that was spent with players attempting a ground hurling style that was utterly unsuited to the heavy surface.McGrath got his second score in the eleventh minute and if his opening point flagged him up as a threat, his wonderfully taken goal left nobody in any doubt as to his ability. Shane McGovern in the left corner can take his share of credit too as he did really well to secure a hard fought possession, driving it into the left corner forward position. A deft flick from Cian O"Neill took two defenders out of the game and left McGrath with a clear run in on goal. He outpaced another defender while controlling the sliothar and then finished immaculately, driving the ball across the "keeper into the corner of the net from a relatively tight angle.From there on, the game was very much dominated by Heywood and a succession of frees from MJ Dunphy cancelled out the McGrath goal over the next twelve minutes before the Laois school began to build a lead of their own.They got a huge boost in the twenty third minute and once again MJ Dunphy was integral to their good work, taking in the clearance, beating his man and playing an inch perfect handpass into Kevin Kelly. Conor Lynch made a valiant attempt to close down Kelly, but the corner forward had just enough time to get his strike in and give Heywood a three point lead.Further scores from Joseph Foyle and a Dunphy "65 stretched that lead to five by half time and Dunphy"s sixth point of the game made it 1-7 to 1-1 in only the second minute of the second half.Having fallen behind by six on a day when scores were really hard to come by, Marys faced an uphill struggle but to their credit, they kept on plugging away and the breaks slowly began to fall in their favour. A long range Conor Thompson free got the ball rolling, while a shot from Padraig Lawlor that took a low bounce and deceived Conor Lynch rolled against the post but stayed out. MJ Dunphy"s best point of the day restored Heywood"s six point lead with less than a quarter of the game left, but St Marys were about to embark on their lone spell of real dominance. Ciarán Yourell got the comeback underway with a thirty metre score before two close range frees left a goal in it with five minutes remaining.The St. Marys half back and midfield sectors were now completely on top and the midfield pairing of Conor Thompson and David Gavin linked up wonderfully to set up Ciarán Yourell for his second score, setting the stage for a big finish.A solid team effort got Mullingar this far, but Willie McGrath"s individual brilliance was the catalyst that pushed St Marys over the line with a second fantastic goal in the 57th minute. He made a wonderful catch on a high ball before once again using his pace to cut in towards goal. Having beaten one defender, he placed an inch perfect shot into the top right corner of the net, restoring the Mullingar students to the ascendancy for the first time since midway through the first half. Persistence, hard work, and timing - hurling and indeed life lessons, well learned by the St. Marys students on a wet Wednesday in Tullamore.Scorers: St Marys: Willie McGrath (2-2, 0-1 free), Conor Thompson (0-2, frees), Ciarán Yourell (0-2).Heywood CS: MJ Dunphy (0-7, 0-4 frees, 0-1 "65), Kevin Kelly (1-0), Joseph Foyle (0-1).St. Marys, Mullingar: Conor Lynch; Larry Rosicky, Cathal Scally, Shane McGovern; Brian McLoughlin, Paddy Layde, Thomas Egan; David Gavin, Conor Thompson; Ciarán Yourell, Emmet Corrigan, David Lynch; Cian O"Neill, Willie McGrath, Luke Loughlin. Subs.: Finbar Thompson for Cian O"Neill, Liam Chevallier for Luke Loughlin.Heywood CS: Aaron McGowan; Donncha Dowling, MJ Lawlor, Seán Bonham; Conor Broderick, Michael Brennan, Matthew Costigan; David Moloney, Padraig Lawlor; Brian Peacock, Joseph Foyle, Evan O"Connor; MJ Dunphy, Evan Hearns, Kevin Kelly. Subs: Ian Cole for Evan Hearns, Joe Camden for Ian Cole.Referee: Pat Conlon (Tullamore).