Conlon goal at death scrapes St Joseph's into semi-final

St Joseph's 4-12 Mullingar Shamrocks 2-16 (AET)

By Connla McCarthy

An extraordinary way to win, a crushing way to lose. St Joseph’s eventually booked their place in this year’s Westmeath Junior 1 Football Championship semi-finals at the expense of Mullingar Shamrocks last Saturday afternoon.

In the opening fixture of the double-header at a cloudy and mild Ballynacargy, this was a see-saw contest throughout. Both teams had their spells and moments, before the semi-final hopes of the Mullingar Shamrocks second team were shattered in the final moments of extra-time.

St Joseph’s opened their account thanks to Ros Elliffe’s point in the fourth minute, while two minutes later, the corner-forward sent a charging Daniel Keelan on his way through the centre of the opposition defence to tuck the ball into the corner of Philip Shaw’s net.

Ross Corroon pointed a rebound in the ninth minute to open Mullingar Shamrocks’ account, and while he added two frees to his tally, Dean Slevin and Jordan McDonnell pointed for the Saints.

In the 21st minute, Ryan Blundell fed Trevor Keena on a charging run to slide the ball past Aidan Lennon for his team’s opening goal.

Another Corroon free and an Emmett Walsh point ended the first-half scoring for Shamrocks, while a brace from Jordan McDonnell and a superb solo effort from Mikey Lynam left St Joseph’s ahead by the bare minimum at half-time, 1-6 to 1-5.

Shamrocks had their best period in the opening ten minutes of the second half, which included three Ross Corroon points, two from frees, and Alan Cashman’s 40-metre effort on the run.

That was followed by St Joseph’s most clinical phase. Jordan McDonnell’s brace, one a free, was followed by a Dean Slevin point, before Jake Gannon and Dean Slevin helped Elliffe to fire home a 50th-minute goal.

Three frees and a ’45 from Ross Corroon pushed the Mullingar men back ahead once more before Jordan McDonnell’s pressure free three minutes into added time had the sides back for more in extra-time.

Dean Slevin found the net for St Joseph’s a minute into extra-time when he availed of a loose ball to leave the net bulging. Five minutes later, Trevor Keena’s shot across goal was toe-poked home superbly by a sliding Niall Hannigan to tie up the sides, while Ross Corroon’s free pushed Shamrocks ahead at half-time in extra-time.

Jordan McDonnell’s free and Jake Gannon’s point had the Streamstown men ahead again six minutes into the second half of extra-time, but Trevor Keena’s cutting point and Corroon’s free turned things around again.

The final goal came in the 20th minute of extra-time as Alan Conlon emerged as his side's hero. Conlon cut inside and took his chance to find the net, sending St Joseph’s camp into scenes of delight.

Man of the match: Alan Cashman (Mullingar Shamrocks). He gets the nod for his work rate throughout the match, though cramp eventually caught up with him in extra-time. His point in the 39th minute on the run was a tremendous score for his team, in what was a positive spell for the men in black and green.

Moment of the match: In a match littered with memorable moments, it simply had to be the winning goal from Alan Conlon. It was a splendid finish from the substitute, who opted to go for goal and risk losing the match instead of seeking a point to drag the contest to penalties. Fortunately for St Joseph’s, the ball found the net, and the Streamstown men pipped Shamrocks right at the end.

Scorers - St Joseph’s: J McDonnell 0-6 (3f), R Elliffe and D Slevin 1-2 each, D Keelan and A Conlon 1-0 each, J Gannon and M Lynam 0-1 each. Mullingar Shamrocks: R Corroon 0-13 (10f, 1 ’45), T Keena 1-1, N Hannigan 1-0, E Walsh and A Cashman 0-1 each.

St Joseph’s: Aidan Lennon; Brian Fitzgerald, Andy Conway, Thomas Conlon; Pearse Weir Norris, Jake Gannon, Ben McDonnell; Noah McDonnell, Mikey Lynam; Andy Scally, Daniel Keelan, Aaron McDonagh; Ros Elliffe, Dean Slevin, Jordan McDonnell. Subs: Alan Conlon for D Keelan (29 mins), Alan Farrell for A McDonagh (47), Niall Moran for A Scally (57), Gerry Gleeson for P Weir Norris (half-time extra-time), Joe Cusack for R Elliffe (extra-time).

Mullingar Shamrocks: Philip Shaw; Eamonn Breslin, Aaron Purcell, Conor Fitzpatrick; Donal Lane, Eddie Moore, Emmett Walsh; Pearse Corroon, Ryan Blundell; Niall Hannigan, Trevor Keena, Alan Cashman; Donal O’Donoghue, Ross Corroon, Conor Fagan. Sus: Nathan Smith for C Fagan (39 mins), Mathew Siode for A Purcell (46), Nathan Cornally for C Fitzgerald (54), Andrew Shaw for A Cashman, Ciaran Kiernan for P Corroon, Gary Corroon for D O’Donoghue (all extra-time).

Referee: Mick Murtagh.