McCartan and Blundell on form for defending champs

St Loman's, Mullingar 3-12, The Downs 1-12

By Paul Hughes

Reigning champions St Loman’s, Mullingar got the defence of their ladies’ SFC crown off to a fine start with a comfortable win over last year’s defeated finalists The Downs at Lakepoint Park on Thursday evening.

Already a youthful side, the Blues fielded three more young debutants – Eimear Doonan, Evie Kilmurray and Maddie Mulderry – as they saw off a black and amber contingent without the services of Lucy Power, who picked up a wrist injury on duty with Westmeath.

St Loman’s had much of their work done by half time, with two goals from Lucy McCartan and scores from Katie Kilmurray and Ciara Blundell setting them on their way.

With Sheila McGrath and Brittney McNamee best for the visitors, The Downs made inroads after the restart but a third goal from Blundell killed off their challenge.

St Loman’s laid down a marker almost instantly when Lucy McCartan latched onto a ball over the top and buried the ball to the net after just ten seconds. Blundell followed up with her first score two minutes later.

Brittney McNamee cut inside to open The Downs’ account on five minutes, but by the 14th minute St Loman’s led 1-4 to 0-2 thanks to a hat-trick of frees from Katie Kilmurray. Beth McGuire responded for the visitors, with a possible goal on.

St Loman’s edged further into the lead on the quarter-hour mark when, after a tidy move, Blundell shipped to Lucy McCartan who rattled the net for a second time. McCartan crowned this with a terrific individual point moments later.

Niamh Rowan stemmed the tide with a score for The Downs after being teed up by Rebecca Mullooly, but the Saints soon led 2-7 to 0-3 after further scores from play by McCartan and Kilmurray.

The Downs, playing into the teeth of a breeze, steadied the ship a little and McNamee converted a free before Francesca Walshe shot just wide after a patient build-up – a gilt-edged goal chance badly needed by the visitors.

St Loman’s made this miss count at the other end, and McCartan scythed through The Downs’ defence to take her first-half tally to 2-3, before a neat point on the turn by Blundell put 11 points between the sides at the break - the St Loman's ladies leading by 2-9 to 0-4.

The Downs emerged in determined fashion after the restart, and with Sheila McGrath and Irish women’s rugby star Katie Heffernan coming to the fore, they had four consecutive points on the board within six minutes – three of them from Brittney McNamee (including two fine points from play), and the fourth from McGrath.

A goal would have really lifted the black and ambers at this stage but unfortunately for them, it went the way of St Loman’s. Ciara Blundell settled the Blues with a point on 39 minutes, and moments later, a swift handpassing move involving cousins Vicky Carr and Lucy McCartan ended with Blundell netting from close range.

McCartan then found her range with another excellent score from play and with three quarters of the game played, the result was no longer in doubt.

In the final ten minutes, The Downs outscored their opponents 1-3 to 0-1 but the Saints had already closed out the game. Beth McGuire kicked two fine points off her left foot, while Francesca Walshe also had 1-1, finding the net with a stoppage-time lob. However, the black and ambers also lost Sheila McGrath to the sin bin late on after a late tackle.

In between, Ciara Blundell tacked on another quality score for the winners, whose lead was never troubled, and Vicky Carr went close to a fourth goal in time added on. It’s early days, but the Blues will take some stopping in 2025.

Scorers: St Loman’s: L McCartan 2-4, C Blundell 1-4, K Kilmurray 0-4 (3f). The Downs: B McNamee 0-5 (2f), F Walshe 1-1, B McGuire 0-3, N Rowan, S McGrath and K Heffernan 0-1 each.

St Loman’s, Mullingar: Jane McKenna; Eimear Doonan, Evie Daly, Ellen Kilmurray; Shauna Traynor, Lara McCartan, Maddie Mulderry; Caoimhe Kilmurray, Vicky Carr; Annie Kilmurray, Lucy McCartan, Ciara Blundell; Evie Kilmurray, Shannon Breslin, Katie Kilmurray.

The Downs: Shauna Conneely; Lauren Guilfoyle, Amy Dagg, Aisling Egerton; Gemma Faulkner, Aoife Rowan, Rebecca Mullooly; Niamh Nolan, Francesca Walshe; Olivia Glynn, Sheila McGrath, Niamh Rowan; Beth McGuire, Katie Heffernan, Brittney McNamee.

Ref: Ken Daly (Loughnavalley).