Mullingar Shamrocks showed a welcome return to form last year when they contested their first senior championship decider since 2000 and almost pulled off a shock victory over Tyrrellspass. While disappointed to finish the season without championship honours, team manager Ned Moore could take tremendous satisfaction from his young side's progress and their capture of the All-County League Division 1 title Although they can never be written off, Mullingar Shamrocks' march to last year's senior football final came as a big surprise to many. Having failed to reach the knockout stages in the previous two years, and not contested a county decider since 2000, there were widely expected to fall into the 'also-rans' category once more. But unknown to a lot of people, Shamrocks and their manager Ned Moore have been plotting a return to the big stage for a number of years now. Under Moore, who famously skippered the club to a four-in-a-row of Flanagan Cup triumphs between 1992 and '95, Shamrocks have captured a host of underage titles in recent years and it would seem only a matter of time before this success manifests itself at senior level. "We've been building towards winning a senior title for the past five or six years," Ned explains. "And while people outside the club mightn't have expected us to do as well as we did last year, we had our sights set on winning the championship from the outset of the year. We've won under 14, under 16 and under 21 championships over the past few years and I had no doubt in my mind that we were ready to challenge for a senior title at the start of last year." He continues: "After a very disappointing 2006, the lads felt they had a point to prove and I think this was reflected in their performances, which were much improved. We used the league to try out different players in different positions and once they got a few wins under their belts, they started to believe they could go all the way." Despite the club's winning tradition, Shamrocks entered the county final against holders Tyrrellspass as rank outsiders. But with 12 minutes remaining, they led by four points and looked poised for victory until a late Tyrrellspass rally, which yielded an answered 1-5, saw the champions prevail by 1-10 to 2-4. "It was a heartbreaking way to lose a final. Given the form Denis Glennon had been in all year, we decided to play an extra man in defence and it looked like it would pay off for us until the late goal they scored changed everything. But, looking at the bigger picture, we only managed six scores and that was never going to be enough to win a county final." Ned attributes Shamrocks' late fadeout to a lack of experience as much as anything else. "Fair play to Tyrrellspass for the way they came back at the end, but you must remember that they are a far more experienced team than us. The problem we have at the moment is that we don't have the right balance in terms of youth and experience. With Paddy Rouse and Brian Rouse unavailable to us last year and Shane Colleary and Barry Loughrey carrying injuries, we were basically left with a team of young lads who had no previous experience of playing in a county final," he says. Under the management of Moore and his co-selectors Paul Ahearne and Paddy Monaghan, who were also part of the great side of the 1990s, Mullingar signalled their intentions for the year when they overcome 2003 and 2005 champions The Downs by 1-7 to 0-8 in their first championship outing at Cusack Park. With their lightweight but highly potent full forward line of Ciaran Curley and the Moore brothers, Darren and Conor, in fine form, Shamrocks came flying out of the starting blocks to score four points in as many minutes. But they could only manage one further score in the half as The Downs fought back to tie up the scoring at 0-5 apiece at half-time. James Conroy had The Downs in front within two minutes of the restart, but the black and ambers were rocked back on their heels when Cian O'Leary scored the only goal for Shamrocks and further points from Simon Quinn and Darren Moore sealed the deal. A Shane Colleary goal proved the difference between Shamrocks and Killucan when the sides locked horns at Cusack Park on May 27. The former county star, who was introduced as a substitute after 17 minutes, soloed half the length of the field before rifling the ball to net for a marvellous score early in the second half, and Shamrocks never looked back after that, going on to win by 1-7 to 0-7. A fortnight later, Shamrocks met Tyrrellspass in what proved to be a dress rehearsal for the county final. The sides were level on 0-5 each at half-time, but five minutes into the second half Tyrrellspass scored a controversial goal when Cathal Daly's fisted attempt for