Last gasp Craig free seals the deal for Mullingar men

St Oliver Plunkett's 0-20, Crookedwood 2-13

The second game in the double header in a supremely well turned out The Downs on Saturday evening last saw St Oliver Plunkett's overcome Crookedwood by a solitary point.

It was a game of fluctuating fortunes, fleeting forays of finesse and a fantastic finale, but in truth this game will not live long in the memory as a spectacle. While Crookedwood led by a point at the interval and increased that to a five-point lead on the restart, it was St Oliver Plunkett's who had their noses in front at the end.

Dominated by frees and some awful wides the content was poor but the end product held you in the palm of its hand right up to the 63rd minute, when a free from halfway by Aaron Craig saw St Oliver Plunkett's steal the points and an opening weekend win that looked unlikely for most of the game.

The Wood will rue far too many missed opportunities, but their over-reliance on free taker Barry O’Mara and lack of scores from play ultimately proved very costly.

St Oliver Plunkett's for their part were not much better with only nine of their tally coming from open play and their shooting, especially in a wind assisted first half, was dreadful at times, and awful at others.

That being said, it was the result that counted and the Mullingar side showed great character to come back at least twice, and with a very young side, this will surely stand to them as the season goes on, while for the Crookedwood it's back to basics and righting the mistakes made here if they are to progress.

The game was merely a pup when Noel Yourell opened the scoring for the Wood with a fine point, but Andrew Cunningham levelled for Plunkett's almost immediately and we looked to have a game on our hands.

However, Plunkett's then hit a string of poor wides and can be thankful to gaolie Conor Bracken, who made a super save from Brian McLoughlin. A 65' and a free from Barry O’Mara opened up a two-point advantage for Crookedwood, but frees from Davy Gavin and Bracken from 90 odd metres, and a great score from play from the former, saw Plunkett's take a deserved lead.

Ronan Scally levelled from long-range but another Gavin free conversion saw Plunkett's ahead by one point at the end of the quarter.

Crookedwood then got a huge break when Michael Davitt’s long-range strike came off the post and dropped perfectly for Kevin Orme to net the opening goal, followed by another O’Mara free. At this stage it seemed that the tricolours had turned the game on its head again.

Matthew Cunningham added two excellent points and Cathal Craig followed with another for the Mullingar men, but they were negated by a brilliant Seamus Savage point from another parish; O’Mara from another free, and Yourell again from long-range.

Plunkett's then hit three in-a-row from Cunningham (two, one free and a finish to a terrific team move) and Thomas Meehan, after great approach work by Nathan Cornally, to level again, but on the stroke of half-time, Ronan Scally rounded things off with an opportunist strike and Crookedwood led by 1-9 to 0-11 at the short whistle. That lead became five points in the blink of an eye after the break when Adam Bate netted a second Crookedwood major, after a superb cut from O’Mara, and the latter converted a fifth free. Plunkett's were in serious trouble now but they lifted their game immeasurably and hit the next seven scores without reply from three Davy Gavin frees, plus a free, a 65' and a magnificent point from play by Aaron Craig.

The pick of the bunch during this spell came from Ross Corroon to put the Mullingar men two ahead and, at this stage, they looked all over winners. Indeed, the saints were winning most battles on the field.

Barry O’Mara had left the field at this stage, but incredibly returned after four minutes to level the game once again with a 65' and a free that he won himself with two minutes left on the clock.

Plunkett's again upped the ante and the best move of the game from Cunningham, Cornally and Meehan, saw Aaron Craig convert a stunning point that looked to be the winner.

But cometh the hour and cometh the man: Barry O'Mara, the Wood's saviour on so many occasions, who was obviously playing through the pain Barrier, levelled with a very disputable free and in truth supporters had settled in for a draw.

However, with the last puck of the game, Aaron Craig stepped up after a foul on Cunningham and from the 65' and under the stand he split the posts with a fantastic strike to win the game, break Crookedwood hearts and delight the large Plunkett's support with the winning score.

Scorers - St. Oliver Plunkett's: Davy Gavin 0-6 (5 frees), Aaron Craig 0-5 (3 frees; 1 65’), Matthew Cunningham 0-4 (1 free), Conor Bracken (free), Cathal Craig, Thomas Meehan, Andrew Cunningham and Ross Corroon 0-1 each.

Crookedwood: Barry O’Mara 0-8 (7 frees; 1 65’), Adam Bate and Kevin Orme 1-0 each, Ronan Scally and Noel Yourell 0-2 each, Seamus Savage 0-1.

Teams

St. Oliver Plunketts: Conor Bracken, John Fry, Zach Aherne, Dylan Carey, Liam Carey, Aaron Craig, Tomas Turks, Matthew Cunningham, Nathan Cornally, Cathal Craig, Thomas Meehan, Andrew Cunningham, Daire Cleary, Ross Corroon and Davy Gavin. Subs: Colm O’Leary for Cleary (46 mins), Darren Carter for Andrew Cunningham (52 mins).

Crookedwood: Alan O’Mara, Matthew Ryan, Damien Grifferty, John Kiernan, Simon McCarthy, Feichin Óg Brennan, Seamus Savage, Ronan Scally, Michael Davitt, Noel Yourell, Shane McGovern, Adam Bate, Kevin Orme, Brian McLoughlin and Barry O’Mara. Subs: Sean Brennan for McCarthy (43 mins), Oisin Boyle for Yourell (46 mins), David Newman for Barry O’Mara (inj., 50 mins), Barry O’Mara for Orme (54 mins), Cathal Bawle for Bate (60 mins).

Referee: Mick Murtagh (Clonkill).