Westmeath Senior Football Championship: Mullingar Shamrocks 3-7 Coralstown-Kinnegad 0-10.

So now we've traversed one third of the championship tightrope without a fall, the next third will be perilous as we face Garrycastle, the only team that we have failed to beat in championship football in the past eighteen months.

There were a few wobbles but we eventually made it safely to the first safe station. In doing so,  Mullingar Shamrocks achieved what county champions do when they might be a bit off form. They found a way to win and in the end the winning margin was a comfortable six points after Coralstown-Kinnegad had challenged strongly for fifty minutes of the game.

Alan Giles pointed for Kinnegad in the first minute but David Gavin equalised after Efe Siode delivered a superb pass to Dean Moore who created the opening for Gavin. Wayne Fox pointed a sideline kick and Denis Corroon pointed from a free after a strong Patrick Fagan run ended with a foul.

This proved to be Fagan's final contribution as the hamstring twinge forced his retirement. David Gavin then added what was the highest point of the night, a chance initially created by a great Brendan O'Reilly pickup. Another Wayne Fox point levelled matters in the twenty-fourth minute. Eddie and Dean Moore then combined to create an opening for Dónal O'Donoghue and the centre-forward, who was superb on the night, pointed Shamrocks into the lead again.

David Gavin who impressed up-front with his power and his ball winning ability was then a  victim  of the hamstring jinx and he too was forced to retire and his loss was a great one. A long delivery from Killian Daly caused confusion in the Kinnegad defence and Dónal O'Donoghue availed of the opportunity to add one more point to his total.  Wayne Fox also kicked another  great long distance point before Pat Fox ended the first half with Shamrocks ahead by a single point (0-5 to 0-4).

Alan Giles equalised within a minute of the restart, a Denis Corroon pointed free restored Shamrocks lead before Stephen Bracken levelled again and a fine long range point from Wayne Fox sent Kinnegad ahead. A great 45 by Tye Adamson equalised before another Kinnegad point restored Kinnegad's lead (0-8 to 0-7) but this was as good as it got for Kinnegad. From the restart Denis Corroon flicked on to the marauding Micheál Curley who set off on one of several surging runs he made on the night. This time he split open the Kinnegad defence and released to Kieran Gavin who had replaced Marc Eivers.

Gavin blasted to the net and within minutes Gavin again split the Kinnegad defence after Efe had delivered a great pass to set up Denis Corroon who scored Shamrocks second goal and it was game over (2-7 to 0-9). Kieran Gavin wasn't finished yet as  a long delivery from Efe was punched to the net by the impact sub of the year. 'I never saw the like of that punched goal Kieran Gavin scored' the man standing outside the Greville Arms Hotel said as he waited for the return of the All-Ireland camogie champions. And that man has seen a lot of goals scored in Cusack Park.  The final point was scored by Kinnegad but Mullingar Shamrocks helped by the inspired play of Kieran Gavin (prevented by injury from starting), the man who normally prevents goals on this occasion proved to be the ace creator and poacher. 

Mullingar Shamrocks: Philly Shaw; Eddie Moore, Efe Siode, Billy Flynn; Killian Daly, Micheál Curley, Brendan O'Reilly (Aaron Purcell); Denis Corroon (1-2), Daragh Daly; Patrick Fagan (Darren Keena); Dónal O’Donoghue (0-2), Marc Eivers (Kieran Gavin 2-0); Tye Adamson (0-1) [Paddy Joyce], Dean Moore, David Gavin (0-2) [Alan Cashman](Ross Corroon).

Westmeath Intermediate LGF final: Mullingar Shamrocks 3-2  Coralstown-Kinnegad 1-10.

In the end it wasn't to be as Mullingar Shamrocks brave bid to snatch victory from the joys of defeat ran out of time. The Shamrocks girls battled bravely to the end but on the day Coralstown-Kinnegad were the better team and dominated the play for large periods of the game especially in the first half.

Mullingar Shamrocks never played to their capabilities in the first half but this was largely due to the pressure exerted by the Coralstown-Kinnegad players. Just three points separated the teams at the interval and the wind assisted Kinnegad players had reason to be unhappy with their return as the narrow lead was not a fair reflection of their dominance.

