Lynch saves the day as St Oliver Plunketts taste glory

In a game that lacked quality hurling in large spells, the clash of St Oliver Plunketts and Clonkill certainly made up for it in tension and excitement. Following eighty minutes of hurling, where both teams appeared to have assumed the required ascendency to win the game, it took penalties to decide this All-County Hurling League Final.

Despite Clonkill having a penalty shot to win this battle, it was St Oliver Plunketts who earned victory with an expertly taken penalty in sudden death by Padraig Casey. This winning penalty was preceded by an outstanding save as netminder Conor Lynch dived to his left to save Luke Meyler’s sudden death penalty. For the men based in Robinstown, this win will be a welcome tonic as they prepare to try and go one better than last year and annex the Westmeath Senior ‘B’ Championship. While Clonkill will be disappointed to have experienced defeat in two League finals, they have used the league to the fullest to blend in new, young talent into the teams to utilise when the championship starts.

St Oliver Plunketts started superbly in this contest and found themselves ahead by 0-6 to 0-1 after 12 minutes. Davy Gavin and Aaron Craig were to the fore in this spell, scoring two and three points respectively from placed balls. Ben McNamee also contributed a point from play during this early spell of dominance for St Oliver Plunketts, with a pointed free from the stick of Cian Loughlin the only response for Clonkill. The teams then exchanged points in the 14th minute. Cian Loughlin reduced the margin to four with another free, but this was swiftly followed by an enormous effort from play by Ben McNamee from inside his own 65 metre line.

Davy Gavin extended the lead to six points for the Mullingar men with another pointed free from about 50 metres out right on the quarter mark of the contest Clonkill had a goal chance on 16 minutes following excellent link play from Oisin Loughlin, but Conor Lynch made a fine save from an Eoin Kenny shot. The following six minutes were extremely productive for Clonkill. Two points scored by Niall Dowdall and John Kenny reduced Plunkett’s lead to four points. Then, in the 19th and 21st minutes, Niall Dowdall scored two goals to put Clonkill into a two-point lead. Clonkill 2-4 St Oliver Plunketts 0-8.

The following minutes after the goals were quite attritional and there were a number of missed scoring chances by both teams. Two quickfire points for Plunkett’s restored parity in the 29th minute, with a Davy Gavin free quickly followed by an Aaron Craig point from play, after latching onto a poor clearance by Paddy Dowdall. Paddy Lynam then put St Oliver Plunketts into the lead again in injury time with a point from play, their third point in-a-row. Clonkill then responded with another well worked goal scored by John Kenny, following super interplay between brothers Oisin and Cian Loughlin. The final score of the half was a point from a placed ball for St Oliver Plunketts scored by Padraig Casey, leaving Clonkill with a one point the half-time lead: Clonkill 3-4, St Oliver Plunketts 0-12.

Clonkill were aided by a reasonably strong breeze for the second half. The scoring commenced with a quick exchange of pointed frees in the second and third minutes of the half for St Oliver Plunketts and Clonkill respectively, Padraig Casey converting for Plunkett’s with Cian Loughlin adding to his tally for Clonkill. It took another six minutes for another score to register, and the play felt disjointed with several fouls committed leading to frees. This period of the game also witnessed a few wides. Aaron Craig ended this spell without a score with another pointed free in the 39th minute to level the scores: Clonkill 3-5, St Oliver Plunketts 0-14.

Clonkill reclaimed the lead in the 41st minute when substitute, Josh Murtagh pointed from play following super setup play from Oisin Loughlin. Philip Dowdall extended Clonkill’s lead further a minute later with another point from play. A pointed free scored by Aaron Craig brought the minimum between the teams again in the 46th minute, however an excellent point scored from a sideline ball taken by Luke Meyler in the 47th minute restored Clonkill’s two-point lead. This was, however, to be Clonkill's last score in normal time. When Padraig Casey pointed another free for St Oliver Plunketts in the 53rd minute, it made it a one-point game in favour of Clonkill - 3-8 to 0-16.

