Milltown goal the decisive score as Longford’s Clonguish lose in Leinster league final
Leinster Club Senior Football League Division 2 Final
Milltown (Westmeath) . . . 1-7 Clonguish . . . 0-8
Both teams were missing a number of regulars for different reasons with Jack Duggan (one of many young players spending the summer in America) the most notable absentee for Clonguish who will be disappointed in their failure to overcome the Intermediate opposition from the neighbouring county.
Particularly prominent for the Longford senior club was their roving goalkeeper Joe O’Brien who drifted outfield on several occasions and ended up firing over three fine points from play during the course of the game.
At the other end of the pitch the 38-year-old O’Brien produced a marvellous point-blank save to prevent the Milltown dangerman, full-forward Ben McGauran, from scoring a goal in the opening minute of the second half.
Trailing by 1-7 to 0-7 with time running out, Clonguish missed a glorious opportunity for the equalising goal when Chris Gordon directed a tame shot straight at the opposing keeper Sean Somers in the 56th minute.
All Clonguish could manage in the frantic finish was a point from their keeper Joe O’Brien in the third minute of stoppage time and their attack clearly lacked a cutting edge in shooting six costly wides on the changeover.
Just before the final score, Milltown were reduced to 14 players when Dylan Murtagh was sent-off (second yellow card) but the Westmeath men, showing the greater urgency for most of the match, had already done enough to emerge victorious.
CLONGUISH: Joe O’Brien (0-3); Gerard Moore, Ronan Sweeney, Cian Sutton; Josh Sorohan, Andrew Flynn, Aidan O’Cealleagh; Peter Hanley, Conor Shields; Niall Reilly, Matthew Carey (0-3, 2 frees), Chris Gordon (0-2); Liam Sheridan, Liam Casey, Michael Flynn.
Subs:- Kevin Burke for L Casey (40 mins); Alan Gregg for L Sheridan (51 mins).
MILLTOWN: Sean Somers; Gary Byrne, Bert Kiernan, Diarmuid Maguire; Tommy Lynn, Paddy Somers, Sean Dillon; Jack Murtagh (1-0), Frank McLoughlin; Matthew Gunning, Dylan Murtagh, Nathan Creagh; Luke Gunning (0-1), Ben McGauran (0-3, 2 frees), Daire Hynes (0-3).
Sub:- Conor Gibney for N Creagh (half-time).
Referee: David Tiernan (Ardagh Moydow).