Leinster JFC: Milltown Glyde their way to provincial title win

AIB Leinster Club Junior Football Championship Final 2023

Milltown 1-9

Glyde Rangers 1-4

Milltown have been crowned Leinster Junior Champions following a dramatic win over Glyde Rangers. The five-point margin of victory is nothing short of misleading as Milltown and Glyde were not separated by more than a single white flag for large swathes of the second half.

The eventual winners took a two-point lead into half-time after a first half of undeniable domination and unacceptable wastefulness. Milltown notched seven wides and dropped six efforts at the posts short of the mark, but still went in with a lead.

However, Glyde Rangers came out strong in the opening minutes of the second half and the Louth side had an opportunity to bag their second goal of the game as they sought to hit the net at the beginning of both halves of this final.

It was from the boot of the same man too as Ciaran Sheridan drilled his effort goalwards, but saw the shot smartly parried away by Milltown’s Alan Dignam.

Sheridan would be on the scoresheet from the resulting 45’ as he knocked it over himself in fine style, making this a one-point game at 0-7 to 1-3.

Glyde Rangers would get an even bigger boost to their chances at the other end as they sought to break free from a Milltown attack. Glyde’s Conor Sheridan looked to carry the ball out, but was brought down by Aaron Jacob who swiped in an attempt to dispossess his fellow wing-back. Jacob’s motion to make contact with the ball caught Sheridan high and the referee gave the Milltown man his marching orders with a red card.

Glyde drew level just two minutes later through Brian Duffy with a fine score from range, but then retreated into their usual set-up of 14 men behind the ball.

If you dragged in someone who hadn’t been watching this game (or couldn’t count), they would be almost certain Milltown had the man advantage from this point (40 minutes on the clock) onwards. The Kildare side poured pressure on to break down the low block, but even more crucially tried to keep possession and did so excellently.

A huge part of that Milltown possession was goalkeeper Alan Dignam. A player well-accustomed to duties out the field, Dignam made himself available right up to the halfway line when his side were in possession and his presence meant Milltown could move the ball as if they had 15 still on the field.

Milltown would edge back in front in the 40th minute after Conor Sheerin won himself a free-kick. Sheerin converted it himself and moved his tally to 0-3 for the day.

But the minutes were ticking by and barring a missed free from Ciaran Sheridan, Glyde were not creating chances and given their defensive shape, looked like the side in front.

Milltown were still registering plenty of wides of their own as they dominated the ball and tried to work opportunities. Full credit must go to Darren O’Shea’s side who were near perfect, barring a couple of mishaps, in the extended period of this game that his side had to recycle possession, which often proves a dangerous game for a team not set-up that way. Alan Dignam even had a speculative effort from range after a driving solo run but curled his effort just wide.

On the hour mark, Milltown would double their lead as Patrick Donohoe found space out wide. The corner-forward had plenty of grass in front of him but only one thing on his mind as he cut across the ball with the outside of his boot exceptionally for a score that drew rapturous applause.

Donohoe turned and roared in celebration to the Milltown faithful as he gave us the game’s first score from 20 minutes to make 0-9 to 1-4.

Glyde would get themselves a huge opportunity to grab the winning goal as they latched onto a stray Milltown pass. In almost identical fashion to how he had done in the first half, Ciaran Sheridan was powering towards goal, but the Glyde man would meet his match at the worst possible time.

A retreating Kevin Byrne would launch himself into the Louth man and perfectly dispossess him, both giving and taking a big hit for his troubles. It was a GAA moment finer than any score that was seen on the day and at the full-time whistle, it was all anyone could talk about. A perfect and potentially Leinster Championship-winning tackle.

The clock had reached the allotted 64 minutes, but delays had occurred and nobody in green and red could relax just yet. Glyde had pushed everyone up, including goalkeeper David Brennan and one swift counter could now end this game. And so it did.

Milltown broke out of defence and Patrick Donohoe just needed to keep a cool head as he carried the ball up the field. He slotted the ball through to Declan McKenna who, after a couple of strides, tapped into an empty net to make the destination of this year’s Leinster Junior title now a certainty.

Milltown were crowned champions and captain Cian Buckley lifted the trophy after paying tribute to his village over the microphone to end an incredible day and weekend as a whole.

SCORERS

Milltown: Declan McKenna 1-1, Conor Sheerin 0-3 (0-1 frees), Kevin Byrne 0-2, Patrick Donohoe 0-2 (0-1 frees), Aaron Jacob 0-1.

Glyde Rangers: Ciaran Sheridan 1-2 (0-1 45'), Brian Duffy 0-2 (0-1 frees).

TEAMS

Milltown: Alan Dignam; Jamie Cross, Cian Buckley, Sean Murphy; Aaron Jacob, Colin O'Shea, Shane Daly; Kevin Byrne, Conor Sheerin; Karl Heuston, Hugh Hamilton, Ben Curran; Declan McKenna, Ronan O'Shea, Patrick Donohoe. Subs: Calum Murphy for Hugh Hamilton (17 minutes), Aaron Walker for Karl Heuston (49 minutes).

Glyde Rangers: David Brennan; Fichra Sheridan, Conor McCullagh, Jack McKeever; Tadgh Kellett, Niall Sharkey, Conor Sheridan; Dion Conlon, Brian Duffy; Lee Finnegan, Killian Scott, Gerard Burton; Aaron Devlin, Alan Kirk, Ciaran Sheridan. Subs: Oisin Lynch for Lee Finnegan (9 minutes), Trevor O'Brien for Aaron Devlin (40 minutes), Leigh Byrne for Killian Scott (52 minutes).

Referee: Stephen Fagan (Wicklow)