Mullinavat crash out of Leinster Football Championship to Meath side

Mullinavat put up a heroic performance against Meath Intermediate Football champions Dunleek Bellewstown under clear blue skies in John Locke Park, Callan on Sunday afternoon last.

This game was delayed for a week owing to the death the mother of a Mullinavat panellist, Stephen O’Shea.

The fixture proved to be a contest well worth waiting for. Dunleek Bellewstown opened a five-point lead in the opening ten minutes of this Leinster Intermediate Football clash at John Locke Park, Callan, and were never headed thereafter, but had to battle hard all through the afternoon.

Three points from John Flood (one free) and points from Tom Bowden (free), and another from Johnny McDowell steered the Meath club on the way to ultimate victory in the opening fifteen minutes.

Mulllinavat did reply with three unanswered points in the five minutes that followed with a pointed score from Oisin Knox and two from Ian Duggan.

By the interval Dunleek Bellewstown had moved six points clear with points from John Flood (free), Oisin Miland and two from Tom Boland, the latter from a free kick.

Mullinavat had chances of their own in this period and recorded three wides from what were scoreable chances.

Half-Time Dunleek Bellewstown 0-9; Mullinavat 0-3.

Mulllinavat scores from Paudie Gahan and Oisin Knox in the opening two minutes of the new half gave Vegas hope.

Sam O’Leary got the Meath account moving again with a point a minute later, it was now double scores, 0-10 to 0-5.

The six-point lead were whittled down to just a single point two minutes later as Mulllinavat got themselves right back in the game when Ger Malone scored an excellent point and a minute later Conor Walsh buried a goal from close range to leave just that single score between them.

Tom Bowden (free) and Kyle Doherty in the 38th and 41st minutes stretched the lead back to three, 0-12 to 1-6.

Michael Malone reduced the lead with a 43rd minute Mullinavat free, a score replied to by Johnny McDonnell.

Fourteen men

The Meath side were then reduced to fourteen men for ten minutes with a black card a minute later and had to dig extremely deep to hold on to their lead in the closing minutes.

Both sides added a further two points each by the final whistle but really, it was those five early unanswered Dunleek Bellewstown points that gave the Meath side a safety net all afternoon.

Duleek Bellewstown badly missed their St Kilda’s Aussie Rules player Eamon Armstrong who had featured strongly in their championship victory, and it took excellent displays from the likes of Tom Bowden, John Flood and Johnny McDonnell to overcome the Kilkenny Senior champions

Following this victory the Meath side advance to a quarter final against the Kildare Intermediate Champions Milltown in St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge next Saturday at 1.30pm.

Mulllinavat had once again produced a creditable display in Leinster and gave their Meath opponents quite the challenge here. They will start out on a three in a row Kilkenny Senior Football trail when the league begins in February 2027 as they look to maintain their recent dominance of gaelic football in the county.

Teams and Scorers

Dunleek Bellewstown (Meath): John Flood (0-6, 0-3 frees), Tom Bowden (0-4, 0-1 free), John McDonnell (0-2), Oisin Miland, Sam O’Leary, Kyle Doherty (0-1 each).

Mullinavat: Conor Walsh (1-0), Ian Duggan (0-3), Michael Malone (0-3, 0-1 free), Oisin Knox (0-2), Ger Malone (0-1).

Dunleek Bellewstown (Meath): Ryan Lynch; Cillian Kirwan, Colm Regan, Glen Callaghan; Ciaran Byrne, Tom Bowden, Oisin Miland; Shane Crosby, Robin Clarke; Kyle Doherty, James McGarvey, Sam O’Leary; Johnny McDonnell, John Flood, Joe Hartford.

Subs:Tiarnan McKeown for James McGarvey, Kyle Callaghan for Joe Hartford, Sean Caldwell for Kyle Doherty, Robert Caffrey for Ciaran Byrne.

Mullinavat: Jack Walsh (GK); Shane Kelly, Joe Fennelly, Sean Fitzpatrick; Conor Duggan, Ger Malone, Padraig Dempsey; James Culleton, Thomas Aylward; Conor Walsh Mick Malone, Ian Duggan; Liam Fennelly, Brian Phelan. Oisin Knox.

Subs: Ian Mansfield for Shane Kelly, Paudie Gahan for Conor Duggan, Robin Davis for Conor Walsh, Conor Walsh for James Culleton, David Maher for Sean Fitzpatrick.

Referee: Seamus Farrelly (Dublin)