Under 14 Division 1 County Final
Mullingar Shamrocks 2-4 v Athlone 1-6
The under 14 lad's travelled to wet and windy Ballynacargy on Sunday morning 9th Nov. to take on Athlone in the Division 1 county final, and what a day it turned out to be. Preparations had gone well for the last number of weeks and the lads were confident they could repeat their excellent performance over The Downs in the semi-final the week before, despite having three major injury concerns and influential wing back Conor Mc Hugh sidelined with the flu.
Shamrocks started the game on the front foot, and were on top all over the field in the first quarter, scoring 1 - 1 without reply. Athlone had their first score before Matthew Maslin blasted wide from five yards when he looked certain to register his second goal. Luke Carton and Seanie Hynes also missed goal opportunities in the first quarter one being a goal line scramble that could have gone anywhere. We seemed to sit back and relax in the second quarter Athlone were finding their feet and scored some good points and an excellently worked goal to leave us a point down at the interval when in fact we felt we should have been out of sight. Up front our full forward line of Cormack Hynes, Luke Carton and Mathew Maslin had the Athlone defense on the back foot from the start. Conor Fitzpatrick, Cormack Darby and John Whitelaw were on top and winning ball in front of their men on our own forty.
Playing against the wind in the second half and with the underfoot conditions worsening we found it difficult to get our passing game flowing with moves breaking down just at the vital moment, Athlone were in control of most of the second period and were playing good football but they were finding scores hard to come by, due in no uncertain terms to excellent defending from the lads. We kept our shape really well in this period of Athlone pressure which was very pleasing to the coaches. Padraig McKenna, Jack Kelly and Cian Fox were defending heroically, Dillon Murphy and Trevor Keena were immense in midfield and pressurised the opposition all over the field. Athlone were now three points up before Cormack Hynes scored our first point of the second half to keep us in touch, Cormack and Seanie Mahon missed opportunities to narrow the gap more before Padraig McKenna who had pushed up from corner back fielded a high ball in the Athlone square and was dragged down for a penalty.
The rest is history up stepped "Mr Cool" Seanie Mahon who slotted the penalty in the corner of the net as if it was a training session in Springfield, to win the Championship and the Cup for us. Well done Seanie it was a pressure kick and it's safe to say you will be the penalty taker going forward. Brandon Heffernan and Mark Eivers had excellent second halves both of them tackled and harassed their men as if their lives depended on it, Adam Mc Cormack came on when Conor Fitzpatrick was black carded for a personal foul and made some vital interceptions at a crucial time in the game, our keeper Dillon Matthews was consistent with his kick outs all day and really was not put under any pressure by the opposition except for the goal which was un stoppable. Athlone had an opportunity to draw level in injury time, but Dillon Murphy who was my man of the match fielded the ball in the small square and cleared to safety. Well done lads what a season we have had and what a way to end it. You can all have a well-earned break now hang up the boots for the winter with a county medal in your back pocket.
Shamrocks Squad; Dillon Matthews, Cian Fox, Padraig Mc Kenna, John Whitelaw, Trevor Keena, Adam Mc Cormack, Cormack Darby, Luke Carton, Dillon Murphy, Conor Fitzpatrick, Conor Mc Hugh, Cormack Hynes, Matthew Maslin, Brian Reidy, Mark Eivers, James Mahedy, Seanie Mahon, Peter Bane, Jamie Battle, Brandon Heffernan, Ronan Mc Hugh, Jack Kelly, John O Reilly, Bradley Mc Entee, Andrew Geraghty, Peter Hynes, Eoin Kilduff, Dylan Roe, Adam Duggan.
The Kube:
Put Saturday 31st January 2015 into your diaries as Mullingar Shamrocks will be presenting The Kube. A take on the popular television show this promises to be an entertaining night for all. Check out the events Facebook page The Kube - Mullingar Shamrocks GAA for a taster of what is in store.
Bingo:
Bingo takes place every Thursday night at 8.30pm in Springfield.
Astro:
We have slots available, bookings can be made by contacting Davy Gavin 0876793523 or any member.