Shannon Lyons, one of the stars of the day, opened the scoring for Kinnegad but the Shamrocks response was immediate as Carole Finch, one of Shamrocks outstanding players on the day, collected a long delivery from Karen Hegarty and blasted the ball past the Kinnegad goalkeeper. Shannon Lyons pointed three frees in succession, Maud-Annie Foley added a neat left footed point from play; Lyons was then involved in a quick interchange with Sinead Murtagh that created a goal scoring opportunity for the latter, who shot to the Shamrocks net (1-5 to 1-0), Shamrocks responded immediately and Michelle Buckley collected from Lauren McCormack's restart and delivered long to Karen Hegarty who shot to the net. Just before the interval Shannon Lyons pointed her fourth free of the afternoon to secure an unflattering interval lead of 1-6 to 2-0 for her team.

Coralstown-Kinnegad began the second half with two points courtesy of Maud-Annie Foley and Sinead Murtagh to extend their lead to five points. When all seemed lost the Mullingar Shamrocks produced their best football of the afternoon. Anna Jones did what great players do when the chips are down. She collected a long pass from Chloe  Swarbrigg, soloed and sidestepped a bit and then unleashed an unstoppable shot past Jenny Doyle in the Kinnegad goal. Someone remarked that even Peter Schmeichel himself wouldn't have saved the shot. He probably wouldn't have done so. It was the score of the day and Shamrocks  dominated for ten minutes or so with the youthful Máiread Newman very prominent in the revival. Karen Hegarty pointed from a free  to reduce the deficit to the minimum (1-8 to 3-1) with just over ten minutes remaining.

The play of Maud-Annie Foley was crucial at this time as she superbly created time and space for herself and almost always chose the correct option. It was Kinnegad who got the crucial 'next' score courtesy of a long range free from Shannon Lyons but this was balanced by a Karen Hegarty point from play. Claire Taaffe had another  vital point for Kinnegad. Shamrocks attacked but some judicious fouls ensured that the vital goal was not to be.  Coralstown-Kinnegad , playing in their fifth successive intermediate county final, were deserving winners and it is  tribute to the resilience and never-say-die attitude of the Mullingar Shamrocks players that they could have snatched victory in the final minutes. The team  and panel worked extremely hard all season as did Ciarán, Spike, Daragh and team coordinator Geraldine. Their day will come. 

Mullingar Shamrocks: Lauren McCormack; Lorna Morris, Liveta Lazauskaite (Máiread Newman), Sophie Hegarty; Chloe Swarbrigg (Rachel Hannigan), Tara Fagan, Melek Fagan; Michelle Buckley, Laura Whitelaw ; Susanna Buckley(Laura Culkin), Áine Melody, Carole Finch (1-0) [Clara Thornton]; Emma Morris, Anna Jones (1-0), Karen Hegarty (1-2).

Under-14 Football Championship: Mullingar Shamrocks 5-12 Coralstown-Kinnegad 1-4

Mullingar Shamrocks under-14 team added two more points to their championship total in Springfield on a bitterly cold Thursday evening. Playing against the wind in the opening half the Shamrocks boys were rocked at the start when Coralstown-Kinnegad scored 1-1 with their first two attacks. Shamrocks settled and goals from Alex Sheerin and Mohamed and four points also from Sheerin sent Shamrocks into a 2-4 to 1-3 lead.

Shamrocks controlled the second half and  outscored Coralstown-Kinnegad 3-8 to 0-1. John Ryan goaled shortly after the restart and in the final minutes Mohamed's dipping free dropped into the net and Luke McCabe added a fifth goal. In between these two final scores there were points from Calum Rigney (0-2), Shane Ormsby (0-2), Alex Sheerin (0-3) and Conor Heffernan (0-1).

