Milltown back on top with win over Mullingar Shamrocks

Milltown 0-18 Mullingar Shamrocks 1-2

Defending champions Milltown hit seventeen points from play as they swept Mullingar Shamrocks aside in the fifth round of the Ladies Senior Football Championship last Thursday evening.

Those in attendance witnessed some exemplary individual performances, none more so than that of corner-forward, Sarah Dillon, who continued her fine campaign with seven from open play herself. Shamrocks will look back on some positives from individuals but overall, the Mullingar outfit found themselves with too much to do against such formidable opponents.

Things did begin rather brightly for Séamus Kiernan’s side as Emma Morris was able to open the games’ scoring inside two minutes. The key pass in the move coming from Karen Hegarty who picked out Chloe Smullen with pinpoint accuracy to get things going. The response was swift with Sarah Dillon opening her account before adding a second from distance in the seventh minute and completing the trio with a remarkable curling effort with the angle getting acute. Aoife Kenny’s solidity at full-back gave licence to others to attack but there was a moment of uncertainty in the Milltown defence which allowed Susanna Buckley find Chloe Smullen one-on-one.

Despite having advantage, her shot to the net was ruled out as Vinny Cox had already signalled a penalty. Smullen stepped up but saw her effort saved easily by Karen Walsh.

Milltown then responded in the second quarter with points from Kate Whyte, Sarah Dillon, and Leanne Slevin (three apiece), and Gráinne Byrne – all without any reply – to leave the half-time score at 0-11 to the solitary Morris point, 0-1. Things could have been worse had Katie Kelly not been alert to save a couple of efforts. Following Nicole Feery’s opening point of the second thirty, Kelly was called to make another save, this time making contact to turn a shot onto the bar. When Whyte made it 0-14 to 0-1, it looked like Shamrocks would struggle to score again. However, they scored their last 1-1 in quick succession. Karen Hegarty curled over a point before playing the key pass to Melek Fagan who set Smullen away before the full-forward finished from close-range.

Despite thirteen wides, Milltown were always well clear of any danger leading 0-13 to 1-2.

Any slim hope of a revival was quashed as Shamrocks lost not one but two players minutes apart. Rachel Cheevers was shown yellow for a frontal charge on the run while Annemarie O’Reilly was also dismissed in a similar fashion for a tackle. The Mullingar side spent the next few minutes with all thirteen camped in formation inside their own 45, asking Milltown to break them down.

Even with the final wides on the tally, Tom Dillon’s side found all the remaining five points before the end. Slevin (despite a sensational block from Fagan in the process), Whyte (two), Sarah Dillon, and Byrne all pointed. In between those scores, Kelly pulled out an instinctive save with her foot from Caoimhe Donohue. Milltown march on and head back level with Na Dúnta at the top. Mullingar Shamrocks continue their quest to get back into the top-four of the group.

Scorers - Milltown: S Dillon 0-7, L Slevin (1 free), K Whyte 0-4 each, G Byrne 0-2, N Feery 0-1.

Mullingar Shamrocks: C Smullen 1-0, E Morris, K Hegarty 0-1 each.

Milltown: Karen Walsh; Jilly Ballesty, Aoife Kenny, Louise Kiernan; Emma Murtagh, Kelly Boyce-Jordan, Rachel Dillon; Leanne Slevin, Tracey Dillon; Caoimhe Donohue, Gráinne Byrne, Bronagh Beglan; Nicole Feery, Kate Whyte, Sarah Dillon. Subs used: Emma Ballesty for J Ballesty (ht), Molly Conway for Beglan (52), Amy Crowley for C Donohue (52), Katie Gilligan for Feery (53), Muireann Donohue for Boyce-Jordan (58), Lynda Somers for S Dillon (60+1).

Mullingar Shamrocks: Katie Kelly; Melek Fagan, Siobhán O’Donnell, Sophie Hegarty; Annemarie O’Reilly, Chloe Swarbrigg, Sinéad Sweeney; Mairéad Newman, Rachel Cheevers; Jasmine Haugh, Susanna Buckley, Emma Morris; Karen Hegarty, Chloe Smullen, Jenna Kelly. Subs used: Holly McCormack for Haugh (ht), Rosie O’Grady for Kelly (57), Zara Corroon for Buckley (57), Aideen Langtry for Smullen (inj., 60+1).

Referee: Vinny Cox (Rosemount).