St Loman’s still the team to beat as SFC reaches last four

Gerry Buckley

Those of us privileged to have know him well still miss - and always will miss - Paddy Flanagan, the man who did so much for the GAA in Westmeath, and who donated the cup bearing his name to the Lake County county board in 1963 for the winners of the senior football championship.

Little did he think 61 years ago that it would be a whopping 50 years before St Loman’s (then operating without the addition of Mullingar) would repeat their 1963 success. Indeed, it is no secret that the Delvin Road club very nearly went out of existence more or less halfway between Mick Conlon (1963) and John Heslin/Paul Sharry (2013) lifting the precious silverware.

However, Paddy, who sadly passed away in 2022, would surely not have predicted either just how dominant his beloved club would be after that groundbreaking win 11 years ago under the management of Declan Rowley. The bainisteoir’s bib has been handed down to Luke Dempsey, Declan Kelly and Paddy Dowdall since and, remarkably, blue and white ribbons have adorned the Flanagan Cup another six times, in addition to three final defeats (ironically, all by four points).

In a nutshell, should St Loman’s, Mullingar defeat their old rivals Tyrrellspass in next Sunday’s semi-final in TEG Cusack Park (throw-in 4.15pm), they will contest their tenth successive final on October 13. The seldom-wrong bookmakers fully expect Dowdall’s troops to win their next two games, and it would be a brave man who would back against them.

In another nutshell, they have a couple of the best footballers to have worn the Westmeath jersey this millennium in their ranks in the aforementioned Heslin and Ronan O’Toole, and a few other really top-class footballers for good measure.

If all of their best players click on the one day, another county title seems inevitable. But, to throw in my favourite expression when advising caution to eager punters: 'If betting on sport was easy, I would be placing my bets from my yacht’. I categorically do not own a yacht, but I suspect that Paddy Power does!

While St Loman’s are invariably thrown out as likely winners when Gaels annually discuss the Westmeath senior football championship, remarkably Tyrrellspass seldom get a mention. And it is remarkable given that next Sunday will be their 21st penultimate round appearance in 31 years.

Yes, sky blue and navy ribbons have only been needed three times on county final days (1999, 2006 and 2007), but the ‘Tidy Town’ always seem to be there or thereabouts come the business end of the championship despite their relatively low profile and small pick.

And here they are again trying to thwart the St Loman’s juggernaut, having had the galling record of losing four finals to the Mullingar blues since the latter’s glorious era started in 2013. Indeed, one of the losses was particularly hard to bear when Heslin – as only he can – pointed a very difficult free under immense pressure to secure extra-time four years ago.

Are any of these stats relevant next Sunday? Some would say ‘no’, but there is bound to be a lot of psychological baggage in the underdogs’ camp ahead of Sunday’s latest showdown, albeit new manager Eddie Kinsella is likely to be blissfully unaware of it.

Two players who deserve to be in the same sentence as Messrs Heslin and O’Toole in the fourth paragraph above are Denis Glennon and Ger Egan. Unavailability and injury respectively – and, dare I say, the dates on their birth certs – ruled them out of Tyrrellspass’ surprise quarter-final win against the other Mullingar side, Shamrocks.

However, there are enough rock solid and consistent club and inter-county players in Kinsella’s squad to push the champions all the way. For example, as the Laois native said after their win last Sunday week: “Jamie Gonoud just doesn’t do bad games.”

The turf accountants have the other two semi-finalists bracketed very closely together in their overall odds, and this is no surprise as The Downs and Coralstown/Kinnegad have been the two biggest challengers to St Loman’s over the past couple of years. Of course, the big difference is that the men in black and amber took their chance in 2022 and pulled off a surprise win in the Flanagan Cup decider, whereas the red and white-clad outfit failed to take their opportunity last year.

It is surely fair to say that both Johnny Murray and Paschal Kellaghan’s troops have been inconsistent this campaign, with the latter decidedly fortunate to qualify directly for a semi-final given the relative poverty of some of their round robin performances, while The Downs won their quarter-final by a very flattering seven-point margin against one of this year’s most improved teams, Athlone.

One could make arguments for and against having a quarter-final to play rather than going directly to a semi-final, but an extra competitive game (once you win it!) certainly sounds a lot better than another training session and/or a challenge match against a club from another county.

The addition of a fit and focused Niall Mitchell transforms The Downs and the dual star’s towering display against the Shannonsiders augurs well for next Saturday’s game (4.45pm throw-in at Westmeath GAA headquarters).

The mercurial Luke Loughlin has blown somewhat hot and cold this year for club and county, but he is an undoubted match-winner on his day. Throw in a plethora of players who, lest we forget, went all the way to the Leinster final just two short years ago, and Murray has a lot of ammunition in his side.

Kellaghan has the invaluable assistance on the line of former Westmeath manager Jack Cooney, and he will be hoping to see the best of his talented son Brían and several other promising players in the border club. Throw in the vast experience of consistent performers such as Wayne Fox and Darren Giles, and it is clear that Coralstown/Kinnegad will be a very difficult side to beat in a knockout match.

Betting men would most likely opt for a St Loman’s v The Downs final. But how many of them own yachts?