St Loman's surge puts game beyond gritty Tang
St Loman's Mullingar 0-11, Tang 1-6
Absorbing. That’s about the best description you could final for this intriguing Westmeath senior football championship encounter at Ballymore on Saturday.
Splendid sunshine prevailed at the Lough Sewdy venue and Tang travelled the short trip with a game plan that was difficult to watch at times, but quite compelling nonetheless. They played keep ball in their own half for long periods, trailed by just two points at the break (0-5 to 0-3) and then tried to come with a smash and grab effort near the end after St Loman’s establish a firm foothold in the second half.
John Tumelty’s goal at the death came just too late for Tang’s gallant effort. St Loman’s in truth had this one won when Danny McCartan joined a weaving move for the second time to fire over a lovely score in the 55th minute, making it 0-11 to 0-5.
Tang went more offensive then and notched 1-1 in the closing stages, the goal coming when Conor Marlowe lobbed a high ball into the danger area where fellow substitute John Tumelty pounced on a handling error by ‘keeper Jason Daly to grab a goal in the final attack. Ultimately a case of too little, too late as St Loman’s secured their second victory of the campaign; Tang gained a moral victory with just a two-point reversal. They will meet Tyrrellspass next, while the defending champions take on Caulry.
St Loman’s finished the game with 14 men when Fola Ayorinde was dismissed following an off-the-ball incident with Jason Coughlan, who received a yellow card for his part. A niggly, tetchy affair for most parts, it was almost inevitable that someone would incur the ultimate sanction.
That St Loman’s were content to leave David Whelan as a sweeper says more about the potential of Adam Neary than it does about the reigning champions’ ambitions. They were totally ruthless, focused on gaining the victory, realising that the top two spots in the group ensure a direct route to the last four. It didn't make for enthralling viewing.
Neary was excellent, scoring two quality points from play in the 27th and 51st minutes, but by the time he kicked the latter, St Loman’s had squeezed the life out of their opponents. Although off target with an early free in the second half, John Heslin was pretty clinical from play and showed a superior level of quality in his long-range shooting that was enough to breach the blanket defence.
The first half was a dour affair. The best piece of quality came from Peter Foy, who kicked a sublime point with the outside of the right boot for St Loman’s in the eighth minute, after Seán Flanagan, Enda Gaffney and Danny McCartan combined. From the more challenging side, Foy found the target superbly.
That aside, it was a scrappy, tetchy affair, referee Niall Ward handing yellow cards to Flanagan and Martin Rock to keep control. Tang had led by 0-2 to nil when Shane Hanley kicked a wonderful point on six minutes, but for the most part they played a hand-passing, keep-ball game in their own half.
Once Heslin’s pointed free put St Loman’s ahead for the first time on 21 minutes, they never lost control. Yet Tang won the midfield battle with ease – Shane Coughlan and Fergus Farrell with a couple of superb high catches at different stages – and Neary’s fine point in the 27th minute left his side just one adrift.
St Loman’s got the first four scores after the break and that 12-minute period was decisive: Heslin kicked two great points from play; TJ Cox landed another and Flanagan almost took the ball off the latter’s boot to curl over their ninth of the match. In truth, at 0-9 to 0-3, Tang faced the proverbial mountain.
They showed admirable character, just as they had done a week earlier when they got a late goal to beat Coralstown/Kinnegad. This time, though, the gap was too big to breach, that despite the efforts of Neary and the opportunism of Tumelty late on.
Jason Daly won’t be overly concerned with the concession of that late goal, but he certainly needs to be more assured under the high ball. For now St Loman’s are very much on course and will have enough to cope in the absence of the suspended Ayorinde for round three, one suspects.
Scorers – St Loman’s: J Heslin 0-6 (4f), P Foy, R O’Toole (f), TJ Cox, S Flanagan and D McCartan 0-1 each. Tang: A Neary 0-4 (2f), J Tumelty 1-0, S Hanley and C Marlowe 0-1 each.
St Loman’s Mullingar: Jason Daly; Oisín Hogan, Darragh O'Keefe, David Whelan; Sam McCartan, Conor Donoghue, Enda Gaffney; John Heslin, Seán Flanagan; Kevin Regan, Ronan O'Toole, Peter Foy; TJ Cox, Fola Ayorinde, Danny McCartan. Subs: Rory Sheahan for Flanagan (43), Kelvin Reilly for Foy (46).
Tang: Owen Coughlan; Conall McKiernan, Kieran Duncan, Eoghan Bannon; Jason Coughlan, Ronan Hanley, Richard Laffan; Ciaran Clear, Fergus Farrell; Adam Neary, Shane Coughlan, Shane Keenan; Martin Rock, Shane Hanley, John Rock. Subs: Conor Marlow for Clear (46), Robert English, David Marlow and Aidan Burke for Farrell, M Rock and Laffan (50).
Ref: Niall Ward (Garrycastle).