Whisper it quietly, but could St. Loman's long wait for senior championship success be nearing an end? Based on their progress in 2008, the Lakepoint Park outfit could be serious contenders in 2009. St. Loman's go into the new season with genuine ambitions of lifting the Flanagan Cup after a successful 2008 which saw them claim Feis Cup and under 21 honours, as well as appearing in the senior football championship semi-final for the first time in six years. And with underage success as plentiful as ever, the Mullingar club have every reason to be optimistic about the future. One of the year's highlights came during the Christmas period when St. Loman's captured only their second ever under 21 title following a narrow victory over town rivals and long-time holders Mullingar Shamrocks. Needless, to say, team selector Joe Matthews is hoping it will be a stepping-stone to senior success. "Hopefully, winning the under 21 will lead to bigger things. We haven't had a good record in the grade over the years - having only won it once before in 2003 - and maybe that's why we haven't done so well in the senior championship. It's a vital stepping stone to senior success," he reasons. Matthews, who was joined on the management team by former county defender James Davitt, Jonathan Plunkett and Paul McGann, takes particular encouragement from the fact that 11 of the under 21 team had featured for the senior side in their surprisingly comfortable Feis Cup final victory over Tyrrellspass five weeks earlier. "Most of the lads have played at senior level as well, and they are only going to get better over the next few years. It was a big thing for the senior team to put silverware on the table - we hadn't won the Feis Cup since 2002 and obviously you have to go back a lot longer to our last championship win. "We had high hopes at the start of the under 21 campaign. We had 13 survivors from the team that lost the previous year's final to Shamrocks by a point and with good minors coming through, we expected to do well," adds Joe, whose family are synonymous with the Delvin Road club. After accounting for Milltownpass by 2-16 to 0-5 and Athlone by five points, Loman's travelled to the home of their local rivals on December 28 for the final and came away with a 1-7 to 0-8 victory. Shamrocks played with a strong wind in the first half, but their 0-4 to 0-2 interval lead didn't look sufficient. Yet, they led by three points midway through the second half and looked set to retain their title until substitute Adrian Gilmore struck the only goal nine minutes from the end to put the visitors ahead by 1-6 to 0-7. Shamrocks responded with a converted free from Ciaran Curley to reduce the deficit to the minimum, but Loman's had the final say when Paul Sharry and Robbie Lynch combined to set up Kieran Lynam for the insurance score, which gave them a 1-7 to 0-8 victory. "Anytime you beat your nearest rivals is always sweet, but when you achieve it in their own backyard (Springfield), it's even sweeter," Matthews smiles. Under new manager Walter Burke, who guided his native St. Faithleach's to successive Roscommon SFC final appearances in 2006 and '07, St. Loman's enjoyed their best run in the senior championship since 2002 when just like last year, Garrycastle defeated them at the semi-final stage. While the draw was favourable (they avoided the so-called 'Group of Death'), few had envisaged them topping their group ahead of more fancied Coralstown/Kinnegad and The Downs teams, and thereby qualifying directly for the semi-finals. The signs looked ominous when they lost their opening game to Coralstown/Kinnegad by 3-7 to 1-8. The Loman's defence struggled to cope with the pace of Alan Giles in the opening half, but went into the break just two points adrift - 2-3 to 1-4 - after substitute Conradh Reilly scored a cracking goal on the stroke of half-time. Having got back on level terms, St. Loman's were rocked again eight minutes after the restart when Enda Leonard scored a third goal for Kinnegad. Entering the last 10 minutes, St. Loman's trailed by five points but had a great chance to close the gap when they were awarded a penalty. However, Niall McGurren shot straight at goalkeeper Evan Curran and so ended St. Loman's comeback hopes. The Blues secured the first of four consecutive wins when overcoming Killucan by 1-12 to 0-13. The sides were level on 0-5 apiece at half-time and Killucan actually took the lead before Conradh Reilly's goal at the beginning of the final quarter propelled St. Loman's to