Shams rocked by injury as Luke inspires The Downs

Luke Loughlin and Dean Egerton put on a formidable double act as The Downs comfortably overturned Mullingar Shamrocks in this SFC clash at TEG Cusack Park on Saturday evening.

Egerton was in terrific form for the Flanagan Cup holders, notching up a superb 0-7 from play, but Loughlin was the conductor of the black and amber orchestra, racking up the assists as well as 0-5 of his own as they finished commanding eight-point winners.

The Mullingar men were in the driving seat after 19 minutes, leading 1-5 to 0-3 after an early goal from Ryan Kelly. But a 12th-minute injury to Westmeath star Shane Ormsby forced bainisteoir David Martin into a tactical rethink and once The Downs settled, the impact of Ormsby joining Denis Corroon on the Shamrocks injury list gradually became clear.

Shamrocks failed to score for another 20 minutes while The Downs kicked six in a row to lead 0-9 to 1-5 at the break, with Loughlin, Egerton and Ian Martin doing the honours.

Mullingar did their best to stem the tide in the second half but Martin and full back Charlie Drumm found the net to ensure that The Downs led by ten points with as many minutes to go, with the gulf in experience between the sides clear to see.

With Loughlin getting back to his best and Kevin O’Sullivan also returning to fitness after Westmeath’s inter-county odyssey, The Downs’ faithful rightly had a spring in their step leaving Cusack Park on Saturday night.

Shamrocks had the best of the opening exchanges, with Shane and Criostóir Ormsby both getting sniffs at goal inside the first minute. Adam Buckley converted a ‘45’ and Dean Moore made it 0-2 to nil after a neat one-two with Donnacha Maguire.

Loughlin and Martin found their range at the other end to level matters but with seven minutes gone, the Ormsby brothers combined in midfield before Criostóir shipped to Ty Masterson, who picked out Ryan Kelly for a powerful close-range finish.

With ten minutes gone, Masterson got on the scoresheet himself to put the Mullingar men ahead by four. Ormsby’s injury happened shortly afterwards and though they had to reorganise, Shamrocks didn’t immediately suffer.

Adam Buckley pulled off a super save from a point-blank Ian Martin shot before kicking another ‘45’ into the Dunnes Stores end, while Killian Mooney turned The Downs over inside their own defensive third and shot over.

The Downs, meanwhile, had only a point from Lorcan Mullen to report in this spell and when Loughlin kicked wide in the 20th minute, they trailed by five.

However, Ormsby’s absence began to tell and The Downs – now with Kevin O’Sullivan on the pitch in place of the injured Tom Tuite – started to mop up possession down the centre and kicked on from there.

Dean Egerton found his range for The Downs, followed by Josh Murtagh (a fisted effort) and Loughlin (a free). Then, on 25 minutes, the black and ambers levelled matters when Egerton dispossessed Brendan O’Reilly after a short kickout and drove a powerful shot at goal, tipped over the bar by Buckley.

A minute later, Dermot Power’s troops took the lead when Loughlin curled over with his left after some smart build-up play from Mitchell, which was a feature throughout.

In stoppage time, Shamrocks had a real chance to regain the lead when Alex Sheerin’s shot cannoned off the crossbar. They also kicked two wides before the short whistle.

Two minutes after the restart, The Downs extended their lead when Loughlin fired a tremendous two-pointer from the terrace side, before teeing up Dean Egerton for his third point.

Alex Sheerin pulled one back for Shamrocks but their injury worries mounted with Donnacha Maguire’s withdrawal, and The Downs’ Lorcan Mullen made matters worse for them when he sauntered through a big defensive gap to punt over.

Shamrocks then had their best spell since the first quarter, cancelling out two further Dean Egerton points with four points shared by Dean Moore (a free), Alex Sheerin and netminder Adam Buckley (a two-point free). Ty Masterson could have left just a point between the sides with 47 minutes gone but shot just wide.

The Shamrocks faithful had reason to hope, but it all fell apart for them with the concession of 2-2 in three whirlwind minutes.

On 48 minutes, the pace and determination of Loughlin and the quick-thinking of Niall Mitchell led to Ian Martin getting into a goalscoring position, and though Buckley made himself big, Martin found the net with a powerful finish.

Two minutes later, with Shamrocks at sixes and sevens defensively, Charlie Drumm steamrolled through the breach and reached the D before shipping to Joe Moran. Moran lost his footing but laid it off for the onrushing Drumm, who had the simple task of walking the ball to the net.

With The Downs not finished there, Dean Egerton took his tally to seven points with a magnificent two-pointer off his trustee left boot. The black and ambers were imperious at this stage, leading 2-17 to 1-10 and passing the ball about with the genuine swagger of champions.

They could afford to take their foot off the gas in the final ten minutes, in which time David Gavin found the target with a deserved point after a hard-working display, while Alex Sheerin and Dean Moore added their respective third points.

Deep into stoppage time, The Downs had the last say when Egerton almost added a goal to his considerable loot, but his shot was blocked and went out for a ‘45’. Trevor Martin duly converted.

Scorers

The Downs: Dean Egerton 0-7, L Loughlin 0-5 (1 2pt, 1f), I Martin 1-2, C Drumm 1-0, L Mullen 0-2, T Martin (‘45’) and J Murtagh 0-1 each. Mullingar Shamrocks: A Buckley 0-4 (2 ‘45s’, 1 2ptf), D Moore (1f) and A Sheerin 0-3 each, R Kelly 1-0, T Masterson, K Mooney and D Gavin 0-1 each.

The Downs Trevor Martin; Éanna Burke, Charlie Drumm, Josh Murtagh; Oisín Murphy, Ciaran Nolan, Joe Moran; Lorcan Mullen, Billy Moffatt; Dean Egerton, Ian Martin, Philip Martin; Luke Loughlin, Niall Mitchell, Tom Tuite. Subs used: Kevin O’Sullivan for Tuite (inj., 15), Darragh Egerton for Murphy (45), Michael Moloney for Moffatt (52), Ben Harte for P Martin (60).

Mullingar Shamrocks: Adam Buckley; Adam Glynn, Dillon Matthews, Brendan O’Reilly; Efe Siode, Ty Masterson, Brian Guerin; Donnacha Maguire, David Gavin; Criostóir Ormsby, Ryan Kelly, Killian Mooney; Dean Moore, Shane Ormsby, Alex Sheerin. Subs used: Ben Sheerin for S Ormsby (inj., 12), Paul Keating for Maguire (inj., 38), Donal Lane for O’Reilly (53), Alan Cashman for Gavin (60).

Referee: Enda Kelly (Castledaly).

Footnote

Before the throw-in to this game, a minute’s silence was observed in memory of the late James and Noreen McHugh, Kilcar, Donegal, who died tragically last week. Tributes were paid to their family, Kilcar GAA and in particular, Westmeath senior football manager Mark McHugh, a nephew of James and Noreen.