By reaching three finals and winning two of them, the Mullingar Shamrocks minor team was undoubtedly the club's most successful team in 2006. Here, joint-manager and former intermediate team goalkeeper John Doran reflects on the minor side's achievements. In a year when Mullingar Shamrocks once again failed to figure at the business end of the senior football championship, the highlight was provided the club's minor team who claimed league and club championship honours. Managed by former players John Doran and Denis Corroon, the Shamrocks under 18s recovered from the disappointment of losing the 'premier' championship semi-final to group team Inny Gaels to beat Athlone and Bunbrosna in the league and club 1 championship finals respectively. The league final against Athlone also doubled up as the club 1 championship semi-final, and Shamrocks' triumphs in both competitions were a source of great satisfaction for the Springfield-based club. "We were very pleased with the team's performances. When you consider that we were working with a small panel of players, I thought the lads did very well," enthuses ex-intermediate team goalkeeper John Doran. "Seven of the team that reached the 2005 minor championship final were eligible once again, but we had to bring in four lads from the under 16 team who, as it turned out, gave excellent accounts of themselves. "We started training in February and suffered an early blow when one of our best players, Conor Hughes, was ruled out for the year after breaking his collarbone in the 2005 under 21 final against Athlone. But we put that setback behind us and the lads went on to have a successful year," he adds. A minor selector in 2005 when Shamrocks were narrowly defeated by St. Loman's in the minor championship final but exacted a measure of revenge by beating their town rivals in the league final, Doran became joint-manager alongside Denis Corroon following Ned Moore's appointment as senior manager. Expectations weren't as high as usual for the minor championship, but Shamrocks still progressed to the semi-final following victories over St. Loman's, Shannon Gaels and Athlone (after a replay). There, they were decisively beaten by an Inny Gaels team whose participation in the championship had caused much controversy. The combination side, who pick from three clubs (Bunbrosna, St. Michael's and St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham), laid the foundations for their 2-11 to 1-3 victory when backed by the strong breeze in the first half. During that period, they hit an answered 2-6, leaving Shamrocks facing an uphill task after the break. A Conor Moore goal within a minute of the restart threw Mullingar a lifeline and when Lorcan Smyth followed with a point, an unlikely comeback looked to be taking shape. But Inny Gaels responded with four points on the trot to put the result beyond doubt with a quarter of an hour still to play. Shamrocks put that disappointment behind them when they defeated Athlone by 1-9 to 1-2 to retain their league title. Played on a wet and bitterly cold November's day in Kilbeggan, the game was a hard slog for both teams but Shamrocks always looked the more likely winners after trailing by just three points (0-1 to 1-1) at the interval, despite having played against a gale force wind in the first half. Athlone's first half wastefulness came back to haunt them when Alan Cashman's early second half goal put Shamrocks on the road to victory. Further scores from Lorcan Smuth, Blaine Burke, Conor Moore and Mark Collentine sealed a comfortable win for the boys in green. In the club 1 championship, Shamrocks lost to St. Loman's but recorded wins over Bunbrosna, Coralstown/Kinnegad and Athlone to set up a rematch with Bunbrosna in the final which took place two weeks before Christmas. And despite finishing the game with just 13 players - not to mention having to travel to their opponents' home patch - Shamrocks came away with a 1-5 to 0-6 victory. "It was a spirited performance, very workmanlike," Doran remembers. On a heavy pitch, the first score didn't arrive until the 11th minute when Conor Moore converted a free. Alan Maguire and Kevin Mitchell replied with points for Bun before Lorcan Smyth equalized for the visitors. The game's decisive score arrived six minutes before the break when Conor Moore and Kieran Gavin