Longford IFC: Mostrim march on in knocking Cashel out

Mostrim…1-18 Cashel…0-12

By Blaithin Mulvihill

A blistering final quarter saw Mostrim advance to the semi-final of the Intermediate football championship following a nine point victory over Cashel at Leo Casey Park on Sunday evening.

After an absorbing first half with little to choose between the sides the Cashel men held a slender 0-9 to 0-7 lead at the break.

The second half was to be a completely different affair with Mostrim eventually establishing total control. Outscoring Cashel in this period, 1-11 to 0-3, tells its own story, with 1-7 coming in the final quarter in what was a devastating finish to what had been a relatively competitive game.

Cashel started brightly with goalkeeper Shane Bannon opening the scoring with a two-pointer free. A Rían O’ Boyle point moments later had Cashel three up after four minutes of play.

Mostrim replied with Ronan Courtney kicking a two-pointer free to open the Edgeworthstown account followed by another huge two-pointer from Tiarnan Hussey.

Shane Bannon and Padraic Joyce traded scores which had the sides level at five points apiece after fifteen minutes.

Another free from full-forward Ronan Courtney put Mostrim ahead for the first time in the game and a second point for Padraic Joyce had them two up after twenty minutes.

Cashel's Brian Kelly then landed a massive two-pointer to restore equality. A Shane Bannon ’45 along with another Kelly point had the south Longford side leading by two points going in at the break: 0-9 to 0-7.

Few in the large attendance in Ballymahon could have predicted what was going to happen in the second half.

Mostrim started the second half with real intent. Points from Ronan Courtney (0-3, 2 frees) and an inspirational point from centre-half-back Shane Kiernan saw Niall Sheridan’s side in front by the 42nd minute.

As the Mostrim men began playing with great confidence, goalkeeper Ciaran Garvey's kickouts were finding his targets with alarming regularity as Cashel struggled for possession in the middle third.

In a breakaway attack Andrew Farrell restored parity with a monster two-pointer from play, as the boys in red and black tried to halt Mostrim's dominance. In another quick attack a Padraic Syron free restored Cashel’s lead in the 46th minute, 0-12 to 0-11.

Unbelievably, this was to be their final score and as the light started to fade in Ballymahon, so too did the Cashel challenge.

The turning point of the match came in the 54th minute, when after some neat forward play, the ball found its way to Padraic Joyce who blasted home a brilliant goal.

Moments later Tiarnan Hussey converted a huge two-pointer free to stretch the lead to four points and for the remainder of the game the Mostrim men never looked back.

Further points from Tiarnan Hussey and Dario Cigliano along with three more scores from the boot of Ronan Courtney (a two-pointer free and a point from play) saw their advantage extend to nine points by the final whistle as Cashel capitulated in the face of relentless Mostrim pressure.

For mighty Mostrim men a semi-final clash with Young Grattans awaits in a couple of weeks time and after suffering relegation from the Senior grade last year and experiencing a very indifferent start to this year's campaign, they find themselves at the business end of this year's Intermediate championship.

On the other hand Cashel, after what was an encouraging campaign, will face a daunting relegation battle to retain their Intermediate status.

Mostrim: Ciaran Garvey; Shane Sheridan, Senan Murphy, Dario Cigliano (0-1); Darragh Walsh, Shane Kiernan (0-1), James Connell; Jack Belton, Thomas Doyle; Niall Quinn, Caolan Hussey, Padraic Joyce (1-2); Liam Greene, Ronan Courtney (0-9, 2 two-pointer frees, 3 frees), Tiarnan Hussey (0-5, 1 two-pointer free, 1 two-pointer play)

Subs: Padraig Cahill for D Walsh (5 mins, injury); Martin Coyle for S Kiernan (50 mins, injury); Kaylem Lynn for C Hussey (50 mins).

Cashel: Shane Bannon (0-5, 2 two-pointer frees & ‘45); Mel Farrell, Luke O’ Boyle, Oran Killian; Rory Murtagh, Dan O’Shea, Jack Sweeney; Ben O’Shea, Aidan Mulvihill; Conor Murtagh, Andrew Farrell (0-2, two-pointer), Jamie Bermingham; Padraic Syron (0-1, free), Rían O’Boyle (0-1), Brian Kelly (0-3, 1 two-pointer).

Subs: Aidan Kelly for O Killian (20 mins); Conor Flood for R Murtagh (half-time); Conor Farrell for J Bermingham (43 mins).

Referee: Fergal Kelly (Ballymahon).

Mulleady Group Intermediate Football Championship Semi-Finals

Sean Connolly’s v Ballymahon

Young Grattans v Mostrim