Milltown climb out of relegation zone to set up huge tie against county champions

HANLON CONCRETE SENIOR FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 1 – ROUND 10 

MILLTOWN 2-22 ST LAURENCES 1-14

Milltown are out of the Division 1 relegation zone with one game to play a comfortable 11 point win over St Laurences on Friday evening last. The win means Milltown leapfrog above county champions and incredibly, the two teams will meet in a relegation do-or-die battle in the final round next Thursday in Athy, where the loser will be relegated to Division 2, although a draw could also drag Clane into the relegation battle.

St Laurences came into this game with hopes of making the top four and the semi-finals still alive but both sides were missing some regulars and it was a superb performance from the home side. They scored five first half two-pointers and had built up a winning 15 point lead by the half time break.

Milltown enjoyed the advantage of a stiff opening half breeze but the early minutes were slow to ignite as Alan Dignam and Ruaidhrí Lawlor shared the opening points inside four minutes. Milltown had chances to extend the lead but were wasteful in front of goal and 11 minutes had passed when Paddy Donohue fired over a two-pointer. With Joe Dunne and Kevin Byrne on top around the middle Milltown took control.

A sweeping move from defence saw Ronan O’Shea set up Ben Heuston for the game’s opening goal. Callum Murphy added a point and with 17 on the clock Milltown were six ahead. St Laurences were struggling to build any momentum and 15 minutes had elapsed between scores when James Donnelly added a much needed point. It was a short reprieve for the visitors as brilliant play from Dunne and Ben Curran saw them fire two two-pointers and when Alan Dignam put Donohue through he pushed Milltown 10 ahead.

Seanan Murphy and Tom Dooley pointed for the Larries with five minutes left to the break but Milltown were firmly on the front foot and they finished the half with five unanswered scores.

Dignam and Heuston added two-pointers either side of a Heuston single. Colin O’Shea got forward from centre back to ad his name to the list of scorers. With the last kick of the half Dunne forced a great save from Daniel Shaw with the ball spinning over the bar to leave Milltown 1-16 to 0-4 ahead after 30 minutes.

St Laurences needed the wind advantage to have the desired effect after the break and four points inside six minutes was the perfect start Senan Murphy, a Felix Lawler two-pointer and Dylan O’Dwyer were all on target.

Milltown needed 13 minutes to register a second half score Callum Murphy and a Paddy Donohue free keeping enough distance between the sides.

Kevin Eustace landed a Larries two-pointer with 15 minutes to play but they never looked like getting within touching distance. Oisin Grufferty and a Dylan O’Dwyer two-pointer got the gap to nine but Joe Hanamy and Felix Lawler squandered good goal chances and Milltown responded with a goal and a point from Callum Murphy to put the icing on the result.

Dylan O’Dwyer pointed a late free and despite a great save from Omar Dunne it was Eoin Curley who tapped home a consolation goal.

Milltown rounded off a good evening with points from Dignam and Joe Dunne, as the big midfielder capped off a superb display with his fifth point of the game in a 2-22 to 1-14 win.

St Laurences finish their campaign with a visit to Clane with their status already safe while Milltown will make that trip to Athy knowing a draw will suffice but the county champions will be a tough nut to crack.

MILLTOWN: Omar Dunne; Jamie Cross, Cian Buckley, Eoghan Colgan, Hugh Hamilton, Colin O’Shea 0-1, Liam Kelly; Joe Dunne 0-5 (1tp), Kevin Byrne; Ben Curran 0-3 (1tp), Alan Dignan 0-3(1tp), Paddy Donohue 0-4 (1tp,1f), Callum Murphy 1-3, Ronan O’ Shea, Ben Heuston 1-3 (1tp). Subs: Aaron Jacob for Hamilton, 44; Dylan Casey for Jamie Cross, 57; Karl Downey for Colgan, 58;Karl Heuston for B Heuston, 59.

ST LAURENCES: Daniel Shaw; Luke Gorman, Ciaran O’ Sullivan, Adam Griffith, Oisin Grufferty 0-1, Kevin Eustace 0-2 (1tp), Eoin Clarke; James Donnelly 0-1,Conor Clarke; Pierce O’Dwyer, Ruaidhrí Lawlor 0-1, Seanan Murphy 0-2, Dylan O’ Dwyer 0-4 (1tp,1f), Tom Dooley 0-1 (1f), Felix Lawler 0-2 (1tp). Subs: Senan Gallagher for E Clarke, h/t; Joe Hanamy for C Clarke, h/t; Eoin Curley 1-0 for P O’Dwyer, 42; David O’Driscoll for Dooley, 42; Harry Swan for Lawlor, 53.

Referee: Colm Kearney.

Hanlon Concrete Senior Football League Division 1

FINAL ROUND DIVISION 1 FIXTURES

All Thursday 18 June, 8pm

Venue: Athy, Athy V Milltown 

Venue: Clane, Clane V St. Laurence's 

Venue: Johnstownbridge, Johnstownbridge V Celbridge 

Venue: Moorefield, Moorefield V Naas 

Venue: Raheens, Raheens V Maynooth 

Venue: Sallins, Sallins V Sarsfields