combined to set up Simon Quinn who finished emphatically to the net. With David McNamee in outstanding form in the Shamrocks full back line, Bunbrosna couldn't muster a reply and it was left to Lorcan Smyth to complete the first half scoring when he converted a 30-metre free. Smyth continued where he left off with another pointed free immediately after the resumption to give Shamrocks a 1-4 to 0-2 advantage, but the pressure began to increase on the town side after Blaine Burke was issued with a second yellow card in the 36th minute. A rejuvenated Bun grabbed the next four points to leave the minimum between the sides and Shamrocks looked to be in serious trouble when Darragh Daly followed Burke to the sideline in the 55th minute. But with Ray Purcell, McNamee and Kieran Gavin rock solid at the back, Shamrocks had the final say when Simon Quinn's late point sealed a hard-earned victory. Since captaining Shamrocks to their two minor successes in 2006, Kieran Gavin has graduated to the Westmeath senior team and made his debut at left corner back in the O'Byrne Cup tie against Athlone IT. And it won't come as a surprise to Doran if a few more of his minor side should follow in Gavin's footsteps in the coming years. "I'd expect a lot of these lads to go on and make it at senior level with Shamrocks and possibly with Westmeath. Kieran is an exceptional player and a natural leader. Everyone in the club is delighted with his progress." Other highlights from the year was the appearance of Aidan Daly's under 14 team in the Division 2 final and the junior team's march to the championship semi-final. The under 14s succumbed to Ballynacargy by 2-7 to 1-6 after leading by three points at half-time, while the junior team's great run was ended by Milltown. Among the junior side's best performers were former senior stars Tom Ormsby and Eddie Casey. Shamrocks supporters won't have happy memories of last year's senior championship campaign as, for the second year in succession they failed to reach the knock-out stages. Changed times indeed for a club that dominated the Lake County club scene throughout much of the 1990s. Under the guidance of Ned Moore and his selectors Paddy Monaghan and Paul Ahearne, Shamrocks made a winning start to their 2006 championship when they defeated St. Malachy's by 1-8 to 0-8. They then comfortably accounted for Killucan (1-11 to 0-5), but after losing to Castledaly (1-10 to 2-10), they were involved in a three-way play-off with the same two teams. When pitted against Killucan a second time, Shamrocks suffered a shock 0-8 to 1-8 reversal and their fate was sealed when Castledaly beat them for a second time by 1-15 to 1-5. Against Killucan, Shamrocks trailed by 0-5 to 1-3 at half-time. The 2005 intermediate winners extended their advantage after the break to pull off a shock victory. That defeat proved a huge setback to the young Mullingar side who were completely out-of-sorts when losing heavily to Castledaly in their final game of the championship. "Obviously, people will be disappointed at how the senior campaign went last year but they've got to remember that the team is in heavy transition at the moment. A lot of new faces have come into the team over the past year or two and they need more time to adjust to this level," John concludes. The Mullingar Shamrocks team which defeated Bunbrosna in the minor club 1 championship final was: Ronan Tyrrell; Ray Purcell, Darragh Daly, David McNamee; Blaine Burke, Kieran Gavin, Conor McEntee; Denis Corroon Jnr, Mark Collentine; Alan Cashman, Simon Quinn, Oisin Glennon; Conor Moore, Lorcan Smyth, Ciaran Curley. Sub used: Adam Corroon. Super Shamrocks regain under 21 crown Mighty Mullingar Shamrocks captured their second under 21 'premier' football championship in three years when powering to an emphatic 4-10 to 0-4 victory over surprise finalists Rosemount at Milltown on January 27 last. After their disappointing showing in last year's senior championship, the victory was warmly welcomed by supporters of the Springfield-based club who will be looking to members of this talented side to backbone their challenge for senior championship honours in the years ahead. Jointly managed by Ned Moore and Ray Smyth - two of the most respected figures in Westmeath GAA - Shamrocks were not lacking in motivation as they sought to make amends for