Milltown 0-13
Rheban 2-8
Tom Cross Junior Football Championship round one
There would have been no neutrals in St Conleth's complaining on Saturday evening if this game had ended in a draw, as two sides who have serious aspirations of going the whole way in this year's Junior Championship left everything they had on the pitch in what was a thoroughly enjoyable encounter.
Milltown will be sore after losing, but the concession of two goals in the first half will ultimately be looked back on as the crucial scores that left them with too steep a mountain to climb for the rest of the game. Rheban, who were beaten in last year's county final by Castlemitchell, were composed and showed some serious resolve during the final few minutes as they staved off wave after wave of attack from their opponents to eventually see out the win.
Milltown made all the early running in this game as they looked intent on attacking at will from the word go, though their vulnerability on the counter-attack was also evident during the opening exchanges.
It was the Milltown full-forward line that looked the most threatening unit of their side, with Ian Fitzgerald and Ronan O'Shea particularly impressive during the first half. It was full-forward O'Shea who opened the scoring for the men in green and red as he converted a free, while Fitzgerald quickly followed up with his first of the evening.
Rheban eventually troubled the umpires at the Town End in the eighth minute when Dean Carthy popped over a beautiful score, before Stephen Lawler went on a storming run and finished it off with a tidy finish to pull his side level. Milltown hit a purple patch then however, scoring three points on the trot through Fitzgerland, O'Shea and Dignam, and at that stage Rheban looked to be in a spot of bother.
They were thrown a lifeline when Milltown goalkeeper Sean Trant hauled down Chris Casey as he was about to shoot for goal, leaving referee Liam Herbert with no choice but to point to the spot. Trant was desperately unlucky as he saved Conor Germaine's penalty, but dropped the rebound into the path of David Renehan and he bundled the ball home from close range.
At the other end, Rheban 'keeper Christy Byrne had to be alert to keep out a goalbound effort from O'Shea, although he soon converted another free, while Kevin Dowling got his name on the scoreboard to edge Milltown back into a two point lead.
Rheban were still breaking forward with great pace however, and it looked a question of when, rather than if, they would get another goal. It came on 28 minutes as Barry Foy played a ball over the Milltown defence for Carthy to run on to, and he slammed the ball into the roof of the net. They were in the ascendancy at that stage and another point from Stephen Lawler left Milltown waiting tentatively for the half-time whistle. The sides left the field with the scores at 2-4 to 0-7 in favour of the blues at the break.
The second half was neck and neck throughout, with both sides playing some exhilarating football in search of the win. Christy Byrne was called into action almost immediately as he produced a brilliant save to deny O'Shea from point-blank range, though a pair of scores from Alan Dignam helped to cut the gap to a point.
Rheban defender Darren Lawlor got his side up and running in the second half when he curled over a close range score, but that was quickly cancelled out another point from Fitzgerald at the other end. A point from Barry Foy down at the other end continued let the see-saw nature of the game continue, but Fitzgerald was continuing to twist the blood of the Rheban defenders as his jinking feet allowed him the space to convert his fourth point of the evening.
Rheban were in need of a couple of scores to assert their authority once again, and Brandon Shaw and Adam Bate duly obliged with a brace of fabulous points to push them into a three point lead going into the final stages.
Milltown threw everything they could at their opponents, but a succession of wides late on meant that they could never fully close the gap. They did come close though as Fitzgerald and Kevin Byrne reduced it to the smallest possible margin, but Rheban showed tenacity and resolve too see out the final few minutes and make sure of a victory that will stand them in good stead for the rest of the year.
Scorers for Milltown: I Fitzgerald 0-5, R O'Shea(3f) and A Dignam(1'45) 0-3 each, K Byrne and K Dowling 0-1 each
Scorers for Rheban: D Carthy 1-1, D Renehan 1-0, S Lawler and A Ryan 0-2 each, B Foy, B Shaw and D Lawlor 0-1 each.
Milltown
S Trant; J Cross, R Donoghue, M Colleton; E Owen, C O'Shea, J Condon; E Mulhall, K Byrne; W Dignam(C Gorman 46mins), E O'Toole, K Dowling; I Fitzgerald, R O'Shea, A Dignam.
Rheban
C Byrne; K O'Shaugnessy, E Owens, D Byrne(J Morrissey 40mins); D Kelly, D Lawlor, K McConville; C Casey, S Lawler; B Shaw, D Renehan(N Owens 45mins), A Ryan; C Germaine, B Foy, D Carthy
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