Again, play in this period of the game became quite attritional, with of rucks and bunching around the sliotar slowing down the play. In the 29th minute, Paddy Lynam gathered the sliotar and shot from for goal from about 45 metres out. His shot had the trajectory, but it bounced short of the goal. However, the firm Cusack Park pitch helped the sliotar bounce over the bar for the equalising score. Both teams had subsequent opportunities to win the game. St Oliver Plunketts had a goal correctly disallowed for square ball and Cian Loughlin saw his shot for a point go wide. On the blowing of the final whistle by Robert Dillon, it was announced over the tannoy that extra-time was to be played: Clonkill 3-8, St Oliver Plunketts 0-17.

St Oliver Plunkett’s made a strong start to the first half of extra-time, like the first half of normal time. Two points from Aaron Craig (free & 65-metre award) and a point from play for Davy Gavin, in the first; second and fourth minutes, opened a three-point lead for Plunkett’s. Clonkill responded with a point from play from Josh Murtagh in the sixth minute and another pointed free from Cian Loughlin in the 10th minute of the half. This left a single point between the teams, with St Oliver Plunketts enjoying the lead at half time of extra time. Plunketts extended their lead to three on the resumption of play, with Donnacha Maguire (play) and Aaron Craig (free) scoring points. These were to be the last scores in play for St Oliver Plunketts. Clonkill fought back to earn the draw at the end extra time. Points scored by Cian Loughlin (free); and two by Niall Dowdall from play (18th and 21st minutes) meant that the game was heading for penalties.

The first three penalties were scored by both teams. Josh Murtagh scored the fourth for Clonkill, but Shane Power saved the effort from substitute Conor Bracken. This gave Christopher Austin the opportunity to win the trophy for Clonkill, however, his effort was saved by Conor Lynch. When Aaron Craig despatched his penalty to the back of the net, it meant we were now into sudden death penalties. Luke Meyler’s penalty was excellently taken, however, Conor Lynch dived to his left to save brilliantly. Padraig Casey was then able to step up and convert his penalty and win the league title for St Oliver Plunketts.

Scorers - St Oliver Plunketts: Aaron Craig 0-9 (0-6 frees; 0-2 ’65 award); Davy Gavin 0-5 (0-4 frees); Padraig Casey 0-3 (all frees); Ben McNamee 0-2; Paddy Lynam 0-2 & Donnacha Maguire 0-1.

Clonkill: Niall Dowdall 2-3; Cian Loughlin 0-5 (all frees); John Kenny 1-1; Josh Murtagh 0-2; Luke Meyler 0-1 (sideline) & Philip Dowdall 0-1.

St Oliver Plunketts: Conor Lynch; John Fry, Dylan Carey, Tomas Turks; Ben McNamee, Liam Carey, Sean Hayes; Aaron Craig (Capt.), Donnacha Maguire; Nathan Connolly, Cathal Craig, Paddy Lynam; Padraig Casey, Davy Gavin, Brian Farrell. Subs used: Robbie Hog for Dylan Carey (25 mins); Adam Buckley for Cathal Craig (36 mins); Andrew Cunningham for Brian Farrell (43 mins); Cathal Craig for Nathan Connolly (HT – ET); Conor Bracken for Andrew Cunningham (83 mins).

Clonkill: Shane Power (Capt.); Paul Poynton, Paddy Dowdall, Eoin Kenny; Ciaran Egerton, Jack Murtagh, Darragh Kenny; Karl McCormack, Conor Daly; Luke Meyler, Philip Dowdall, Oisin Loughlin; Cian Loughlin, John Kenny, Niall Dowdall. Subs used: Josh Murtagh for Eoin Kenny (HT); Darragh McLaughlin for Philip Dowdall (70 mins); Christopher Austin for Ciaran Egerton (73 mins); Scott Murtagh for Paul Poynton (77 mins); Eoin Kenny for Oisin Loughlin (78 mins).

Referee: Robert Dillon.