Preview: Tough battle but Milltown can reach Leinster Junior Championship final

Milltown are into the AIB Leinster Club Junior Football Championship semi-finals, where they will meet Westmeath champions Kilbeggan Shamrocks.

The Kildare Junior champs came through an enthralling quarter-final against Kilbride as 1-11 to 1-7 winners to progress to the next stage. Their Westmeath opponents took the spoils in their quarter-final against Longford outfit Ballymore by an intriguing score line of 4-6 to 2-2.

Conditions were less than ideal for both of these games but it is clear the two teams that made the better going of it.
Milltown have point-scorers that can hurt any team, the likes of Hugh Hamilton and Declan McKenna stand out even more at Junior grade and will likely be afforded sufficient opportunities to do damage once again in this semi-final.

The midfield is where games up and down the country are won and lost and it’s there where Milltown can take this fixture by the scruff. Kevin Byrne and Conor Sheerin were immense against Kilbride, aerial dominance, mopping up possession, and finding those key men further up the field.

Byrne, Man of the Match in the County final, was quiet by his own standards on the scoresheet against Kilbride. However, if he and his partner in the middle of the field can win as much possession as they did last time out, there is no excuse for Milltown not to come out on top once more.

Despite the previously mentioned low-scoring performance by Kilbeggan Shamrocks, in terms of points anyways, they did put away four goals against the Longford Junior champs.

That may be crucial if they are to be successful in this game too. While their Kildare opponents defended well on the whole, Kilbride earned themselves a few goal chances early in the game, and if Milltown afforded Kilbeggan the same luxury, the result may differ.

The Westmeath outfit became Junior champions for the fourth time when they beat St Loman's Mullingar 1-8 to 1-7 with an injury-time goal from Paul Fennell in late September. Fennell is undoubtedly one of the premier threats for Milltown ahead of this game, alongside his Junior Championship winning goal, the Shamrocks man hit 1-1 against Ballymore last time out.
Kilbeggan Shamrocks first Leinster outing came against Kilkenny champions Lisdowney, where the Shamrocks came out as 1-15 to 2-7 winners. Conor Delaney and Nigel Scally shone for the winning side that day and the forwards have registered an impressive 2-13 (0-9 and 2-4) between them in this year’s Leinster Club Championship.

The Westmeath side are clearly well able to notch up a decent scoreline, but have not kept a clean sheet for some time and have conceded two goals in each of their Leinster Club Championship games. That fact will pique the interest of those exciting Milltown forwards, who if they are afforded chances, will likely punish any lax defending.

All in all, I give Milltown the slight upper hand in this game and while both sides have the firepower to secure themselves a final place, I believe Milltown are the more complete package, they just need to show it on the day.

Having dropped down from Intermediate grade last year, Milltown have sprung back up and now have a great chance of getting to a Leinster Club final.

It’s been great going so far, but their dance partners from Westmeath will be thinking exactly the same thing.