Mulpeter's magic lands minor title for Rathangan
Matthew Mulpeter scored 2-4 as Rathangan won the Manguard Plus Minor 'C' Football championship
Rathangan are the Manguard Plus Minor C Football champions after securing an impressive eight-point victory over Suncroft in front of a sizeable attendance at Cedral St Conleth's Park on Friday evening.
Two first-half goals from the outstanding Matthew Mulpeter laid the foundations for the victory as Rathangan established an early advantage that Suncroft were never able to haul back.
It was a polished display from the Burrowsiders, with a number of excellent individual performances helping Brian Gorry's side lead from start to finish.
Rathangan made the ideal start when Pauric Carty opened the scoring from 35 metres inside the opening minute. He repeated the feat a minute later, this time from a free, as Suncroft struggled to gain any meaningful possession in the early exchanges.
Mulpeter was proving a constant threat to the Suncroft defence and a clever pass from Carty sent him through on goal, with the corner-forward finishing low past Evan Byrne to stretch the lead to six points.
Carty added his third point after seven minutes and, moments later, he again supplied the pass for Mulpeter to race through on goal. Despite desperate last-ditch tackles from recovering defenders, Mulpeter kept his composure to find the net for a second time.
With only ten minutes played, Rathangan held a commanding advantage and Suncroft already faced an uphill battle.
Thirteen minutes had elapsed before Liam Vardy finally got Suncroft on the scoreboard with an excellent left-footed effort. Early substitute Kieran Dunne added another, but a series of missed opportunities prevented Suncroft from building any momentum.
At the other end, Rathangan continued to impress. A slick move involving midfielder Niall McConnon ended with Mulpeter weaving past several defenders before adding his second point of the evening and taking his first-half tally to 2-2.
Suncroft briefly rallied approaching the interval. With eight minutes remaining in the half, Hugh Martin, who will be a key man for Suncroft in Sunday's National Electrical Wholesalers Intermediate Final against Milltown, finally escaped the close attention of Noah Maher and capitalised on a Liam Vardy pass to fire left-footed to the net.
However, Rathangan remained firmly in control and carried a 2-5 to 1-2 lead into the break.
Jack Sammon pointed a free inside a minute of the restart, but Rathangan quickly reasserted their authority. Excellent defensive work forced a turnover on Seamus Murphy before Luke Mullally landed an inspirational score. Carty followed with another free to leave Rathangan seven points clear.
To their credit, Suncroft continued to battle, with Mark Tobin and Murphy both adding points, but they were unable to make a significant dent in the deficit.
Rathangan instead pushed on to seal the title. Mulpeter added two more points, while Carty brought his tally for the evening to five scores. McConnon also got his reward for an influential display with a well-taken point.
Captain Sean Troy had the final say on the scoreboard for Suncroft, but the result was already beyond doubt by then.
Mulpeter finished with a superb personal tally of 2-4 and was a deserving recipient of the Man of the Match award. It capped an excellent all-round team performance as Rathangan ran out worthy 2-11 to 1-6 winners.
The future looks bright for the champions based on the talent displayed here, while Suncroft, despite the disappointment, will feel there are better days ahead. The lengthy break between semi-final and final certainly did little to help their preparations.
Charlie Doyle; Sean Harrison, Hugo Furlong, Lennon Pike; Ronan Walsh, Noah Maher, Tadhg Doyle; Niall McConnon (0-1), Aaron Moylan; Jack O'Connell, Luke Mullally (0-1), Sam O'Loughlin; Matthew Mulpeter (2-4), Pauric Carty (0-5, 2f), Ciaran Smith. Subs: Jonathan Kenny for O'Loughlin (48), Tadhg Broughan for Smith (54), Rian McTigue for Pike (59), Daniel Tyrell for Furlong (59), Lee Websdale for O'Connell (59).
Evan Byrne; Ronan Malone, Daire Toft, Vincent O'Connor; Sean Malone, Sean Troy (0-1), Conor Brannock; Seamus Murphy (0-1), Arthur Bailey; Mark Tobin (0-1), Hugh Martin (1-0), James O'Connor; Conor Halpin, Jack Sammon (0-1, 1f), Liam Vardy (0-1). Subs: Kieran Dunne (0-1) for J O'Connor (14), Dan Doran for Sammon (57), John Harte for Brannock (58), Ethan Brannock for Vardy (59).
Jack O'Connell.
