Matthews and Long the stars as Loman’s prevail

St Loman's Mullingar 2-8, The Downs 1-2

In a game of two halves dictated by a strong breeze, St Loman’s, Mullingar won this battle of two of Westmeath’s top football nurseries to claim this year’s premier Féile Peil na nÓg county title at TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar on Sunday last.

The Downs led 1-2 to 0-1 at the short whistle with their opponents playing into the teeth of the wind, but after the break it became clear that the Black and Ambers hadn’t built up enough of a cushion. Within two minutes of the restart, St Loman’s took the lead and made the most of their physical prowess as they went on to outscore The Downs 2-7 to nil in the second half.

Crucial to their victory was the duo of Cian Matthews and MJ Long, who kicked 2-6 between them, with Long scoring the goal that set the Saints on their way before Matthews followed up with a corker.

The Downs opened the scoring after three minutes when a ball from Aidan Tuite left a nervy St Loman’s defence at sixes and sevens, as Josh Murtagh snuck in to apply a powerful finish. St Loman’s responded well when a superb pass from Mark Gallagher picked out Cian Matthews, who got his side off the mark with a clever turn and point.

The Mullingar men enjoyed plenty of possession but the windy conditions played havoc with their end product. Meanwhile, The Downs added to their tally through Aaron Connaire – the best player on the field in the first half – and a free from Finn Brennan. The latter however, coming on 14 minutes, was their last score of the game.

St Loman’s finished the half strongly but similarly had no luck, with MJ Long firing straight at ‘keeper Eoghan Daly after The Downs lost possession while trying to clear their lines. With the Saints benefiting from the breeze after the restart, it was one-way traffic from there. Cian Matthews converted a mark to reduced the arrears to a goal, and that goal then arrived courtesy of Long, who tucked away the rebound after The Downs spilled a long ball from Tom Weir. Long followed this up with another mark to give St Loman’s a 1-3 to 1-2 lead, and on 23 minutes Matthews scythed through The Downs defence before unleashing a spectacular shot to the roof of the net, lifting the Lakepoint Park faithful.

From there, St Loman’s turned on the style and their opponents couldn’t catch a break. MJ Long pointed brilliantly again before Weir sauntered his way to raising another flag, underlining the Blues’ dominance.

Further points from Matthews and Long followed, before the latter superbly teed up sub Cathal Kilmurray for a well-taken final score.

At full time, Barry Kelly, chairman of Westmeath Coiste na nÓg, presented the cup to the winning captain, Cian Matthews.

Scorers - St Loman’s: C Matthews (0-1m) and MJ Long (0-1m) 1-3 each, T Weir and C Kilmurray 0-1 each. The Downs: J Murtagh 1-0, F Brennan (free) and A Connaire 0-1 each.

St Loman’s, Mullingar panel: Darragh Boyd, Matthew Kenny, Tom Weir, Cathal Flanagan, Jack Daly, Andy Sinnott, Oisín Scally, Mark Gallagher, Micheál Brennan, Jamie McDonnell, Cian Matthews, Cillian Breslin, Jack Connaughton, MJ Long, Tony Brennan, James McHugh, Peter Raleigh, Eli Green, Billy Lambden, Cathal Kilmurray, Shane Canning, Jack Devine, Seán Maleady, Luke Tully.

The Downs: Eoghan Daly, Adam Kiernan, Fionn Kelly, Dylan Ledwith, Aidan Doyle, Ciaran Casserly, James Heffernan, Conor Cleary, Finn Brennan, Adam Hughes, Aaron Connaire, Josh Murtagh, Aidan Tuite, Ódhran McColgan, Ben Loughlin, Ciaran McGrath, Fionn Connolly, David Kelly, Seán Coleman, Jake Raeside, Callum Cleary, Ben Carroll.

Ref - Enda Kenny (Ballinagore).