Dempsey facing into semis without key men

St Loman’s, Mullingar may have reached the semi-finals of the Shay Murtagh Precast senior football championship, but manager Luke Dempsey is having to cut his cloth personnel wise as the last four approaches. 

In their final round robin game against strugglers Coralstown/Kinnegad last Saturday, the Mullingar club fielded a side barely recognisable from that which cruised to last year’s title. They were heavily reliant on Ken Casey (1-6) as they battled back from a two-goal deficit to win the game.

Marquee forward John Heslin was suspended for the Kinnegad match after being sent off in the previous game against Tyrrellspass, while Paddy Dowdall and Paul Sharry were among the other key absentees.

After the match, Dempsey gave an update on the status of his panel.

“Paddy Dowdall has a groin strain, so we left him out to err on the side of caution and Paul Sharry will know this week how his operation went,” said Dempsey. “It’s highly unlikely that he’ll be back but he’s had good recovery from injuries in the past. 

“You could see Shane Flynn limped off with probably a torn quad muscle. The worst case scenario is a torn quad muscle; he’d be out for the rest of the year. The best case scenario is just a spasm.”

St Loman’s have two key players abroad at the moment, and Dempsey appeared to rule out the prospect of those players returning for the knockout stages.

“Shane Dempsey is gone to Dubai, and Jason O’Toole to Vancouver. They’re all tied up with new jobs abroad. They can’t break any contract, so we are what we are now.”

The Lakepoint Park club have been the dominant force in Westmeath club football since 2013, when they won a first SFC title in 50 years, going on to win three-in-a-row between 2015 and 2017.