Mullingar Shamrocks: Eoin Doran; Adam Glynn, Matt Ryan, Donnacha Maguire; Tadhg Sheridan, KIllian Kelly, Peter Finch; Shane Ormsby (0-2), Calum Rigney (0-2); Conor Heffernan (0-1), Mohamed Elmugtaba (2-0), Matt Shaw; Gavin Pierce, John Ryan (1-0), Alex Sheerin (1-7). Replacements: Dylan Carey, John Horan, Leon Doyle, Frankie Tucker, Shane Egan, Karl Mulhern, Nathan Cornally, Luke McCabe (1-0), Gary Brannigan, John Shaw, Stephen Battle, Fallum Crighton, Louis McCullough.

Under-12 LGF Championship quarter-final: Mullingar Shamrocks 2-6 Caulry 0-9

Well done to our under-12 LGF team who had a great win over Caulry on Tuesday evening. The girls play Tyrrellspass on Tuesday next,  10 September 2019 in Tyrrellspass at 6.30.

Mullingar Shamrocks: Áine Creagh, Seoidín Thornton, Zara Corroon, Adibah Hamdan, Nicole Isis, Nicola Byrne, Eabha Moran, Nicole Griffin, Katelyn Dunne, Grace Daly, Ella Briody, Rosie O' Grady, Sarah Ford, Ann Ninan, Róisin Nohilly, Shauna Russell, Grace Hanly, Molly Maguire, Ella Moore, Lavinia Matthews, Aoibhe O Neill, Abigail Molloy, Linda Raeside, Arlene Oherron, Niamh Darcy, Mollie Darcy.

It's Official: Mullingar Shamrocks has achieved the Healthy Club Status ..

Mullingar Shamrocks  has received Healthy Club Status and will be recognised as an ‘Official GAA Healthy Club’ at the National Healthy Club Conference in Croke Park on Saturday 5 October 2019.

Congratulations to our Healthy Club Officer, Joan Ormsby who has been a dynamic advocate of the Healthy Club concept and this recognition is a fitting reward for all of Joan's efforts.

Seán Dempsey Memorial Under-12 Tournament

The annual Seán Dempsey Memorial Under-12 Tournament, jointly hosted by Mullingar Shamrocks and St Loman's in recognition of the great association of the Dempsey family with both clubs, took place on Sunday with the first matches starting at 10.30 am..

Seán Dempsey was of course Chairman of Mullingar Shamrocks in the 1980s and was Chairman  when the 1986 senior football title was landed for the first time since 1966. The title was retained in 1987 and Sean's son Noel  was a playing member of the panel for both championship victories. Noel was also centre forward in 1988 when Mullingar Shamrocks shocked the Westmeath football world and defeated Coralstown-Kinnegad in the intermediate county final. Paul and Ian Dempsey also lined out for Mullingar Shamrocks.

Shane Dempsey is the third generation of the Dempsey family to star on the GAA fields of Westmeath and has been a leading member of the St Loman's team that collected Westmeath senior football titles in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017, torturing defences in the process. 

The following teams took part: Mullingar Shamrocks Greens, and Whites, St Loman's Blues,  and Whites; St Sylvester's, Athlone, Castleknock, Clane, Shandonagh;  Carrick Sarsfields;  St Mary's Rochfortbridge; Rhode, The Downs, Crossmolina and Milltownpass. Crosmolina's long  journey from Mayo proved to be worthwhile as they emerged as the winners of the Sean Dempsey Memorial Shield beating Clane in a fine final with Connie Dempsey on hand to present the trophy to the victorious Crossmolina captain.  Castleknock, Shandonagh and Milltownpass also took hone titles in what was a great day for football. Many thanks to all the volunteers who make  occasions such as this  possible 

Mullingar Shamrocks and St Loman's appreciate the gesture of  Connie and the Dempsey family for their gesture in presenting the Sean Dempsey Memorial Shield for this competition for young footballers

Garrycastle Under-12 Tournament

The Under-12 footballers of Mullingar Shamrocks and Lilliput Gaels served up a great game of football in Springfield on Friday evening in the Garrycastle Tournament with Shamrocks emerging as winners in a match in which both teams displayed great football skills.

Fixtures

Under-11 Go-Games: Mullingar Shamrocks v Ballynacarrigy Monday, 9 September 2019, 7.00 pm.

Minor Football Championship,Semi-Final: Mullingar Shamrocks v Cill Óige, Sunday, 15 September 2019, 11.30 sharp.

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