Shamrocks seek that little bit extra
April 30, 2011Pearse Corroon would gladly swap any of his eight senior championship medals for a Flanagan Cup success in the coming year.
Without a championship win since 2000, Shamrocks are desperate for a return to the winners' enclosure. They reached their second final in four seasons last year, but succumbed to a Garrycastle team who they had beaten earlier in the championship.
"Our supporters are probably getting a little bit impatient at this stage," acknowledges the Mullingar Shamrocks chairman who, along with Michael 'Spike' Fagan, Tom Ormsby and Mickey Reilly, collected eight championship medals between 1986 and 2000.
"It was a good achievement to reach the final with such a young team, but we're not a club who like settling for second best. Even though Garrycastle were the favourites, we fully expected to beat them and the signs were encouraging after Lorcan Smyth scored his brilliant goal in the first few minutes. But we didn't push on from there and can have no excuses."
Pearse believes Shamrocks' earlier victory over Garrycastle, which saw them pip the champions for top spot in the group and a semi-final place, didn't do them any favours.
"In hindsight, we might have been better off losing that game," he opines.
"It was a wake-up call for them (Garrycastle) and they were always going to be much better prepared the second time around. I don't think we were complacent, but we might have been a bit too relaxed going into the final. Once they got on top, we found it difficult to get back into the game."
The appointment of Ray Smyth as senior manager created a huge stir in Shamrocks last year. After guiding The Downs to championship wins in 2003 and '05, and Shamrocks to an under 21 title in 2009, hopes were high that Smyth could deliver the big prize to the Springfield club. Drawn in the so-called 'Group of Death', Shamrocks stuttered to a 1-9 to 0-11 victory over St. Malachy's in their opening game at The Downs.
The winners started brightly, but the 20th minute dismissal of Gary Corroon and an injury to Denis Corroon completely disrupted their flow, allowing Malachy's to turn a two-point interval deficit into a one-point lead early in the second half. However, Shamrocks got themselves back on level terms before Darren Moore kicked a great individual winner in the closing stages.
The Mullingar men produced a memorable second half comeback to stun Tyrrellspass in their second outing at Cusack Park. Trailing by 0-3 to 2-4 at half-time and by 0-3 to 2-5 after four minutes of the second half, Shamrocks turned things around with goals from Denis Corroon and Simon Quinn to run out 2-11 to 3-5 winners.
A 2-7 apiece draw with Castledaly followed before Shamrocks got back to winning ways with a double-scores victory, 0-14 to 0-7, over The Downs. Simon Quinn was once again their chief marksman with a tally of 0-6, 0-4 of which came from play.
Already assured of a quarter-final place, Shamrocks could qualify directly for the semi-finals if they beat an understrength Garrycastle in their final group match. From the off, the green and whites dominated and were full value for their 0-7 to 0-2 interval lead. The expected Garrycastle backlash never materialised in the second half as Shamrocks chalked up a 0-12 to 0-5 victory and in the process, staked their claim for Flanagan Cup honours.
Ray Smyth's charges were pitted against local rivals The Downs once again in the semi-final and prevailed after a hard-fought battle. While much of the spotlight had been on the Smyth family's divided loyalties in the build-up to the game, it was another man whose family has strong links with both clubs - Cian O'Leary - who stole the limelight with goals either side of half-time.
O'Leary's 12th minute goal gave the town side a 1-4 to 0-3 interval lead and he added a second 10 minutes after the restart, though The Downs were adamant that Ciaran Curley was in the square before he knocked the ball down for O'Leary to fist to the net. However, the goal stood and Shamrocks were through to their first final since 2007 on a 2-8 to 0-10 scoreline.
The county final provided Shamrocks with an opportunity to prove that their earlier victory over Garrycastle was no fluke, but despite making a dream start when Lorcan Smyth scored one of the best individual goals ever seen in Cusack Park, the challengers lost their way and the concession of a 20th minute James Dolan goal left them trailing by 1-2 to 1-6 at the break.
The Athlone side extended their lead to 2-6 to 1-3 six minutes after the restart when Rory McGowan set up Paul Dillon for a second Garrycastle goal after Cian O'Leary had fired over with a goal at his mercy at the opposite end. Shamrocks responded by introducing county star Kieran Gavin - who had spent the summer in San Francisco - but it was Simon Quinn who carried the fight to Garrycastle.
