High drama as McCormack rescues Maryland at the death

Maryland 2-14 Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall 1-15

By Gerry Buckley

Callum McCormack emerged as Maryland’s saviour as they avoided relegation to the junior ranks by a matter of seconds in this crunch clash in Kinnegad last Saturday afternoon. The former Westmeath star fortuitously found the net directly from a long-range free with the last kick of what had been a largely uninspiring Westmeath IFC match, thereby relegating an unfortunate Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall (C-F/C/W) outfit.

This was a heartbreaking outcome for the men in green and gold who looked certain with two minutes of added-time played to participate again in the race for the Peter Geraghty Cup in 2027.

However, McCormack’s powerful and well-directed kick from close to the far sideline in the resplendent ground deceived all and sundry, and the ball ended up in the losers’ net. There wasn’t even time left for them to take the kickout.

Joe Harte edged Maryland in front after 65 seconds at the end of a patient move before an unfortunate injury to his colleague Kevin Dolan delayed proceedings. Joe Rabbitte (a free) and Ben Martin (a well-worked score) soon traded points.

Rabbitte kicked a great two-point free before Ben Martin missed a great chance of a goal at the other end, shooting weakly when the opportunity presented itself.

The respective number 6s, Kieran Martin (displaying his trademark strength) and Emmet Corrigan (a neat finish) swapped points in the 12th minute. A minute later, Maryland's Darren Malynn was twice involved before rifling the ball to the net.

Mark Cunningham replied with a point (after the lively Conor Gaffney had been denied a goal), but C-F/C/W still trailed by 1-3 to 0-5 at the end of the opening quarter.

A point exchange ensued between Rabbitte (rounding off a fine move) and William Reynolds (a well-engineered score). Callum McCormack converted a two-point free for the men in blue and white, and Corrigan replied with a single point from play, the ball struck close to the two-point arc.

Rabbitte was gifted a point for C-F/C/W, and it got better for them in the 27th minute when Cunningham found the net with aplomb after executing a clever one-two with Allan Devine.

Reynolds pointed twice for the South Westmeath side in the closing stages of the first half, sandwiched between which Rabbitte slotted over another free. Accordingly, C-F/C/W led by 1-9 to 1-8 at the interval.

The eventual losers extended their lead to four points by the 36th minute, courtesy of a two-point free by Rabbitte and a great point under pressure by Gaffney (availing of a neat lay-off by Kevin Brazil). A brace of successful frees by Harte halved the gap, but Cunningham replied with a fisted point in the 41st minute.

Keith Malynn twice took centre stage, with a spectacular point – Garry Sullivan’s heroics prevented it from being a three-pointer – and another fine point (after great fielding by Kieran Martin). This left C-F/C/W ahead by 1-13 to 1-12 at the end of the third quarter.

McCormack nudged the Drumraney side ahead in the 48th minute with a two-point free which the losers could have avoided. Gaffney then hit the woodwork with a goal as his target at the other end, before his team-mate Cunningham equalised in style. Joe Harte was red-carded by the referee on the advice of his team of officials in the 52nd minute.

McCormack surprisingly missed a very scoreable free and this looked very costly when Gaffney fisted the northern outfit into the lead in the 58th minute, after Glen Plunkett’s point attempt had dropped short.

This looked like it would be the winning score until McCormack shot goalward from the ground in the 63rd minute after a C-F/C/W player had been penalised for touching the ball on the ground, and the resultant preventable goal sparked joyous scenes in the Maryland ranks moments later.

Man of the match: Callum McCormack (Maryland). Quite apart from his somewhat fortuitous last-gasp goal, the former Westmeath player’s driving runs were among the features of the game.

Scorers – Maryland: C McCormack 1-4 (1-0 free, 2tpf); D Malynn 1-0; W Reynolds, J Harte (2f) 0-3 each; K Malynn 0-2; K Martin, B Martin 0-1 each. C-F/C/W: J Rabbitte 0-8 (2tpf, 2f); M Cunningham 1-3; E Corrigan, C Gaffney 0-2 each.

Maryland - Eoin Moran; Ronan Aspell, Kevin Seery, Christy Hermbusche; Liam Moran, Kieran Martin, Colm Seery; Kevin Dolan, Adam Smyth; Ben Martin, Darren Malynn, William Reynolds; Joe Harte, Callum McCormack, Keith Malynn. Subs used: Conor Lowry for Dolan (inj., 3 mins); Kallum Nugent for Smyth (inj., 25); George Nugent for D Malynn (48); Jake Nugent for K Nugent (58).

Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall - Garry Sullivan; Oisín Gaffney, Darragh O’Reilly, Glen Plunkett; Matthew O’Reilly, Emmet Corrigan, Ryan Moore; Cian Shyrane, Mark Cunningham; Andrew Dermody, Joe Rabbitte, Allan Devine; Ben Delaney, Kevin Brazil, Conor Gaffney. Sub used: Vincent Plunkett for Delaney (43 mins).

Referee - Brendan Keena (Ballynacargy).