Mullingar Hockey Club beaten in first round of Challenge Trophy

Mullingar were quickest out of the blocks and got their first after only five minutes when Wayne Gilhooley's excellent work down the right, resulted in his cross being met at the back post by Andrew Rice.Mullingar continued their bright start and went close soon after when excellent work down the right by Holger Marl saw Chris Bull's effort fly inches wide at the near post. The 'Bull' didn't have to wait long to get his goal, when he fired home from a rebound after a short-corner was well saved by a Gilhooley shot. St. James Gate did try to respond, but the Mullingar defence was able to cope comfortably with what they threw at them. Just before half-time Mullingar got their third when Gilhooley flicked home a well taken short- corner.The second-half began with St. James Gate being awarded a dubious short-corner after thirty seconds, for what looked to everyone as a brilliant tackle, outside the 'D'.....! From the corner, the Gate fired home to get back into the match. Mullingar were a bit shell shocked and St. James had a second five minutes later when they were awarded a penalty stroke for a foot in the 'D', where any other umpire would have awarded another short, this one awarded a flick. The Gate's captain made no mistake to close the gap to one. To Mullingar's credit they did responded well with Bull crashing the ball off the post from another short-corner. with twenty minutes left,Gate were making all the running and every decision in one half of the pitch seemed to be going their way. They were rewarded for their endeavours shortly after when another short-corner was awarded, which they crashed to the back of the net. Mullingar were rattled and Gate had all the momentum. The decisive blow was dealt when a James' stick flicked home the ball in a goal mouth scramble following the Gar's failure to clear their lines.Mullingar were by far the better team and should have finished off the away side well before their first goal, even with one of the umpire's showing little or no regard for the fair spirit in which hockey is normally played. Mullingar's response was to throw everything at the Gate and a stunning Stewart Synnott run from midfield, in which he went past six Gate players, his square pass to Chris Bull saw him shoot narrowly wide, but in the end, the Gate held on for a shock victory and their greatest ever result. This defeat left Mullingar in total shock and put an end to their hopes of national glory for another year.Man of the Match: Wayne GilhooleyTeam: Daragh Ryan, Barry Waters, Woody O'Neill, John Murphy, Soren Marl, Andrew Rice, Wayne Gilhooley, Stuart Synnott, Holger Marl, Chris Bull, Peter Collins, Stephen O'Neill, Michael Gibson-Brabazon and Graham Hague.Leinster League Division 4Mullingar..............................3[C.Bull[2], H.Marl]Clontarf 2nd's.......................2Mullingar, still shell shocked from Saturdays defeat to St James Gate, played host to Clontarf in the re-fix of a league game rained off before Christmas. With Clontarf in third place and Mullingar in second place, this top of the table clash was always going to be an close encounter. From the start Clontarf showed they ment business, with several of their first team travelling to the Loreto.Mullingar started well, with the return of Tom Bowers being influential in the early exchanges. It was brilliant interplay between Bowers and Holger Marl that resulted in the first chance of the game when Chris Bull's effort was just wide. Clontarf were not to be outdone and were soon putting their own pressure on, but John Murphy was in excellent form and his cover tackles were keeping them at bay.Mullingar again went close through Bull and he was to eventually get his goal when he followed in on a short-corner and dispatched the rebound following an excellent save by the 'Clontarf' keeper. This seemed to waken up Clontarf and they went close soon after but Daragh Ryan got a solid hand to a speculative top corner shot. However it wasn't long before they equalised and they scored through a well worked short-corner routine with ten minutes to go to the interval. Momentum was all Clontarf's and they went one up on the stroke of half-time again through a well worked short- corner routine.The second-half saw a focused and re-energised 'home side and they piled the pressure on straight from the whistle. They had decent efforts through Bowers and Bully. At the other end, John Murphy was defending excellently and was being helped out by both Barry Watters and Soren Marl as Clontarf looked to counter attack, whenever they could. Mullingar's pressure finally tolded when Wayne Gilhooley's ball into the 'D' was deflected home by Holger Marl.Mullingar weren't settling for one point and they continued to push for the victory. They were awarded a short-corner with ten minutes to go and from the rebound a Mullingar stick deflected the ball goal wards but a 'Clontarf defender stopped it with his foot and a penalty stroke was awarded to the home side. Chris Bull stepped up and coolly slot the stroke into the bottom corner to continue his excellent scoring rate of six in five games. Clontarf were unable to get past Murphy and the rest of the Mullingar defence and Mullingar closed it out to take a valuable three points in their quest for the league tittle. They now find themselves just two points behind Pembroke Wanderers while still having to play Wanderers home and away.Man of the Match: John MurphyTeam: Daragh Ryan, Barry Waters, Woody O'Neill, John Murphy, Soren Marl, Stephen O'Neill, Tom Bowers, Stuart Synnott, Holger Marl, Chris Bull, Wayne Gilhooley, Andrew Rice, Michael Gibson-Brabazon and Rob Wakefield.Leinster League Division 4Mullingar 2nd's....................3[P.Collins(2), C.Watters]Railway Union.....................1Mullingar hosted Railway last Saturday in the Loreto, and after dropping two points to the same side a week earlier, revenge was sweet for the home side. The game started well Mullingar in a very cold Loreto College, With the home side being awarded four short-corners early in the game, but failing to despatch any of them to the back of the net. The first-half was a fairly dull affair, saying that, Railway caught Mullingar on the break and scored on twenty-eight minutes.The goal knocked Mullingar back a little, but a powerfully hit short-corner by Colin Watters on the stroke of half-time restored parity. The Mullingar midfield constantly had the Railway lads on the back foot, but the final ball for Mullingar seem just not to be there. A Peter Collins shot ensured the lead for the home side ten minutes into the half. A brilliant through ball by Alan Mangan nearly put Watters through on goals, but the Mullingar striker found the ball just out of his reach.With Eddie Lindsay, Andrew Melbourne, Andy Yeoman and the in-form Fergus Walls keeping Railway quiet for the entire second-half. It fell to Collins to bury the ball to the top corner, after a mazy run. If the passing was a little bit better, the home side could have put a awful lot more goals on the score sheet. Saying that, a three-one victory can't be laughed at.