In a year when St. Loman's were once again frustrated in their efforts to land the Flanagan Cup, it was left to the club's hugely talented under 14s to bring home the silverware. Under 14 manager Declan Cox was understandably proud of his team's achievements. St. Loman's long wait for senior championship honours goes on after Castledaly put paid to their title hopes at the quarter-final stage last year. By contrast, 2006 was another successful year for the Mullingar club at underage level with the under 14s beating all-comers to land the Feile and championship crowns. In both finals, St. Loman's recorded facile victories of Maryland/Tang, while they also gave a good account of themselves at the All-Ireland Feile na nOg finals in Wicklow. "We were very pleased with the team's achievements," says under 14 manager Declan Cox whose selectors were Donal Kilmurray and Eamonn Clinton. "The three of us have worked with these players since they were under 8s, and we have been very happy with their progress since then. "Three of them - John Heslin, Kelvin Reilly and Stephen Gilmore - were also on the under 16 team that reached the championship final, while both Niall Dowdall and Anthony Price tasted success with the Clonkill hurlers as well." The Feile, which they last won in 2004, was the first title to come St. Loman's way last April. After edging past Coralstown/Kinnegad with an extra-time win in the semi-final, the Blues walloped Maryland/Tang by 6-12 to 1-3 in the final at Cusack Park. The early exchanges were close with full forward Darragh Keenan's second minute goal being cancelled out by a similar score from Maryland/Tang's Eoin Coughlan. But it was all St. Loman's after that. Stefan McDonnell, Aaron McLoughlin, Stephen Gilmore and Keena all had points before Kyle McGurran rattled the net for their second goal, and St. Loman's went on to lead by 2-8 to 1-1 at the break. Maryland/Tang's confidence was dented further when Gilmore scored a third goal shortly after the restart. Another goal from Ben Kilmurray made it 4-9 to 1-2 by the 43rd minute, and two further majors from substitute Diarmuid Hyland and John Heslin made it all so easy for the Mullingar lads in the end. The victory earned St. Loman's their ticket to the national Feile na nOg finals in Wicklow (they were actually based in Clonmore, Co. Carlow) at the end of June. Competing in Division 3, the Westmeath representatives recorded good wins over Lucan Sarsfields and Arklow Geraldines before losing to New York in the group decider. "New York beat us with the last kick of the game after extra-time and they went on to went the Division 3 title in a canter. They were an exceptional team - I don't think anyone could believe how good they were," remembers Cox, who is also St. Loman's underage secretary. Within 24 hours of their return home, St. Loman's were back in action again in the Division 1 championship. Despite their exertions in Wicklow, they made a winning start to the campaign against Athlone and further victories over Tyrrellspass, St. Mary's, Maryland/Tang, St. Malachy's/Ballinagore, Rosemount and Coralstown/Kinnegad (semi-final) saw them renew acquaintances with Maryland/Tang in the final at Cusack Park on September 15. Having only managed a four-point win over Maryland/Tang in an earlier round at Drumraney, St. Loman's were expecting a battle but as it transpired, the final was even more lop-sided than the Feile decider with the Mullingar side emerging as emphatic 8-18 to 1-3 winners. Inspired by the outstanding John Heslin, who helped himself to 1-10, St. Loman's were out of sight when leading by 4-9 to 0-3 at half-time. The floodgates opened after Diarmuid Hyland set up Stephen Gilmore for the first goal after seven minutes. Kyle McGurran scored their second goal in the 13th minute, and the same player completed his hat-trick with two more before the break. St. Loman's continued to play superb football after the break, adding a further 4-9 to their massive tally. Heslin goaled with a low, powerful shot inside the first minute and Paddy Layde fed the ball to team captain Kelvin Reilly for goal number six four minutes in. Reilly and Darragh Keena added further majors before Martin Rock scored a late consolation goal for the demoralised losers. St. Loman's were unlucky not to add the under 16 'premier' championship crown, losing the final to Shannon Gaels (Maryland/Tang/Tubberclair) after extra-time at a bitterly cold Pairc Chiarain, Athlone in late November. Managed by Sean