Mullingar power past Omagh to reach semi-final

Mullingar made the long trip to Ulster to take on Omagh in the Quarter-Final of the Irish Hockey Challenge Trophy on Saturday last.Mullingar burst out of the starting blocks and took the lead after only 36 seconds, when from the tip off the ball was played out to Holgar Marl who was fouled.Mick Gibson-Brabazon found Colin Watters with a quick free and Watters ran to the end line five yards from goals and reverse flicked the ball to Ashley Weily who in turn found an unmarked Stuart Synnott to fire home at the back post. Mullingar looked to go two up inside five minutes when they were awarded a short-corner, but Colin Watters crisp shot was excellently saved by the Omagh "keeper.Omagh seemed to regroup and started to win the midfield battle and took the game to Mullingar and had a great chance when a quick free caught Mullingar napping and their striker raced through but Daragh Ryan was out quickly to push the ball to safety. From the resulting line ball Ryan produced a smart save down low when the ball was deflected goalwards. These alarm bells seemed to wake Mullingar up and the midfield pairing of Synnott and Tom Bowers started to take the game to Omagh and but the resulting pressure never really materialized into any clear cup openings.Just before half-time, Omagh were awarded a couple of back to back short-corners but each time the Mullingar defence stood up to the task with Andrew Melbourne"s brave closing down up to the highest standard.In the second-half, Omagh appeared to throw caution to the wind and had a short-corner excellently cleared off the line by Barry Watters, when Daragh Ryan was beaten. Omagh again got through on Ryan when their excellent striker weaved his way through the defence but the shot lacked conviction and Ryan dealt easily with it.From that save Soren Marl played an incisive ball to Barry Watters who raced down the right wing and found Woody O"Neill who put Ashley Weily through.Weily sold the keeper a lovely dummy and slide the ball across for Holgar Marl to tap into an empty net. With a two goal cushion Mullingar were content to sit back and soak up Omagh"s attacks and hit them on the counter attack, with the two Marl brothers, Soren and Holgar looking particularly threatening on the left side of the pitch.With ten minutes to go, the two brothers exchanged passes and Holgar"s cross was stopped by an Omagh foot. From the resulting short-corner Chris Bull"s shot was excellently saved but the rebound fell to Ashley Weily who fired home to put the result beyond doubt. Omagh did have one last chance when a short-corner shot was heading for the corner of the goals only for Barry Watters to somehow get a stick on to it, to deflect it out for a long-corner. This was an impressive victory by the lads, despite the long journey and some poor form in recent matches. It would be wrong to single out any one player for a man of the match award, as each man stood up and produced the goods on the day.Mullingar squad: Daragh Ryan, Barry Watters, Andrew Melbourne, Woody O"Neill, Michael Gibson-Brabazon, Soren Marl, Tom Bowers, Stewart Synnott, Holgar Marl, Ashley Weily, Colin Watters, Chris Bull (c) and Ed Lindsay.Leinster League Division 12McManus the key asMullingar unlock DiocesanDiocesan 4ths…………0Mullingar 1sts...............1[S. McManus]Mullingar ladies firsts travelled to Rathgar last Saturday on a cold, blustery day to take on Diocesan. Having beaten them earlier on in the season three-nil, the Mullingar girls were hoping to keep a clean record against their opponents. Despite the fact of struggling to get girls available with Mullingar missing their entire midfield of captain Alaine O"Reilly, Roisín Logan and Anna Evans, the replacement midfield of Stephanie Conneely, Sarah Tormey and Fleur Browne proved they were well able to step up to the challenge.Both sides started off cautiously with little opportunities falling to either team. Mullingar"s first chance arrived half-way through the first-half, when the ball fell to Anne Stenson, who struck the ball well, placing it in between the keeper"s legs. The goal was awarded, only to be overruled by the second umpire for a foot challenge. Diocesan had their chance just before half-time, when they penetrated the defence line of Ruth Heduan, Olive Heduan and Melissa O"Neill but thankfully the ball was deflected by the excellent Trish Watkins in goals. Both sides remained scoreless on the half-time whistle.Mullingar were by far the better side in the second-half, after a well delivered pep talk at the break.The girls really began to put the pressure on, with excellent work in the midfield and great inter changing of the ball in the wings with Rachel Rodgers and Sarah McManus. Ten minutes into the half Conneely found Stenson in the "D" and with two defenders in close attendance, Anne somehow managed to reverse flick the ball into an unmarked Sarah McManus who made no mistake about drilling the ball past a stunned Diocesan "keeper. Mullingar continued their valiant attack and Stenson was very unlucky not to make it two, when under pressure in front of the goals, and with a shot heading into the top right hand of the net, only to be saved by the outstretched hand of the goalie.Diocesan launched a couple of fine attacks on the Mullingar defence but were getting little change out of Lorraine Scanlon who was sweeping everything up in her path and clearing the ball with remarkable accuracy. Despite losing Rachel Rodgers to injury with ten minutes to go in the game, the Mullingar girls fought hard to hold on to the one goal victory, which earned them a thoroughly deserved three points in the league.Man of the match: Lorraine Scanlan.Mullingar squad: Trish Watkin, Ruth Heduan, Melissa O"Neill (c) Olive Heduan, Anne Stenson, Sarah McManus, Rachel Rodgers, Lorraine Scanlan, Stephanie Conneely, Sarah Tormey and Fleur Browne TrainingTraining continues on Tuesday and Thursday at 7.30 for the girls and on Thursday for the men.Irish Challenge TrophyThe men"s first team continued on the march towards a national hockey cup with a comprehensive victory over Omagh last Saturday in Omagh.The draw was made last Monday and the side will now face Saintfield (near Belfast) on March 7 in Saintfield. This competition seems to be bringing out the best in the team and the other semi-final is between Down (Downpatrick), and Campbellians (Belfast).ColtsThe Colts training is every Sunday at 11am in the Loreto College and is open to boys and girls from 4 to14. For information contact Colin on 086-0817613 or www.mullingarhc.comFixturesSaturdayMens 1sts at home to Three Rock Rovers 3rds at 1pmMens 2nds away to Clontarf 3rds at TBCLadies 1sts at home to Railway 6ths at 2.30pmLadies 2nds away to YMCA 2nds at 1.30pmSundayMens 1sts away to Railway Union 3rds at 2.30pm