Jordan leads St Joseph’s back to another junior decider

St Joseph's 4-13 St Loman's, Mullingar 2-12

Four goals, two in either half, laid the platform for St Joseph's victory over St Loman's, Mullingar in this Westmeath Junior 1 Football Championship semi-final on a fine evening at Killucan on Friday last.

The Streamstown men led by seven points at the break before securing their place in the final for the third successive year and The Downs will provide the opposition in the coming weeks.

With the floodlights on, referee Niall Ward threw the ball in and within seconds was needed to register the first score. St Joseph's broke from the off and attacked with a long ball in towards Rory Matthews’ goal, Alan Conlon was first to react as the ball rebounded and finished to the net.

In the second minute Ros Elliffe added to the St Joseph's advantage with a well taken point after he won a breaking ball in the St Loman's full back line. A minute later, Daniel Keegan increased his side's advantage with a fine score following a great run.

In the fifth minute, St Joseph's struck for their second goal to go eight clear. A fine Mikey Lynam pass found Jordan McDonnell and he slalomed his way through before finishing to the net.

The sides then traded wides before Jordan McDonnell was again to the fore and he scored a lovely point after a quick solo and go.

In the 11th minute Ben McDonnell got in on the scoring act with a two-pointer free and, a minute later, another great driving run from Daniel Keegan resulted in a second point for the St Joseph's centre back. Another fine Ben McDonnell two-pointer soon followed, bringing St Joseph's total to 2-8.

Eoin Meehan brought St Loman's into the game with a fine two point score from play (17th minute). Meehan added to his total with a pointed free and he followed up with another two-point effort following fine work from Paddy Dowdall.

In the 22nd minute, Dowdall himself scored with a neat point from play to bring St Loman's to six points. With two minutes left in the first half, Jordan McDonnell produced the score of the game. A huge two-point effort from out on the right brought his team's first half scoring to a close.

St Loman's had the final say in the half with an unconventional goal; a delivery seemed to catch out some players, but not Ryan Jones who reacted quickly to finish to the Joseph's net. At half-time, St Joseph's led by 2-10 to 1-6.

On the resumption St Loman's needed a good start, but it was St Joseph's who pressed on. Ben McDonnell added another score to his total with a fine point four minutes in, before Dean Slevin opened his account with a point, following good work from Alan Conlon.

Slevin popped up again a minute later and found the back of the net following a strong run and dribble after the ball was knocked loose.

In the 38th minute, Slevin again found the net with a clinical finish after great work from Mikey Lynam and Jordan McDonnell in the build-up.

Eoin Meehan reduced the gap with a pointed free for St Loman's (40th minute), before Conor Regan scored a goal a minute later following more good support play from Dowdall. St Loman's bravely kept responding with further points from Eoin Meehan and Tadhg Kenny before Jamie McDonnell got on the scoreboard for St Joseph's after neat work from Jordan McDonnell.

Into the final ten minutes and facing a deficit of ten points, St Loman's pushed for more scores. However, fine defending from Joseph's restricted the Mullingar men to a Conor Regan point from play, before a fine Tadhg Kenny two-pointer off his left closed the scoring.

Man of the match: Jordan McDonnell (St Joseph's). A constant threat with ball in hand for the full 60 minutes, McDonnell provided chances for his colleagues and also chipped in with scores of his own. His two-pointer a couple of minutes before half-time was a particular highlight in a superb performance.

Scorers – St Joseph's: D Slevin 2-1; Jordan McDonnell 1-3 (1tp); B McDonnell 0-5 (1tp, 1tpf); A Conlon 1-0; D Keegan 0-2; R Elliffe and Jamie McDonnell 0-1 each. St Loman's: E Meehan 0-7 (2tp, 2f); C Regan 1-1; R Jones 1-0; T Kenny 0-3 (1tp); P Dowdall 0-1.

St Joseph's - Steven Fennessy; Dylan Drake, Pierce Weir Norris, Brian Fitzgerald; Mikey Lynam, Daniel Keegan, Andy Scally; Ben McDonnell, Noah McDonnell; Dylan McDonnell, Jordan McDonnell, Dean Slevin; Aaron McDonnell, Ros Elliffe, Alan Conlon. Subs: Jake Gannon for D Drake, Jamie McDonnell for A McDonnell, Nathan Corcoran for R Elliffe, Niall Moran for D Slevin, Brian Killian for D McDonnell.

St Loman's, Mullingar - Rory Matthews; Tom Dorr, Ryan Jones, Sean Brennan; Tadhg Kenny, Paddy Dowdall, Eoghan O’Keefe; Nedas Bielicas, Jamie Coffey; Adam Kenny, Thomas Meehan, Shane Boyce; Daniel McCann, Eoin Meehan, Beau Greene. Subs: Conor Regan for A Kenny, Tristan Johnson for B Greene, Sean Dinnegan for S Boyce, Evan Johnson for S Brennan.

Referee - Niall Ward (Garrycastle).