Fleming’s penalty crucial as 14-man Kinnegad claim Division 1 title

Coralstown/Kinnegad 2-10

St Loman's, Mullingar 1-9

Gerry Buckley

Despite the concession of a first-minute goal and having to play the entire second half a man down, Coralstown/Kinnegad still managed to eke out a noteworthy win against an understrength St Loman’s, Mullingar in last Sunday evening’s Division 1 final at a sun-drenched and very well-attended TEG Cusack Park.

Last year’s Flanagan Cup runners-up were short the services of their four Westmeath regulars and will, as ever, be strong contenders for the blue riband trophy in Lake County football come the autumn, but this should not overly detract from the significance of the men in red and white emerging as league champions, a feat achieved by The Downs last year en route to their first county senior title in 17 years.

Paddy Dowdall’s troops got off to the best possible start with a soccer-style finish from Danny McCartan after a mere 13 seconds. When they added three unanswered points by the seventh minute – two Shane Dempsey ‘marks’ either side of a neat score by Sean Flanagan – it looked like the perennial contenders for county honours were firmly in control.

The hard-working Eoin O’Brien was denied a tenth-minute goal by Rory Matthews, but there was to be no preventing Josh Gahan a three-pointer – at the second attempt – some six minutes later, after last year’s Westmeath panelist had soloed goalward. Buoyed by this, Pascal Kelleghan’s charges tagged on three unanswered points by 26th minute, courtesy of O’Brien, Brían Cooney (a difficult free), and Darren Giles (a fabulous strike).

However, Coralstown/Kinnegad were dealt a major blow in the 28th minute when the influential Wayne Fox picked up a second yellow card – it appeared a little harsh. Dempsey completed an unusual hat-trick of ‘marks’ on the half-hour mark. In the last action of the first moiety, Shane Fleming was superbly denied a goal by Matthews at the expense of a point. The teams were tied at 1-4 each at the break.

Cooney doubled his total with a delightfully-curled effort just 50 seconds after the resumption of play. The respective number 18s, Fleming and very influential St Loman’s sub TJ Cox, then traded points. A well-worked team score finished by Eoghan Bracken and a great individual effort from Giles put the winners three points to the good by the 40th minute. A mishit ‘45’ from McCartan then fell nicely for Cox, who doubled his haul in style for the men in blue and white. The latter player completed his hat-trick with aplomb, but Giles responded with an equally classy point, leaving Coralstown/Kinnegad ahead by 1-9 to 1-7 at the end of the third quarter.

A great score from Peter Foy and another beauty from Cox (after he had successfully chased a miskick by Enda Gaffney) levelled the contest with eight minutes of normal time remaining. O’Brien was denied a goal-scoring opportunity by Gerry Grehan in the 54th minute, but the referee deemed the challenge illegal and a penalty was awarded. Fleming coolly converted from the spot to put his side a goal to the good, and the same player added an insurance point on the hour mark. Three minutes of added-time yielded no further scores and it was the red and white-clad fans who were celebrating on the pitch moments later.

After the match, Frank Mescall, the chairman of the Westmeath County Committee, presented the cup to the winning captain, Darren Giles.

Scorers – Coralstown/Kinnegad: S Fleming 1-3 (1-0pen), Darren Giles 0-3, J Gahan 1-0, B Cooney 0-2 (1f), E O’Brien, E Bracken 0-1 each. St Loman’s, Mullingar: TJ Cox 0-4, S Dempsey 0-3 (3m), D McCartan 1-0, P Foy, S Flanagan 0-1 each.

Coralstown/Kinnegad: Sean Martin; Daniel Woods, David Giles, Jason Lynch; James Maxwell, Jason Macken, Josh Gahan; Darren Giles, Podge Quinn; Eoin O’Brien, Brían Cooney, Eoghan Bracken; Dan Leech, Shane Fleming, Wayne Fox. Subs used: Callum Cruise for Leech (44), Ciaran Daly Snr for Bracken (44), Jack Torpey for Maxwell (50), Ronan Doyle for O’Brien (60+3).

St Loman’s, Mullingar: Rory Matthews; Sean Dinnegan, Darragh O’Keeffe, Gerry Grehan; Eoghan Hogan, David Whelan, Conor O’Donoghue; Enda Gaffney, Ryan Jones; Tristan Graham, Kevin Regan, Peter Foy; Danny McCartan, Sean Flanagan, Shane Dempsey. Subs used: TJ Cox for Dinnegan (h-t), Ciaran Smyth for Graham (50), Sean Kelly for O’Donoghue (inj., 59), Eoghan O’Keeffe for Foy (60+2).

Ref: Barry Nea (Killucan).