Westmeath Intermediate Football Championship: Flashback to last year's final
Last year’s Westmeath intermediate football final was an extremely close battle that could have easily swung Shandonagh’s way. In a dramatic finale, Shandonagh created a goal chance late on, but defender Maitiú Scully - so often a valuable source of scores - was unable to get the contact desired and the ball was blocked out for a fruitless '45'.
Three years previously, Shandonagh defeated Tubberclair in the intermediate final in a replay, after the sides had played out a thrilling draw. On this occasion, it was Tubberclair who just about claimed the Peter Geraghty Cup in another tight battle.
Shandonagh made a huge effort in this final and their ability to kick two-pointers – they raised four orange flags courtesy of four different players - almost won the day.
Considering the difficult weather conditions - a swirling breeze was compounded by a heavy shower early on - the two sides served up an intriguing battle.
Aaron Craig – who played in the senior ‘B’ hurling final replay the previous Tuesday night – did not start for Shandonagh with Tom Molloy coming in. Shandonagh enjoyed a three-point lead (0-8 to 0-5) at half-time.
Fred Kelleher exploited a Shandonagh turnover for a Tubberclair point on the restart and the team captain quickly followed that up with a classy two-pointer.
Looking to respond quickly, Shandonagh carved open the Tubberclair defence but Gareth Carr's shot off the ground went over rather than under the bar in what was a let-off for the eventual winners.
Duffy levelled matters from a free and after Tubberclair then failed to turn a promising position into a score, Claffey won possession from a kickout, leading to Whittaker's third point.
Kealan Connell, more influential for Tubberclair at full-forward in the second half, drew a foul after making a fine fetch, paving the way for Duffy to double the lead.
Shandonagh wiped out the deficit when Danny Scahill raised an orange flag from a long range free.
As the tit for tat exchanges continued, Connell underlined his increased threat with a point, only for Adam Treanor to strike back with a huge two-pointer into the teeth of the wind (50th minute).
The momentum was now with the Kilpatrick side and Carr put them 0-14 to 0-12 ahead when finishing off a well worked move.
With Tubberclair in danger of allowing the title to slip away, two 19-year-olds stepped forward to ensure this wouldn't happen. Firstly,
Tom Bourke took on the Shandonagh defence and fisted over a point and, moments later, the same player hit an exquisite two-pointer off the outside his right boot.
Shandonagh showed character and Tom Molloy blasted over a 59th-minute point to make it 0-15 apiece, but Slevin scored the winning point for the southerners.
Shandonagh scorers: L Tynan (tp), R Donnelly (tp), G Carr, A Treanor (tp) and D Scahill (tpf) 0-2 each; D Conway, C McCrossan, K Boyle, T Molloy and B Kavanagh (f) 0-1 each.
Shandonagh – Cian Molloy; Maitiú Scully, Ben Treanor, Brendan Killian; Gareth Carr, Danny Scahill (captain), Daire Conway; Adam Treanor, Caelum Faughnan; Tom Molloy, Conor McCrossan, Luke Tynan; Ryan Donnelly, Brian Kavanagh, Kevin Boyle. Subs: Jake Costello for McCrossan (temp.); Aaron Craig for Tynan (40 mins); Darren Bitu for Conway (48); Mickey Boyle for Donnelly (53); Cormac Gordon for Faughnan (57); John Fry for B Treanor (inj., 60).