Coralstown/Kinnegad see off Shamrocks in SFC opener

Coralstown/Kinnegad upset the odds but were full value for their opening day win in the Shay Murtagh Precast Westmeath senior football championship tonight, recording a 1-11 to 1-6 victory over a fancied Mullingar Shamrocks side.

Shamrocks led 1-3 to 0-5 at half time after Brendan O’Reilly found the net for the 2018 champions just before the short whistle.

But on a greasy evening in TEG Cusack Park, Coralstown/Kinnegad kicked on in the second half, with Shane Fleming (1-2) and Darren Giles (0-3) leading the scoring for the winners.

There was little between the sides with 40 minutes gone, but the Reds began to pull away in the final quarter, and a 53rd minute goal from Fleming – one of a number of St Joseph’s, Rochfortbridge’s Leinster-winning students togged out for Kinnegad – made sure of the win.

Elsewhere tonight, Moate All Whites got their Writech IFC campaign off to a winning start, edging Ballymore 0-12 to 1-7 in Athlone.