Longford SFC: Mullinalaghta’s late surge sinks Dromard after titanic battle

A stirring second half performance saw Mullinalaghta St Columba’s prevail with two points to spare over Dromard, 1-18 to 2-13, after a pulsating Peter Hanley Motors Longford Senior Football Championship Group A Round 2 encounter played at Fr McGee Park on Saturday evening last.

Helped in no small measure by a fortuitous goal at the beginning of the second half; Mullinalaghta, the Leinster club champions of 2018, dug very deep and ground out a hard earned victory following a titanic battle with their north Longford neighbours.

Both sides experienced contrasting fortunes in round one of the championship. St Columba’s suffered a narrow 2-14 to 1-19 defeat at the hands of defending champions Killoe Emmet Og, while Dromard defeated last year’s intermediate champions Ardagh Moydow by 0-20 to 2-12.

So an awful lot was at stake for both sides at the scenic Aughnacliffe venue.

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For the second time in a week the St Columba’s men found themselves in arrears at the break but unlike in their previous match; they delved deep into their energy reserves and came up with the necessary scores to secure a vitally important victory.

A strong opening half from Dromard saw them leading 2-6 to 0-7 at the break with both goals from wily full forward Francis McGee; a penalty to open Dromard’s scoring and a great second goal from play in the 23rd minute.

A goal attempt presented itself for Mullinalaghta’s Conor Leonard however a great save from goalkeeper Sean McNerney kept Dromard’s spirits high.

Mullinalaghta were dealt a sucker blow at the midpoint of the opening period as their centre forward, and one of their goal scorers in the previous round versus Killoe, Cian Mackey, was forced to depart the fray with injury.

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In what was the proverbial game of two halves, those in attendance were treated to a tough, hard and frantic championship battle.

Two first half goals from Francis McGee and two Joseph Hagan two-pointers combined with a brilliant save from Sean McNerney left Dromard in a commanding position approaching half time.

Two late frees from David McGivney reduced the deficit to five, 0-7 to 2-6, leaving a more manageable score for his team to chase on the resumption.

In that opening period a James McGivney two pointer was St Columba’s sole highlight and to compound matters they also lost the influential Cian Mackey to injury.

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But whatever manager Mickey Harkin said in the dressing room it had the desired effect and the men in maroon and white emerged a far more determined and cohesive outfit for the second half.

Following Dónal McElligott's early goal in the 31st minute the 2021 champions were level by the 49th minute and so began a nip and tuck battle to the finish.

The sides were level on two more occasions as the score ebbed and flowed between them.

When Dromard hit the front in the 59th minute leaving the score at 2-13 to 1-15 Mullinalaghta's resolve was tested to its limit.

They were not found wanting in this regard and despite Shane Mulligan's late dismissal; a huge Jayson Matthews two pointer, followed by a Dónal McElligott point deep in added time secured their first points in this year’s championship.

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MULLINALAGHTA ST COLUMBA’S: Patrick Rogers; Patrick Fox, Niall Woods (0-1), Michael Cunningham; Shane Mulligan, James McGivney (0-2, two-pointer), Gary Rogers (C) (0-3, 1 two pointer); Connor Leonard, Dónal McElligott (1-3); Emmet Brady, Cian Mackey, David McGivney (0-5, 1 two pointer free, 3 frees); Patrick Lynch (0-1), Aidan McElliogott, Jayson Matthews (0-2, two pointer)

Subs: Conan Brady (0-1) for C Mackey (injured, 14 mins)

DROMARD: Sean McNerney; Christopher Grimes, Oisín O’Toole, Ronan Corcoran; Ronan Bleakley, James Mimnagh, Peadar Kiernan (0-1); Daniel Conboy (0-1), William McEntire (0-1); Fionn Hourican (C), Aaron Farrell (0-3), Donnacha Reynolds; Joseph Hagan (0-6, 2 two pointers), Francis McGee (2-1, 1-0 Penalty, 0-1 free), Conor McGauran

Subs: Eoghan Palin for D Reynolds (half time), Ben O’Reilly for P Kiernan (59 mins)

REFEREE: David Reynolds