McCormack 'Calls' the shots as Maryland win

Maryland 2-9Coralstown/Kinnegad 0-10The long and arduous route in quest of Flanagan Cup 2010 glory commenced at sun-lashed and excellently manicured Hogan Park, Moate, on Sunday evening last, when a splendid attendance turned out to watch the double header, the main feature being the meeting of Maryland and Corlastown/Kinnegad. If recent league form was any criteria Coralstown/Kinnegad appeared to hold the aces, as they had a recent convincing win over a Drumraney outfit who admittedly were, early on, reduced to 14 men, but the championship, as often happens can turn out to be an entirely different proposition.Such indeed turned out to be the case in the sylvan surrounding of Hogan Park on Sunday evening as a hugely determined and focused Blues made a truly explosive start to put themselves 1-4 to nil. A head with only eight minutes elapsed on the clock. Maryland introduced Tom Moran between the posts for John Murray, now in New Zealand, also welcoming back marksman Joe Harte after a spell in London, while the east county men were missing David Kilmartin, travelling to South America.An opening minute Coralstown/Kinnegad wide gave scant indication of what would immediately follow in this opening round encounter. Scarcely a minute had elapsed when a fisted effort across the Coralstown/Kinnegad goalmouth by the returned Joe Harte was met by Kieran Martin on high alert and the centre forward clinically found the net. It was corner forward Joe again who forced the free pointed by David Martin 2 minutes later - the ball was barely kicked out when wing back Christy Grimes launched another attack, continued by emerging hero full back David Reynolds, onwards to another Blues superstar of the hour, Callum McCormack, who sent over his first of a half-dozen points from play. Another foul on corner forward John Reilly almost led to another Blues goal when Joe Harte revelling in his return to action, blasted narrowly wide. Completely on top at midfield, where David Martin and Liam Reilly held the whip hand, Maryland were putting the Coralstown/Kinnegad rearguard under immense pressure, confirmed by Callum McCormack second point from play on just 8 minutes.The Red's management team on the sideline were visibly shell shocked at the unfolding of events, with Maryland now 1-3 in front, but they got some welcome encouragement when wing forward Wayne Fox placed Cian Flynn for the No. 15 opening point (11th min) from play, quickly followed by centre forward Enda Leonard who split the posts on the run. Back came Maryland - David Martin's pointed free (foul on Joe Harte) renewed their early impetus, but Coralstown/Kinnegad when they were striving to get back into this game, were dealt a blow when (21st min) their full back Joe Kenny received a straight red card for a foul committed on his direct opponent Callum McCormack. Wing back Stephen Bracken was now deployed to the fringe of the square, but the Maryland pressure was incessant.It took a brilliant save by Reds goalie Damien Molloy from earlier goal scorer Kieran Martin (at the expense of a fruitless '45') to prevent another major score while a high Callum McCormack centre also caused panic in the Coralstown/Kinnegad defence. An Alan Giles pointed free, followed by Maryland's Kieran Martin who appeared to have a strong case for a penalty when felled going through, led up to what was arguably the score of the game (32 min) when Callum McCormack pointed from an extremely difficult angle. In 2 further minutes of added time, Coralstown/Kinnegad strongly attacked with, on this occasion, Alan Giles having an arguast case for at least a close-in free, but the Reds, on 34 minutes, had their 4th point when Jason Cully obliged from play to leave the interval score reading 1-5 to 0-4 in Maryland's favour.Goalkeeper for Coralstown/Kinnegad Damien Molloy was forced off injured at half-time, replaced by Joe Rossiter. The crossfield breeze was not a major factor in either sides advantage, but the 14-man east county fifteen made the more telling start to the second half - Jason Cully's early point cut arrears to a goal, but a combination of poor marksmanship and stellar Maryland defence, spearheaded by the outstanding David Reynolds, stymied their attacking prowess. They were (36th min) further hit hard when attacking corner back Conor Farrell surged up field - onwards to Joe Harte who made the road for John Reilly to hammer home Marylands second goal, rapidly followed by Callum McCormack's fourth point, from play. Alan Giles (free) and No. 5 from Callum left the score at 2-7 to 0-6, with Finbar Egan's men looking set to take the two points on offer.Despite their numerical disadvantage, Colm Coyle's charges were not prepared to capitulate without a fight and they responded with touches of their best form to cut the seven point margin. Alan Giles (2 frees) and a good Mark Gorman effort from play made it a 4-point game. Full forward Gorman's piledriver drew a brilliant save from Maryland keeper Tom Moran, while midfielder Niall Kilmartin's rocket was equally dealt with by the debutante Blue's custodian. Exchanges were now hell-for-leather as a Maryland defence energised by the already mentioned Reynolds, augmented by Conor and Eoin Farrell and Darren Malynn, offered sterling resistance to strong Coralstown/Kinnegad forward forays. But the Blues were not putting the scores away with regularly as evidence by their 8 second half wides.With the Coralstown/Kinnegad men striving earnestly for that elusive goal, they were dealt a further last body blow when their centre-back Eamon Fleming, already yellow carded was then dismissed for a second bookable offence, reducing them to 13 players for the closing passage of play. With exchanges becoming niggly and tetchy in those final moments, Maryland following 17 scoreless minutes, found their scoring touch as the clock ticked down. A brace of points from play, courtesy of Kieran Martin and Callum McCormack left the points safe for the South Westmeath brigade and while Coralstown/Kinnegad had the last word when corner back Jason Lynch pointed, it didn't affect the final outcome.It was 'tosach maith leath na hOibre' on the double for Maryland as their explosive start led in turn to opening their campaign with a win. Coralstown/Kinnegad always struggled following that (for them) horrific opening spell, and, having been reduced to 14 men for nearly 40 minutes of play, it was always looking like a bad day at the office for them.Scorers: Maryland: Callum McCormack (0-6), Kieran Martin (1-1), John Reilly (1-0), David Martin (0-2, frees).Coralstown/Kinnegad: Alan Giles (0-4, frees), Jason Cully (0-2), Cian Flynn (0-1), Enda Leonard (0-1), Mark Gorman (0-1) and Jason Lynch (0-1).Maryland: Tom Moran, John Cunningham, David Reynolds, Conor Farrell, Christy Grimes, Eoin Farrelly, Darren Malynn, David Martin, Liam Reilly, James Reynolds, Kieran Martin, Ronan Moran, John Reilly, Callum McCormack, Joe Harte. Subs: Anthony Reynolds for John Reilly (54); Aidan Reynolds for David Martin (61).Coralstown/Kinnegad: Damien Molloy, Jason Lynch, Joe Kenny, Ronan Doyle, Killian Foley, Eamon Fleming, Stephen Bracken, Fergal Dardis, Niall Kilmartin, Wayne Fox, Enda Leonard, Alan Giles, Jason Cully, Mark Gorman, Cian Flynn. Subs: Joe Rossiter for Damien Molloy (inj h/t); Clive Kieran for Fergal Dardis (44).Referee: Damien Maher (Ballynacargy).