Two goals for McHugh in gutsy win for Garrycastle U15s
Radisson Blu Athlone U15 Football Division 1 Championship Final: Garrycastle 3-5, St Loman’s, Mullingar 1-8
Gerry Buckley reports
A strong final quarter display enabled Garrycastle to eke out what had looked for long stretches like an unlikely win against St Loman’s, Mullingar in an often-niggly Westmeath U15 Division 1 football final, played in mixed weather conditions at Rochfortbridge yesteday afternoon.
Wind-assisted St Loman’s were two points to the good with less than four minutes elapsed, albeit both Conor Liston and Sean Plunkett’s white flags were distinct green flag opportunities. Eoin Meehan added another point.
A preventable goal, the ball scrambled to the net by Plunkett from point-blank range on the quarter-hour mark, and a converted free by the same player, left the Mullingar Blues 1-4 to nil ahead at the start of the second quarter.
A Plunkett brace (a classy point from play and a converted free) increased the losers’ lead to nine points by the 22nd minute, but Garrycastle got a lifeline shortly afterwards when Níadh Shine was fouled in the large parallelogram and James McHugh superbly found the net from the ensuing daisy-cutter of a spot kick. Meehan doubled his tally before the break, leaving St Loman’s ahead by 1-7 to 1-0 at the interval.
The winners’ impressive skipper Andrew Henson scored a wonderful solo goal in the 34th minute to bring his side right back into contention. His colleague Oisín Mulvihill was then unlucky not to score another three-pointer when his shot seemed sure to cross the line, but the ball came back off the butt of the post.
Shine (a great free) and Plunkett (a more routine placed ball) soon exchanged points. McHugh then slotted over a free before goal chances were missed at either end. The on-field tension was palpable at this juncture and the referee was kept busier than might normally be the case at this age group.
St Loman’s looked like they might hang on with a three-point cushion approaching the final ten minutes of normal time, but 1-1 from McHugh (a free and a close-range goal at the end of a Shine delivery from a free) put the lads in green and red a point to the good (3-3 to 1-8) come the hour mark.
Six minutes of added-time yielded two more Garrycastle points, both excellent long-range scores from the boots of half-backs Aaron Keegan and Christopher Malone. With time almost up, Daniel Stankard was correctly black-carded for a foul on the ever-threatening Meehan.
The latter tried to blast an equalising goal from the resultant free kick taken from the ground, but a packed goal-line of Garrycastle players just managed to keep the ball out.
After the game, Alan Leech, the chairman of the Westmeath Minor Board, presented the cup to the winning captain from Garrycastle, Andrew Henson.
Scorers – Garrycastle: J McHugh 2-2 (1-0pen, 0-2f), A Henson 1-0, A Keegan, C Malone and N Shine (f) 0-1 each. St Loman’s, Mullingar: S Plunkett 1-5 (0-3f), E Meehan 0-2, C Liston 0-1.
Garrycastle: Cian Norris; Van McCay, Daniel Stankard, Matthew Turner; Dylan Frawley, Aaron Keegan, Christopher Malone; Darragh Glennon, Oisín Mulvihill; Conor McCormack, Rian Gaynor, Andrew Henson; Louie Shine, Níadh Shine, James McHugh. Sub used: Jack Dolan for L Shine (h-t).
St Loman’s, Mullingar: Graham Duggan; Sean Hayes, Cillian Traynor, Robert Hogg; Mikey Weir, Conor Casey, Sean Brennan; Conor Liston, Conor Caffrey; Dylan Hayes, Jack McCann, Sean Byrne; Beau Greene, Eoin Meehan, Sean Plunkett. Subs used: Ross Tully for Byrne (38), Will Gouldsbury for Brennan (46).
Ref: Damien Maher (Ballynacargy).