Milltown target improvement
April 30, 2010One of the big talking points of last year's junior football championship was Milltown's failure to qualify for the knockout stages.
Beaten finalists in 2006 and '07 and semi-finalists in '08, the Sean Doolin Memorial Park outfit were expected to figure at the championship's business end once again, but just two wins and a draw from seven games was never going to be enough to extend their interests beyond the group stages.
"We slipped back a long way last year, we couldn't go back any further really," club chairman Mick Dillon ruefully reflects.
"It was very disappointing because we had ambitions of winning the championship at the start of the year. At the very least, we expected to be in a quarter-final or semi-final. But to not make it out of the group was a wake-up call for everyone in the club.
"When you've had a year like we've had, the only way is up and I'm expecting results to be a lot better this year. We've made a good start to the league, winning two of our first three games in Division 3 against Ballinagore and St. Paul's, so that's an encouraging sign."
Mick, who continues to line out in defence, attributes last year's decline to the unavailability of key players and a general lack of interest.
"We were without Fergal Reilly, Michael Connell, Stephen Somers, Paul Mulvaney and Paul Heduan, and they are five of our best players. We're a small club and can't afford to be without anyone," he explains.
"It made last year's manager Des Doolin's job very difficult because he simply didn't have the resources to work with it. But I'm pleased to say that the lads who were missing last year have all returned and Stephen Somers was involved in the trials for the county team before Christmas.
"We've also been boosted by Damien Gunning's decision to come out of retirement after two years. Damien still has plenty to offer from a playing point of view and his experience is worth a lot to the team."
The tone for a disappointing 2009 was set when Milltown lost their championship opener to old rivals St. Joseph's at Rosemount. The Streamstown side established an early 0-4 to 0-2 lead and had doubled their advantage, 0-8 to 0-4, by half-time.
Des Doolin's charges narrowed the gap to three points midway through the second half before St. Joseph's made a decisive break when Wayne McCormack swooped for the only goal with 11 minutes remaining. Two further points from Ronan McDonnell saw the Joe's extend their lead to 1-11 to 0-7 before Milltown registered three unanswered points in the final five minutes to leave four in it, 0-10 to 1-11, at the finish.
The Rathconrath men bounced back to defeat Loughnavalley by 0-11 to 1-6 in their second outing at Ballymore. In what was a typically physical affair, Milltown raced into a 0-3 to 0-0 lead after nine minutes thanks to points from Frank McLoughlin (two) and Michael Kiernan. The 'Valley pulled back two points before McLoughlin slotted over a couple of frees to restore Milltown's three-point lead. The sides traded points thereafter as Milltown took a 0-7 to 0-4 advantage into the break.
Early second half scores from Frank McLoughlin and Joe Kenny extended Milltown's lead before Loughnavalley goaled from a penalty in the 40th minute. Kenny replied with a point, and despite losing Conor Reilly through injury, they held on for a two-point victory.
Next up for Milltown were Mullingar Shamrocks at Castletown-Geoghegan. Played in miserable conditions, the game opened with two early points for Shamrocks, but this was to be all they scored in the first half as Milltown made the most of their wind advantage to lead by 2-1 to 0-2 at the interval. Both goals were scored by an in-form Johnny Duncan, while Joe Kenny was on target from a free.
Milltown stretched their lead on the restart through points from Frank McLoughlin and Donal Kenny, only for Shamrocks to reply with three on the trot. When substitute Bernard Glynn restored Milltown's four-point advantage with eight minutes remaining, they looked set to prevail, but their town opponents struck for a late 1-1 to snatch a 1-8 to 2-5 draw.
Successive defeats to St. Loman's (2-7 to 2-10) and champions-elect Caulry (1-3 to 4-9) followed, leaving Milltown with an uphill task to reach the knockout stages. They gave themselves a fighting chance when accounting for Ballycomoyle by 1-8 to 0-5 at a very wet Rochfortbridge. After conceding the first point, Milltown hit three-in-a-row per Johnny Duncan, Gary Byrne and Willie Keegan. Ballycomoyle replied with a 23rd minute free before Keegan added his second point to give the green and whites a 0-4 to 0-2 half-time lead.
Milltown suffered a big blow early in the second half when their former county player Tom Dillon was knocked unconscious and was removed to hospital. Ballycomoyle scored three of the next four points, but Milltown were not to be denied and after Johnny Duncan and Frank McLoughlin had made it a three-point game, Duncan slammed home the only goal after Owen Kenny's initial shot had come back off the crossbar.
Victory over St. Paul's in their final group match at Springfield would have seen Milltown claim the last quarter final spot, but they failed to rise to the challenge as the Clonmellon men - who had already qualified - cruised to a facile 3-18 to 0-10 win.
In a bid to revive their fortunes, Milltown have turned to Longford Slashers clubman Jimmy O'Neill this year. The new manager's selectors are Eddie Somers and Mick Kiernan, who have both been involved with the Millmore Gaels underage club in recent years.
"Jimmy has been getting a good response to training so far. We have between 25 and 30 players down training every night and if we can keep up those numbers, we should have a good year," enthuses Mick, whose brothers John and the aforementioned Tom are also stalwarts of the club.
"We have put Eddie and Mick in as selectors because they are familiar with the younger players and are highly respected in the club. Eddie was also a selector when we last won the junior championship in 2003 and hopefully that will prove to be a lucky omen.
"The Millmore Gaels amalgamation has proven to be very successful and very beneficial to both ourselves and Ballymore. We had both been struggling for numbers at underage level and this was the only option. Thankfully, it has worked out very well and we have young lads with county medals they wouldn't have won otherwise," he adds.
Despite their poor showing last year, Dillon believes it is not beyond the bounds of possibility for Milltown to lift the Hugh Daniels Cup this year.
"We've as good a chance as anyone of winning the junior championship," he opines.
"In recent years, the team that has come down from intermediate has tended to go straight back up, but like a lot of junior clubs, we wouldn't fear Milltownpass. St. Paul's would be one of the fancied teams, but after falling asunder in the final last year, it will be interesting to see how they regroup. We're playing them in the first round and that game will be a marker for the rest of the year I feel."
The Milltown team which defeated Ballycomoyle in last year's JFC was: Damien Byrne; Ciaran Byrne, Conor Reilly, Bernard Kiernan; Paul Mahon, Sean Somers, John Mahon; Conor Farrell, Frank McLoughlin; Gary Byrne, Joe Kenny, Mick Dillon; Johnny Duncan, Willie Keegan, Bernard Glynn. Tweet