Two points from the half forward and another from Denis Corroon, who was introduced late in the first half, had the margin down to four, 1-6 to 2-8, with five minutes remaining.
Shamrocks were piling on the pressure at this stage and after Darragh Daly was denied a goal, veteran substitute Alan Daly lifted the siege for Garrycastle with a crucial point to restore their five-point advantage. Quinn pulled back a point for Ray Smyth's side in injury-time, but it was a case of too little, too late as Garrycastle held on for a 2-9 to 1-8 victory.
"For most of the lads, it was their second county final to lose so that made it all the harder to take," Pearse says.
"We have to try to learn from it and kick on. We are not that far away from winning the championship and with Ray Smyth and his assistant Johnny Corroon staying on, I'm hopeful that we'll be able to make amends this year. The players are at an age now where they need to win a championship. One championship win would lift the whole club."
Shamrocks also lost the Feis Cup final, which carried over into 2011, to Tyrrellspass by 0-8 to 1-8, as well as the under 21 championship decider to town rivals St. Loman's (2-6 to 2-12). However, the club's talented under 16 team weren't to be denied as they claimed championship glory at the expense of St. Finian's.
Under the tutelage of Tom Daly, Robbie Harrison, Kevin Daly and Patsy Fagan (the latter three had sons on the team), Shamrocks were 4-7 to 2-4 winners over the combination team from The Downs and Coralstown/Kinnegad on a rain-soaked Shandonagh pitch. Midfielder Killian Daly was the game's outstanding performer, scoring a hat-trick of goals with two of them coming in the first half.
When Daly completed his hat-trick just after the restart, Shamrocks were 3-2 to 0-2 to the good. Conor O'Brien, Ricky McCarthy and Dean Scally tagged on points before Neil Harrison put the result beyond all doubt with a fourth Shamrocks goal.
In a further boost for the club, Shamrocks' second team achieved league promotion which went some way towards making up for the disappointment of missing out on a place in the knockout stages of the junior championship.
Shamrocks are constantly striving to improve their facilities at Springfield and are currently developing a 70x40 metres Astroturf pitch with floodlights. The ambitious development, which will cost in the region of EUR400,000, is expected to completed by May.
"We're confident that the Astroturf pitch will attract new members while also providing our players with better training facilities. We'll be able to divide it into three separate pitches for underage purposes," the Shamrocks chairman explains.
"In the past year, we have put in a 1km walking track, a new entrance, new fencing and new handrails around the main pitch. In addition to this, Vincent Timoney upgraded our website and Oxigen came on board as our main sponsors. We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with them in 2011."
The passing of three Shamrocks greats - Mick O'Connor, Mick Burke and Paul Fagan cast a dark cloud over the club in 2010. Kerryman O'Connor served the role of stats man for many years, while Laois native Burke was a former club secretary. Fagan, meanwhile, was a great supporter and a generous sponsor over the years, having donated bar furniture from the Lake County Hotel to the newly extended Shamrocks clubhouse back in 2002.
"They were three huge losses to deal with in the space of a few months," Pearse laments.
"All three were wonderful clubmen and the club isn't the same without them."
Mullingar Shamrocks lined out as follows in the SFC final: Philip Shaw; Eddie Moore, Aaron Purcell, Mark Irwin; Micheal Curley, Donal O'Donoghue, Aonghus Smyth; Garrett Doyle, Darragh Daly; Anthony Clinton (captain), Lorcan Smyth, Simon Quinn; Fiachra Spellman, Ciaran Curley, Cian O'Leary. Subs used: Denis Corroon, Kieran Gavin, Adam Corroon and Darren Moore.
Shamrocks' under 16 championship winning team was: Gary Burke; Nathan Smith, James Ledwith, Jack Quinn; David Coyne, Dylan McDermott (captain), Darren Keena; Killian Daly, Ricky McCarthy; Dean Scally, Conor O'Brien, Ryan Blundell; Paddy Fagan, Neil Harrison, Adam Smith. Subs used: Dylan Cannon, Ricky Scally, Neil Hannigan and Mark Hegarty. Tweet