victory. Aided by a double dismissal, St. Loman's had little difficulty in seeing off the challenge of St. Malachy's in their next outing at Rochfortbridge. St. Malachy's had the benefit of a strong wind in the opening half, but failed to take advantage and were just a point to the good, 0-6 to 0-5, at half-time. In the second half, St. Loman's took complete control with Conor Cochrane's penalty sealing a 1-16 to 0-7 win. The Mullingar men produced another strong second half showing to account for Ballinagore 0-16 to 0-7 at Cusack Park. Ballinagore were just two points adrift at half-time, 0-5 to 0-7, but with Enda Matthews, Conradh Reilly and Ciaran Lynam all in excellent scoring form, Loman's pulled away for a comfortable victory after the change of ends. St. Loman's upset the odds to defeat The Downs 1-8 to 1-7 in their final group match to progress to the last four. Noel Molloy scored an early goal for the black and amber before Conradh Reilly netted late in the half to give Loman's a slender 1-4 to 1-3 interval advantage. In the second half, Walter Burke's side kept their noses in front to set up a semi-final meeting with Garrycastle. The Athlone outfit have proven to be a thorn in the side of St. Loman's down the years, and that was once again the case at Cusack Park as they ran out 1-15 to 2-7 winners. After a brief scare in the first half when a brace of Ciaran Kilmurray goals helped Loman's to a 2-2 to 0-3 lead after 17 minutes, Garrycastle recovered to regain parity by the 29th minute before Paddy Mulvihill swooped for an opportunist goal in first half injury-time, placing them 1-8 to 2-2 ahead at the break. By the 10th minute of the second half, Garrycastle had opened up a five-point lead and maintained this advantage for the remainder of the game to end St. Loman's championship interests for another year. The Mullingar side still had the Feis Cup to play for, however, and showed great determination in appalling conditions to overcome Tyrrellspass in the final by 1-12 to 0-7. Only a point separated the teams 10 minutes into the second half, but then St. Loman's hit a purple patch which saw them outscore the home side by 0-5 to 0-1, and they made certain of victory with a late Paul Martin goal. "Our seniors made great strides last year, and put in a huge effort for Wally Burke which was great to see," Matthews says. "Reaching the semi-final of the championship and winning the Feis Cup was a big improvement on previous years. It has given us a lot of confidence going into the new campaign." For many years now, St. Loman's has boasted one of the strongest underage sections in the county and this was once again evident last year when they captured the under 16 league and championship titles, as well as the Feile crown. Under the tutelage of Declan Cox, Donal Kilmurray and Eamonn Clinton, the under 16s powered to a 3-11 to 1-2 victory over Mullingar Shamrocks in the Division 1 league final before completing the double with a 1-11 to 1-8 win over St. Finian's in the championship decider. In the latter final, St. Loman's raced into a 0-9 to 0-1 half-time lead, only for St. Finian's to come roaring back in the second half. The Christy Martin-managed under 14 side were crowned Feile champions for the third year in-a-row following a 2-10 to 1-7 victory over Caulry in April, and subsequently represented the county at the national finals in Cavan. However, their hopes of adding the championship crown were ended at the penultimate stage by Mullingar Shamrocks. St. Loman's under 21 championship winning team was: Jason Daly; Seanie Murphy, Darryl O'Toole, Niall Foran; Emmett Cahill, David Rushe, Timmy Murphy; Paul Sharry, Antoin Savage; Conor Lynam, Conradh Reilly, Conor Cochrane; Robbie Lynch, Kieran Lynam, Paul Leonard. Subs used: Shane Flynn, Darryl Quinn and Adrian Gilmore. The St. Loman's team which captured the Feis Cup was: Stephen Gallagher; Donal McGovern, James Davitt (captain), Paul Leonard; David Rushe, Paddy Dowdall, Darryl O'Toole; Tommy Lambden, Senan Russell; Conor Lynam, Conradh Reilly, Paul Sharry; Conor Cochrane, Paul Martin, Kieran Lynam. Subs used: Sean Murphy, Shane Flynn, Gerry Farrell and Timmy Murphy. St. Loman's under 16 championship winning side was: Larry Rasinkis; Jason O'Toole, Cathal McKinley, Shane Lally; David Whelan, Paddy Laide, Diarmuid Hyland; John Heslin, Kelvin Reilly; Niall Dowdall, Kyle McGurren, Noel Gavin; Darragh Keena, Anthony Price, Ben Kilmurray. Sub used: David Eckesteen. Tweet

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