their shock defeat to Athlone in the 2005 final. They signalled their intentions with a 0-12 to 0-3 victory over 2004 finalists Coralstown/Kinnegad in the quarter-final before easily accounting for St. Loman's and Rosemount in the semi-final and final respectively. Not for the first time, the 2006 under 21 championship fell way behind schedule and, in fact, Shamrocks' three games were all played in January 2007. The green and whites had home advantage for their first outing against Coralstown/Kinnegad, but conceded the opening score of a rather lifeless first half. Darren Moore eventually got Shamrocks off the mark in the 14th minute and further points from Ciaran Curley and Brian Melody gave them a 0-3 to 0-1 lead at the break. Shamrocks upped the tempo following the restart with Moore and Curley causing all sorts of problems for the Kinnegad defence. Moore, Curley and team captain Cian O'Leary all found the target, but the pick of the scores was a brilliant solo effort from Lorcan Smyth. By the end, all six of the Shamrocks forwards had scored in a workmanlike performance. With St. Loman's overcoming The Downs in their quarter-final joust, the scene was set for an all-Mullingar semi-final. Shamrocks again had home advantage and produced a brilliant display to run out 1-14 to 1-6 winners. Star of the show was full forward Simon Quinn, who notched up 1-3 from play in an excellent all-round performance. After missing an early goal chance, Shamrocks soon settled to their task and went on to lead by 0-8 to 0-2 at the interval thanks to scores from Stephen Melody, Darren Moore, Simon Quinn and Fiachra Spellman. The home side had extended their lead to eight points before Ciaran Lynam and Robbie Lynch replied with scores for a struggling St. Loman's team. But by the end of the third quarter, Shamrocks had restored their eight-point advantage courtesy of efforts from Quinn and Cian O'Leary. When Ciaran Curley set up Quinn for a goal, the game was well and truly over as a contest. Stephen Gallagher, who had been switched from goal to an attacking role, responded with a spectacular goal for St. Loman's in the dying moments but by then Shamrocks had already turned their thoughts to the final. Rosemount, who had sensationally ousted holders Athlone in the other semi-final, were expected to offer stern resistance to Shamrocks in the decider, but the 'townies' were in a different league as they cruised to an 18-point win. Backboned by members of their all-conquering minor sides of 2003 and 2004, Shamrocks got down to business almost immediately and Cian O'Leary had the ball in the back in the Rosemount net after just five minutes following a fine move involving Fiachra Spellman and Ciaran Curley. Darren Moore and Sean Maguire added points before Rosemount finally opened their account in the 17th minute through full forward Danny Fox. But within two minutes of that score, Fiachra Spellman and Lorcan Smyth combined to set up midfielder Maguire for Shamrocks' second goal. Although totally on top, the town side's interval lead was only five points, 2-2 to 0-3, and spectators wondered if their wastefulness would come back to haunt them in the second half. Shamrocks supporters needed have worried, though, as in the 38th minute, team captain O'Leary struck for his second goal to effectively put the result beyond doubt. Shamrocks rediscovered their scoring form after that, an although seven second half wides would bring their final total to 17, they went on to add seven more points from play per Darren Moore (four) and Simon Quinn (three) as against a solitary pointed free from Rosemount's Danny Fox. Mullingar introduced their full compliment of substitutes in the final quarter and it was left to one of them, Patrick Loughrey, to apply the coup de grace when punching home their fourth goal. On this evidence, it won't be too long before the Flanagan Cup makes its return to the Springfield clubhouse. The 2006 under 21 championship winning Mullingar Shamrocks team was: Philip Shaw; Keith Moore, Kieran Gavin, Aaron Purcell; Denis Corroon, Micheal Curley, David Bell; Sean Maguire, Cian O'Leary (captain); Fiachra Spellman, Simon Quinn, Brian Melody; Ciaran Curley, Lorcan Smyth, Darren Moore. Subs used: Peter Collins, Ciaran O'Meara, Paddy O'Donnell, Conor Moore and Patrick Loughrey. Tweet

Most Read Stories