AIB Leinster Club SFC Semi-Final

MULLINALAGHTA ST COLUMBA'S (LONGFORD) 2-15 Eire Og (CARLOW) 0-3

By Conor McKenna at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park

Mullinalaghta St. Columba’s will be the first ever Longford side to compete in the Leinster club final, with Mickey Graham’s charges claiming an 18 point victory in the midlands.

Eire Og finished the game with 12 players, with referee Anthony Nolan dismissing three players and Mullinalaghta were completely on top for large periods of the game.

Mullinalaghta is a tiny parish on the Longford/Cavan border and it’s amazing that such a small community will go into a Leinster final with a genuine chance of victory. Mickey Graham has been named as Cavan manager and it looks a superb acquisition by them as the work Graham has done at Mullinalaghta has been truly remarkable.

Eire Og opted to put 12 men behind the ball at all times and it did not work at all, as the Carlow side simply could not score, with Mullinalaghta possessing nine different scorers on the day.

Ross Dunphy received a straight red card in first half stoppage time following an off the ball altercation involving Aidan Mc Elligott, with the referee showing Dunphy a straight red card after consulting with the linesman on duty.

Eire Og almost had a goal early on with Christopher Blake’s effort saved superbly with six minutes on the clock and that would have given Eire Og a lead to defend, but instead it was the Longford side who opened the scoring courtesy of half back Donal Mc Elligott.

Christopher Blake equalised for Eire Og but that was as good as it got for the Carlow champions with Mullinalaghta registering five points in succession to hold a 0-6 to 0-1 interval advantage.

It was never going to be easy for Eire Og playing with a man less for the second half and James McGivney’s goal with 44 minutes played gave his side a 10 point advantage.

Eire Og would play the last quarter with 14 men after Christopher Blake was dismissed for two yellow cards and Mullinalaghta stretched their advantage to 13 points after a long ball in from Jayson Matthews was fisted to the net by Aidan McElligott, who was forced to go off injured after an altercation with Eire Og goalkeeper Robert Moore. The Eire Og custodian was subsequently shown a straight red card. 

Scorers for Mullinalaghta St. Columba’s: David McGivney 0-4 (3fs), Aidan Mc Elligott and James McGivney 1-0 each, Rian Brady 0-3, Donal Mc Elligott, Brendan Fox and John Keegan 0-2 each, Gary Rogers and Jayson Matthews 0-1 each.

Scorers for Eire Og: Darragh O’Brien 0-2, Christopher Blake 0-1,

MULLINALAGHTA ST COLUMBA'S: Patrick Rogers; Simon Cadam, Patrick Fox, Conan Brady; Shane Mulligan, Francis Mulligan, Donal Mc Elligott; Aidan McElligott, John Keegan; Gary Rogers, James McGivney, David McGivney; Jayson Matthews, Rian Brady, Brendan Fox.

Subs: Conor Mc Elligott for Aidan McElligott (53), Michael Cunningham for Rian Brady (54), Luke Meehan for Shane Mulligan (55), Cian Mc Elligott for Jayson Matthews (59).

EIRE OG: Robert Moore; Fiach O’Toole, Mark Fitzgerald, Brendan Kavanagh; Jordan Lowry, Paul McElligott Eoghan Ruth; Sean Gannon, Kelvin Chatten; Simon Rea, Jordan Morrissey, Darragh O’Brien; Ross Dunphy, Murtough Ware, Christopher Blake.

Subs: Mark Furey for Jordan Morrissey (35), Richie Mahon for Jordan Lowry (38), Derek Hayden for Simon Rea (40), Gerry McGill for Murtough Ware (52).

REFEREE: Anthony Nolan (Wicklow).