Cox and Lawlor goals help Rosemount seal knockout place

Rosemount 2-13 Milltownpass 0-11

By Ronan Fagan

Rosemount cemented their place in the knockout phase of this year’s Westmeath intermediate football championship with a comprehensive win over Milltownpass in Rochfortbridge on Saturday evening.

Played beneath grey laden skies, this was action-packed championship fare with both teams playing an open brand of football as they looked to ensure progress in the competition.

Missing key personnel, Rosemount will be most content with their victory as they dominated the possession stakes and were thoroughly deserving of their win.

The victors set the tone from the throw-in as Declan Mullen claimed possession and placed Matthew Cox who was off target with his point attempt. The evergreen Mullen opened the Rosemount scoring when he pointed on two minutes following a swift interchange with Boidu Sayeh.

Sean Conlon added to the ‘black and amber’ scoreboard on seven minutes before Liam Gorman opened scoring proceedings for Milltownpass on eight minutes. Ben Cox was then placed by Padraig Nestor on nine minutes and the inside forward showed his scoring prowess when pointing.

As the opening exchanges continued at a brisk pace, Milltownpass reduced the deficit when Finbar Coyne pointed and parity was restored on 15 minutes when Brandon Kelly pointed.

Milltownpass held scoring sway on 17 minutes when Oisin Coogan pointed a free, but Rosemount immediately replied with as Cillian Lawlor score.

A jinking run culminated in Coyne adding to his scoring tally on 19 minutes and when Kelly added his second point of the contest, Milltownpass looked primely positioned. Mullen reduced arrears with a pointed free and the prominent midfielder then slotted over a ‘45’ to level proceedings.

Rosemount full forward Davey Tone opened his account with a neat swivel and point on 27 minutes - a score which was swiftly followed by a fine Matthew Cox point as Mullen and Tone combined to place him for a white flag. Milltownpass inside forward Evan Gorman managed to momentarily reduce arrears from a placed ball.

The opening half’s crucial score arrived on 30 minutes when Matthew Cox finished a well worked Rosemount move to the net to ensure a four-point interval lead for the black and amber (1-8 to 0-7).

Upon the resumption, Milltownpass, now playing with the favour of the elements, reduced arrears on 32 minutes when Kelly had his third point of the contest. However, Mullen responded with a placed ball and the same player continued to exert his influence on proceedings on 36 minutes when pointing a free from an acute angle.

Rosemount’s dominance continued as a penetrating run from Lawlor resulted in Cathal Byrne pointing, pushing their lead now out to six points.

Veteran Milltownpass substitute Andy Devine reduced the deficit with a free on 43 minutes, but Rosemount were quick to reply when Sayeh pointed a placed ball.

Coyne added to his scoring tally on 46 minutes, the same player sealing his quartet of contest scores two minutes later as the lead was reduced to four points.

As the game entered the final ten minutes, Rosemount continued to exert their control on proceedings and when Mullen intercepted a kickout from Milltownpass custodian Ruairi Coyne, the Rosemount stalwart placed Matthew Cox to point.

Rosemount added gloss to the scoreboard on 54 minutes. Adam Keane burst from his full back berth with a penetrating run and his low ball was collected by Ben Cox who, in turn, placed Lawlor in the clear for a well worked goal.

The sole disappointment for Rosemount was the dismissal late on of Lorcan Daly for an altercation with Liam Brennan, the Milltownpass centre forward receiving a black card for his involvement in the incident.

Man of the match: Declan Mullen (Rosemount). In an impressive team display from the victors, the experienced Mullen displayed his prowess with an influential display from his centrefield berth. Mullen impacted the scoreboard on five occasions and was heavily involved in all that was positive about Rosemount’s display on Saturday evening.

SCORERS – Rosemount: M Cox 1-2; D Mullen 0-5 (3 frees, 1 ‘45’); C Lawlor 1-1; B Cox, B Sayeh (f), C Byrne, D Tone and S Conlon 0-1 each. Milltownpass: F Coyne 0-4; B Kelly 0-3; O Coogan (f), L Gorman, A Devine (f) and E Gorman (f) 0-1 each.

ROSEMOUNT: Peter Elliffe; Cathal Byrne, Adam Keane, Padraig Nestor; Luke Kelly, Boidu Sayeh, Lorcan Daly; Liam Maxwell, Declan Mullen; Sean Conlon, Cillian Lawlor, Padraig Geoghegan; Ben Cox, Davey Tone, Matthew Cox.

MILLTOWNPASS: Ruairi Coyne; Michael McCormack, Paul O’Reilly, Gareth O’Connor; Liam O’Reilly, Noel O’Reilly, David Manning; Gavin Glennon, Liam Gorman; Oisin Coogan, Liam Brennan, Brandon Kelly; Finbar Coyne, Evan Gorman, Tony Loftus. Subs used: Shane Flanagan for Glennon; Andy Devine for Coogan; David Devine for O’Connor; Daragh O’Connor for Manning; Eoghan Gallagher for E Gorman.

REFEREE: Michael Murtagh.