Murtagh’s goal propels Milltown to deserved place in intermediate final

Milltown 1-14 Rosemount 0-11

Milltown moved one step closer to an elusive Peter Geraghty Cup win in TEG Cusack Park last Saturday afternoon with a fully deserved win against Rosemount in an entertaining semi-final played in pleasant conditions.

The men in green and white led from start to finish and always looked the more likely winners, especially after Dylan Murtagh’s opportunist goal approaching half-time helped them to a six-point lead at the interval. With the two teams drawing the second half, the margin remained the same at the final whistle and, overall, this was probably an accurate assessment of the gap between the teams on the day.

Milltown were forced to play out the final 15 minutes with 14 men after centre back Conor Gibney was controversially sent off.

Big match nerves contributed to a wasteful opening to the game, with Milltown kicking three wides in the first five minutes and Rosemount one in the same period. Clever play by Ben McGauran teed up Jack Duncan for the game’s opening point in the eighth minute and the same duo also combined within a minute for Duncan’s second score.

Just a minute later, Rosemount spurned a great chance of taking the lead when a quickly-taken free by Cillian Lawlor picked out Padraig Geoghegan close to goal, but he was bottled up and the opportunity was wasted. Matthew Cox pointed for the black and amber-clad outfit, but a left-footed free from his hands completed Duncan’s hat-trick on the quarter-hour mark, leaving the winners 0-3 to 0-1 ahead at the end of the opening quarter.

Conor Dillon, whose strong and direct running was a feature of the game, superbly converted a ‘45’ into a slight wind to increase his side’s lead to three points. This might have been doubled in the 18th minute, but Matthew Gunning hesitated when a goal beckoned. At the other end, Matthew Cox produced a great catch to win a mark, but surprisingly missed the resultant kick.

Daire Hynes kicked a great point for the team under the tutelage of Sean Loughlin and Pete Ballesty at the end of a laboured move. Declan Mullen cancelled this out from a free taken from the ground (moments after missing a similar placed ball from his hands). Conor Dillon was denied a goal by Peter Elliffe after a long solo goalward and a counterattack led to a point from Geoghegan.

In the 29th minute, a lengthy delivery by Sean Dillon – possibly with a point as his target – was met by the fist of the towering Dylan Murtagh for a crucial three-pointer. In injury time, Hynes kicked another quality point to leave Milltown ahead by 1-6 to 0-3 at the break.

Rosemount gave their large contingent of fans hope by starting the second half with a brace of points in as many minutes, courtesy of Adam Keane (after 25 seconds) and Mullen (a free from the ground). The respective number 14s, McGauran and David Tone, then traded points, before Milltown added four unanswered points by the 42nd minute to all but book a place in the decider. The scores came via sub Thomas Lynn, Peter Ballesty, Duncan (after a great pass by Conor Gibney) and McGauran (via the upright after a hint of a Seamus Darby-like nudge). Their lead was now eight points (1-11 to 0-6).

Alan Geraghty came to Milltown’s rescue in the 47th minute with a great instinctive save from Lawlor, but a minute later the winners were dealt a blow with the controversial dismissal of Gibney for what the referee deemed to be a second yellow card offence. When Boidu Sayeh (a free) and Geoghegan (a fine point from play) pointed for Karl Dermody’s troops, there was a brief sense that the game was up for grabs again.

However, a McGauran free (moved closer to the target for dissent) settled Milltown’s nerves. Sayeh and McGauran exchanged points from frees before Lawlor fly-kicked Rosemount’s tenth point on the hour mark. In added-time, Conor Dillon (after a great interception) kicked a great point, with a lobbed free from Sayeh wrapping up the scoring with time almost up.

Scorers – Milltown: B McGauran (2f), J Duncan (1f) 0-4 each, D Murtagh 1-0, C Dillon (1‘45’), D Hynes 0-2 each, P Ballesty, T Lynn 0-1 each.

Rosemount: B Sayeh 0-3 (3f), D Mullen (2f), P Geoghegan 0-2 each, A Keane, C Lawlor, D Tone, M Cox 0-1 each.

Milltown: Alan Geraghty; Sean Dillon, Bernard Kiernan, Diarmuid Maguire; Peter Ballesty, Conor Gibney, Conor Dillon; Jack Murtagh, Dylan Murtagh; Nathan Creagh Dillon, Daire Hynes, Jack Duncan; Luke Gunning, Ben McGauran, Matthew Gunning. Subs used: Thomas Lynn for Creagh Dillon (h-t), Wayne Smith for L Gunning (45), Patrick Somers for Ballesty (51), Sean Somers for McGauran (58), Ben McGauran for D Murtagh (60+2).

Rosemount: Peter Elliffe; Cathal Byrne, Adam Keane, Ben O’Brien; Plunkett Maxwell, Boidu Sayeh, Lorcan Daly; Declan Mullen, David O’Reilly; Sean Conlon, Cillian Lawlor, Padraig Geoghegan; Ben Cox, David Tone, Matthew Cox. Subs used: Ciaran Maxwell for B Cox (45), Eoin Geoghegan for Tone (59), David Loddick for Conlon (59), Cathal Geoghegan for Lawlor (60+2).

Ref: Mickey Dan Murtagh (The Downs).

Footnote: Prior to the throw-in, a minute’s silence was observed in memory of former Rosemount player and club stalwart, the late Charlie Tone who died recently.