St Loman’s, Mullingar added another dramatic come from behind victory to their 2017 collection with a brilliant AIB Leinster Club SFC semi-final 0-13 to 1-8 win over Simonstown Gaels at Cusack Park on Sunday.
At one stage Loman’s trailed by seven points, but Luke Dempsey’s gutsy team eked out a win to set up a provincial decider against Moorefield, who defeated Rathnew at the penultimate stage.
Dempsey, who previously was in charge of the Kildare team, will know all about Moorefield’s strengths and weaknesses.
Having staged a late rally to beat St Columba’s, Mullinalaghta, Loman’s needed to demonstrate similar resolve once more.
Simonstown Gaels, managed by Colm O’Rourke, settled brightly scoring 1-4 without reply with Loman’s in severe distress.
Mark McCabe’s 11th minute goal followed a flurry of early Gaels scores, but Loman’s eventually settled with Paddy Dowdall outstanding.
Six of the next eight points of the half were registered by Loman’s, who narrowed the half-time gap to 1-6 to 0-6.
That second quarter burst from Loman’s was hugely important, while the way Loman’s performed after the restart was equally effective.
Inevitably John Heslin and Paul Sharry were influential figures for Loman’s, while Shane Dempsey and Ken Casey were other prominent performers.
Heslin, Sharry, and Dempsey all clipped crucial scores for Loman’s, who edged three points in front in the closing stages.
Simonstown Gaels trimmed the deficit to the narrowest of margins, but Loman’s substitute Kieran Lynam sealed the issue with an opportunistic point.
