Gaynor"s heroics for Athlone prove in vain as lively Loman"s advance

St. Loman"s, Mullingar advanced to the final of the U-21 championship with a comprehensive ten-point victory over Athlone under lights at a blustery Páirc Chiaráin last Friday night. Despite the strong wind potentially making playing conditions difficult, both sides were highly revved up for this game. After rigorous warm-ups and motivational talks, it took just twenty-seven seconds for the game"s opening score to arrive. A quick free from John Stapleton was won out in front by corner-forward Noel Mulligan who laid it off to Adam Ward. And Ward pointed off his right boot from a difficult angle to give Athlone the lead for the first and only time. With both sides visibly fired up for the contest, play was quite intense from the off with Declan Byrne and Conrad Reilly both cautioned early on for some off the ball jostling. St Loman"s equalised after six minutes through the boot of Robert Lynch after Conor Lynam had furrowed out an opportunity. Lynam, along with fellow wing-forward Conor Cochrane, was one of the top performers for Loman"s on the night and he could have had a goal on 12 minutes when received a ball in space, neatly side-stepped a challenge and rifled a shot goal-ward. But Scott Gaynor pulled off a fine save - the first of many on the night from the Athlone netminder. Some snappy Loman"s build-up play on 17 minutes saw Robert Lynch point his and his side"s second of the day to give the visitors a lead they would not relinquish. Lynch turned provider four minutes later, when he laid on the chance for Conrad Reilly to raise the white flag. And the visitors" dominance since the opening score was compounded in the 22nd minute of play when a swift move involving Conor Lynam and Lynch saw Kieran Lynam drill the ball to the roof of the net, this time giving Scott Gaynor no chance. The Mullingar side were now in a strong position but, if anything, all the goal served to do was spark Athlone into action. The goal was soon cancelled out by three unanswered points. Alan Gaughan landed the first just a minute after the goal, showing that while currently concentrating on rugby, he still has an eye for Gaelic football. The two Noels, McGee and Mulligan, combined a minute before half-time in a move that saw the latter turn and point well. And just as the referee"s watch ticked over into injury-time, Mulligan converted a free-kick to complete a highly satisfactory response from the home side to the Loman"s goal. But in a flash all their good work was undone. With the last attack of the half, another swift Loman"s move (a characteristic of their performance) involving Kieran Lynam, Conrad Reilly and Conor Lynam saw Robert Lynch in the clear. And just like Lynam earlier, he gave Gaynor no chance in the Athlone goal, firing the ball low to the left hand corner of the net. Athlone had reason to feel slightly aggrieved, however, as during the build-up to the goal, the ball certainly seemed to have been picked from the ground by a Loman"s player. All that didn"t matter to Loman"s, though, as they took a five-point lead into the break on a scoreline of 2-3 to 0-4. The beginning of the second-half saw St. Loman"s take full advantage of the strong wind now at their backs. The very first ball they got their hands on was delivered high and long into the full-forward line. The wind carried it over the heads of the Athlone defence and into the grateful arms of Robert Lynch. He passed to Kieran Lynam who looked to have the easy task of scoring his side"s third goal. But, not for the first time, Scott Gaynor pulled off a point-blank save down low to his right to avert the danger. And it was a miss that St. Loman"s would rue as a couple of minutes later, Athlone found a way back into the game. A goalmouth scramble on 38 minutes saw Loman"s defenders twice block down efforts for goal. But when the ball fell to the feet of midfielder John Stapleton, he made no mistake in drilling the ball low to the corner of the net. But just as Athlone did in the first half, three unanswered points from Loman"s saw the Athlone goal eclipsed in the space of ten minutes, Conor Cochrane, Robert Lynch and Conor Lynam all getting on the score-sheet in this instance. Three unanswered points soon became five with Kieran Lynam and substitute Timmy Murphy both raising white flags, before Athlone finally replied through the boot of Noel Mulligan on 58 minutes. Nine points down, time was not on Athlone"s side and Loman"s were looking very comfortable in possession of the football. Conrad Reilly and Robert Lynch finished off the scoring for the visitors, while Noel Mulligan tapped over a consolation score for Athlone. St Loman"s will now meet Mullingar Shamrocks in a local derby final, after Shamrocks defeated Bunbrosna in the other semi-final. SCORERS - ST. LOMAN"S: Robert Lynch (1-4), Kieran Lynam (1-1), Conrad Reilly (0-2), Conor Lynam (0-1), Conor Cochrane (0-1), Timmy Murphy (0-1). ATHLONE: Noel Mulligan (0-4, 3f), John Stapleton (1-0), Alan Gaughan (0-1), Adam Ward (0-1). ST. LOMAN"S, MULLINGAR: Jason Daly, Neil Foran, Daryl O"Toole, Donal McGovern, Seanie Murphy, David Rush, Emmett Cahill, Paul Sharry, Daryl Quinn, Conor Lynam, Conrad Reilly, Conor Cochrane, Paul Leonard, Kieran Lynam, Robert Lynch. SUBS USED: Timmy Murphy for S Murphy (22 mins), Conor O"Donovan for D McGovern (37), Adrian Gilmore for P Leonard (52), Shane Flynn for C Cochrane (57). ATHLONE: Scott Gaynor, Kevin Piggott, Sean Stapleton, Kevin Macken, Eoin Jordan, Declan Byrne, Neil Lynch, Tom Egan, John Stapleton, John Egan, Alan Gaughan, Adam Ward, Noel McGee, Eoin O"Flaherty, Noel Mulligan. SUBS USED: Jack Keegan for Eoin O"Flaherty (42 mins), Mark McBride for Kevin Macken (52), Shane Gilroy-Glynn for Noel McGee (60), Stephen Geoghegan for Eoin Jordan (60). REFEREE: Des McEnery (Garrycastle).