a point was adjudged to have crossed the line after touching off goalkeeper Robbie Wallace. Shamrocks responded with two Ciaran Curley points before Ray Sheeran found the target for Tyrrellspass. The game remained in the melting pot until the 55th minute when Denis Glennon set off on one of his trademark solo runs and used his strength and pace to hold off his marker before blasting home the second goal to seal a 2-7 to 0-10 victory for the navy and sky blues. The Springfield outfit got back to winning ways when they saw off St. Malachy's by 3-8 to 0-12 on a heavy Rochfortbridge pitch. Once again, Shamrocks' ability to score goals proved crucial in a game that could have gone either way. Malachy's were the better side in the first half, but two goals in the space of a minute from Cian O'Leary helped propel Mullingar into a 2-3 to 0-6 interval lead. St. Malachy's reduced the deficit to the minimum late in the second half before Ciaran Curley's 58th minute goal settled the issue. Another brace of O'Leary goals helped Shamrocks to an easy win over town rivals St. Loman's in their final group match and ensured their safe passage through to the semi-final as group winners. Kerry man Brian O'Sullivan scored a first half goal and when O'Leary added their second two minutes after the restart, the game was ended as a contest. The young attacker's second goal wrapped up a facile 3-11 to 0-6 win. Mullingar were expected to face a stiff challenge from Coralstown/Kinnegad, who needed two games to get past The Downs in the quarter-final, but this never materialised as the green and whites coasted to a 1-11 to 0-6 victory. The result was never in any doubt after Ciaran Curley bagged the only goal in the 13th minute, and after leading by 1-5 to 0-4 at half-time, Shamrocks tagged on three quick points after the resumption to kill off their opponents. The county final on October 21 was a repeat of the 1994 and 2000 deciders which both resulted in comfortable victories for Shamrocks. An official attendance of 5,117 watched the Cusack Park showdown, but they had precious little to get excited about until the second half when Ned Moore's Shamrocks team threatened to cause an upset. The first half was a scrappy affair, at the end of which Tyrrellspass led by 0-5 to 0-2. But with Donal O'Donoghue driving them on from midfield, Mullingar resumed with two almost identical fisted goals from Cian O'Leary in the ninth and 15th minutes to move into a 2-3 to 0-5 lead. Trailing by three points with three minutes of normal time remaining, Tyrrellspass looked to be in serious trouble, but then Keith Scally found the net to level proceedings. The champions were not to be denied after that, with three late points from Denis Glennon (two) and Martin Flanagan completing the comeback and leaving Shamrocks heartbroken. While acknowledging that Shamrocks no longer have the element of surprise, Moore is optimistic about their chances of going one better this year. "We'll be a year older and hopefully a year wiser," he says. "Despite ending up with nothing, we took a lot of encouragement from last year and, as a result, we're approaching the new campaign with great confidence. The lads have shown that they are prepared to work hard and with a bit more effort, they know they can get across that line. "While we are fortunate to have the best natural goalscorer I have ever seen in Westmeath club football in Cian O'Leary, I still think we are lacking a prolific forward in the mould of Dessie Dolan who can guarantee you six or seven points a game. If we could find someone like that, we'd be very hard to stop." The pain of losing the county final was eased somewhat by the club's capture of the All-County League Division 1 title. Shamrocks clinched the league title with a victory over The Downs in the latter part of the year. Somewhat surprisingly, Shamrocks failed to win any underage titles in 2007, losing the finals of the minor club championship, minor league, under 16 championship and Feile na nOg to Tubberclair, St. Loman's, Clann Braonain and St. Loman's respectively. However, Ned sees no cause for panic. "We're continuing to produce top class young footballers which is the main thing. We were in four underage finals last year and that suggests to me that we have plenty of talent coming through," he concludes. The Mullingar Shamrocks team that faced Tyrrellspass in the SFC final was: Robert Wallace; Micheal Curley, Kieran Gavin, Eoin O'Meara; Keith Moore, David Miller, Micheal Burke; Anthony Clinton, Donal O'Donoghue; Brian O'Sullivan, Aaron Purcell, Brian Melody; Fiachra Spellman, Ciaran Curley, Cian O'Leary. Subs used: Shane Colleary, Aonghus Smyth and Darren Moore. Tweet

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