Clonkill left to rue missed chances after late drama
Lough Lene Gaels 0-20, Clonkill 1-16
Paul Hughes
Lough Lene Gaels kept pace with Castletown Geoghegan and Raharney in the hunt for a place in the business end of the Slevin’s Coaches SHC ‘A’, with a late, late winner from Aaron Kennedy securing the points against a bitterly disappointed Clonkill side in TEG Cusack Park last Sunday evening.
The Gaels contingent went into raptures when, with the last puck of the game from corner forward Aaron Kennedy, they took the lead for the first time since the 20th minute of this entertaining clash.
There will have been much weeping and gnashing of teeth in Loughegar on Sunday evening, as Clonkill lost out despite being the better side for long stretches of this game, with Luke Loughlin in superb form and tormenting the Gaels down the flanks throughout.
Referee James McGrath came under fire after the final whistle and there were unsavoury scenes as he left the field to get to changing room. The issue is being dealt with by the Westmeath Competitions Control Committee (CCC).
All that matters is what’s on the scoreboard, however, and Mickey Dan Murtagh’s troops failed to score for the last ten minutes of this game, not including the four minutes of stoppage time. A hat-trick of missed frees in the closing stages led to an air of inevitability about a late Gaels turnaround, with David Williams levelling matters before Kennedy produced the winner.
Clonkill led 0-12 to 0-9 at the break, turning the tables after the Gaels had bossed the first quarter. After Scally bagged a penalty they led by five (1-14 to 0-12) with 42 minutes gone, and looked likely to grind out a result.
But they just couldn’t put the game to bed and with Shane and David Williams impressing in particular, the Gaels patiently ate into Clonkill’s lead before the applying the coup de grace in stoppage time.
Brian Gaffney opened the scoring from distance for Clonkill, and after seven minutes the sides were locked at 0-3 apiece, with further scores from Peadar Scally (a free) and Luke Loughlin (from distance) negated by a trio of points from Lough Lene Gaels’ David Williams – two of them from play.
The Gaels put some daylight between them and their opponents with three points on the trot – two more from Williams (a ‘65’ and a free) and a great long-range score from Shane Williams.
Oisín Murray stemmed the tide with a point for Clonkill, while at the other end, Aaron Kennedy had a sniff at goal for the Gaels as the evening rain poured on Cusack Park.
On 14 minutes, Derek McNicholas restored the purple and golds’ three-point lead, before Murray (Clonkill) and David Williams (the Gaels, a free) exchanged scores.
From there, with Murray and Luke Loughlin imposing themselves on the game more, Clonkill bounced back and hit five points in a row. Peadar Scally got the ball rolling with a free before Murray brilliantly cut in from the right hand side, left his marker for dead and slotted over to leave just a point between the sides.
Murray shot the equaliser – his fourth point of the half – with a brilliant puck from the stand side and moments later, had a goal at his mercy after being put through by Loughlin, but he blasted wide. Scally tacked on another free before Loughlin finished off a great run with a point, and after a thrilling seven-minute spell, Clonkill led by two (0-10 to 0-8).
The Gaels recovered with another score from David Williams and on 27 minutes, missed a glorious opportunity for a goal when Tommy Doyle failed to pick out the inrushing Derek McNicholas. Instead, the move turned into a scramble and Clonkill won a free out.
Despite losing full back John Kenny to an injury, the Loughegar men closed out the half on top with another score from Loughlin and a long-distance free from Scally.
After the restart, Oisín Murray had another gilt-edged goal opportunity for Clonkill but fluffed the finish, picking up an injury in the process, which ended his involvement. At the other end, David Williams converted another two frees for the Gaels and Marcus Kennedy hit the side netting with a potshot at goal.
Scally tacked on another free for the men in green but Shane Williams conjured another terrific score for the Collinstown men to reduce the arrears to a point once more.
Then, on 39 minutes, came a big setback for the Gaels. A long ball into the square found Clonkill’s Niall Mitchell, who failed to connect with the sliotar but was hauled down by Lough Lene Gaels full back Dan Higgins. Peadar Scally stepped up confidently and struck the resultant penalty low and hard to Noel Conaty’s net.
Derek McNicholas then posted a wide for the Gaels and a subsequent foul on Luke Loughlin led to another free for Clonkill, who led by five when Scally converted.
As the rain continued to saturate Westmeath GAA headquarters, the quality of hurling never deteriorated, with Shane Williams and Luke Loughlin (from a tight angle) exchanging exquisite scores. But the Gaels followed this up with superb efforts from Aaron Kennedy and David Williams, leaving just a goal between the sides at a crucial juncture.
Clonkill supporters briefly despaired when they saw Loughlin hobbling with an apparent injury, but the talented dual star stayed on the field and on 50 minutes, shot his fifth point from play after being teed up by Robbie Cleary.
Moments earlier, a lung-busting run from the Gaels’ John Egan led to a goal opportunity for Marcus Williams, but the corner forward drove his low finish to the left and wide. The Gaels really couldn’t afford to miss these chances, but they pressed on regardless and two further points from David and Shane Williams, both under pressure from frantic Clonkill marking, reduced their arrears to two points.
At the other end, with the rain playing havoc with even the most seasoned dead ball experts, Peadar Scally missed a ‘65’ and a brace of frees as Clonkill struggled to wrap up the win. They must have thought their luck was in, though, when ‘keeper Anthony Price kept out a shot from Shane Williams on the stroke of 60 minutes.
In stoppage time, the Gaels heaped on further pressure when David Williams converted a free to leave the minimum between the sides. Moments later, Williams pinged a long ball towards the square and after Price fouled the inrushing forward, the centre forward pucked his 12th point to level matters.
With four minutes of stoppage time elapsed, Clonkill went for the win and with Luke Loughlin hoping to pick out full forward Niall Mitchell with a dangerous ball, the Gaels intervened, cleared their lines and swiftly broke downfield.
The sliotar found its way to Eoin Daly, who perhaps dwelt too long on it before being dispossessed by a retreating Clonkill defender. However, the ball fell kindly for Aaron Kennedy who, from 50 metres out, drove the ball over the bar off his left side to clinch a dramatic win.
The roar from the delighted Collinstown faithful will undoubtedly have been heard in Castletown and Raharney.
Scorers - Lough Lene Gaels: D Williams 0-12 (6f), S Williams 0-4, A Kennedy 0-2, T Doyle and D McNicholas 0-1 each. Clonkill: P Scally 1-6 (1-0 pen, 0-6f), L Loughlin 0-5, O Murray 0-4, B Gaffney 0-1.
Lough Lene Gaels: Noel Conaty; Eoin Daly, Dan Higgins, Daragh Qamar; Philip Reilly, Micheál Daly, John Egan; Brendan Doyle, Shane Williams; Derek McNicholas, David Williams, Jason Malone; Aaron Kennedy, Tommy Doyle, Marcus Kennedy. Subs used: Thomas Kennedy for E Daly (temp. sub, 8), E Daly for T Kennedy (13), Jordan Williams for Malone (54), Warren Williams for M Kennedy (54).
Clonkill: Anthony Price; Ciaran Nooney, John Kenny, Ciaran Egerton; Brian Gaffney, Ciaran Nolan, Alan McGrath; Andrew Shaw, Matthew Glynn; Robbie Cleary, Peadar Scally, Luke Loughlin; Oisín Murray, Oisín Loughlin, Niall Mitchell. Subs used: Paul Poynton for Kenny (inj., 30+1), Oisín Murphy for Murray (inj., 38), Kenny for McGrath (60+3).
Referee: James McGrath (Turin).