Quinn, John Cochrane and Christy Martin, St. Loman's stormed into a 3-3 to 0-2 interval lead after John Heslin, Adrian Gilmore and Stephen Gilmore had all found the net. The Mullingar side still led by 3-3 to 0-8 with two minutes of normal time remaining, but Ciaran Egan then scored a goal for Shannon Gaels to reduce the deficit to the minimum. This was followed by the game's big talking point when Ian Coffey's shot, which appeared to have gone right and wide, was signalled as a point. After a melee and the sending off of two players, the score stood and the match headed to extra-time. Coffey and Conor Lynam both registered two points apiece before Lynam put Loman's ahead by the midway stage. Coffey equalized in the second period and Shannon Gaels went on to claim a dramatic and controversial 1-13 to 3-6 victory courtesy of Owen Harney's late point. St. Loman's reign as minor 'premier' champions was ended at the penultimate round stage by amalgam side St. Patrick's, who claimed victory with a last-gasp point. St. Patrick's subsequently caused a big upset by accounting for a highly-fancied Inny Gaels in the county final. The Loman's minor side was jointly-managed by former inter-county referee Paul McGann and Pat Rushe. It was another frustrating year for the St. Loman's seniors who, after showing promise in the earlier rounds, were well beaten by Castledaly in the championship quarter-final. Under the management of Tom Keague and his co-selectors Paul McGann and Donal Kilmurray, the Mullingar side drew 0-8 apiece with old rivals Garrycastle in the first round, but lost the replay by 0-8 to 1-8 after Gary Dolan fisted home the only goal in the fourth minute of injury-time. That defeat consigned St. Loman's to the new losers' group where they recorded victories over Coralstown/Kinnegad and St. Mary's to qualify for the knock-out stages. Tom Keague's charges looked to be facing defeat when they trailed Coralstown/Kinnegad by 0-2 to 1-4 at half-time, but with young stars Conrad Reilly and Ciaran Lynam in fine scoring form, the Blues battled back to claim a 0-10 to 1-5 victory. Against St. Mary's, it took St. Loman's just 18 seconds to open their account through Ciaran Lynam, and they had surged six points clear by the 20th minute. The margin was still the same at half-time with Loman's sitting pretty on a 0-9 to 0-3 lead. Shortly after the restart, Benny Marshall scored the only goal to effectively end the game as a contest, although St. Mary's responded with two successfully converted 45s by David Mitchell. But the Mullingar men were never seriously threatened and were full value for their 1-11 to 0-6 victory. St. Loman's made a bright start to the quarter-final with Paul Leonard and Kieran Kilmurray notching early points. But Castledaly gradually took control and went on to lead by 0-7 to 0-3 at the interval. Castledaly were seven points ahead and cruising to a comfortable victory as the game headed for its final quarter, but an opportunist goal by wing back Dermot Brady injected new life into St. Loman's. Crucially, though, the southerners were able to respond with three points in the final 10 minutes to end St. Loman's comeback hopes. Cox expects the Delvin Road outfit to be in a better position to challenge for senior championship honours this year, noting that they were severely weakened by the absence of key players last season. "The likes of Kieran Kilmurray, Tommy Lambden, Paul Martin and David Windsor missed a big chunk of last year and we also had to plan without Vinny Gavin and Colin Whyte, who had both emigrated. Hopefully, our injury problems will clear up and we'll be able to give a better account of ourselves," he says. The main pitch at St. Loman's will be out of commission from April to September this year to allow for the laying of a new Prunty pitch - the first of its kind in Westmeath. Plans are also in the pipeline to install new floodlights and to construct new dressing rooms which will greatly enhance the existing facilities at St. Loman's Park. The St. Loman's team which easily accounted for Maryland/Tang in the under 14 Division 1 football championship was: Stefan McDonnell; John Wallace, Cathal McKinley, Patrick Shanley; Jason O'Toole, Anthony Rice, Paddy Layde; Kyle McGurran, Kelvin Reilly; Diarmuid Hyland, John Heslin, Stephen Gilmore; Aaron McLoughlin, Darragh Keena, Ben Kilmurray. Subs used: Niall Dowdall, Brian McLoughlin, John Kiernan, James Nea and Noel Gavin. Tweet

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