"I thought Jesus, I hope I didn’t turn around and start celebrating after kicking a penalty wide"- Milltown captain reflects on eventful final win

There are few more exhilarating ways to lead your club to a county title than the journey Milltown captain Colin O’Shea went on during Sunday’s Junior Championship final.

When he finally climbed the steps of the clubhouse at St Conleth’s Park and took the mic from county chairman Ger Donnelly, O’Shea could barely get the words out between deep breathes. Exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.

“I’m not used to this” he joked as he struggled to get to grips with the troublesome PA system in the Newbridge venue.

At times it looked like the notion that O’Shea would be the winning captain was laughable considering the situation Milltown were in. They trailed by seven points at the break after performing well below par in the first half, but O’Shea explained that his side had no shortage in belief that they could turn it around.

“To be honest, I knew our backs were against the wall at half-time,” he told KildareNow afterwards.

“Rheban are a tough team to break down, but we got a run there and started knocking over point after point. When we got it level I said if we get the next score here we can really drive on, lads would get a bit of confidence. It was crucial that we got the next score, and it just happened that it was a penalty and I knew I had to bury it. A three-point cushion meant we were kind of able to just sit back a small bit and soak up the pressure and counter-attack. We had the extra man and we knew we had the legs.”

The aforementioned penalty was one of the more bizarre incidents of the year in Kildare GAA. Referee Conor Daly awarded Milltown a penalty after Rheban ‘keeper Christopher Byrne struck Ronan O’Shea off the ball. The stopper was shown a straight red card and half-forward Conor Germaine went in goals to face O’Shea’s penalty attempt. He found the bottom right corner of the net, but the goal didn’t register on the scoreboard and many believed that he had struck it wide, including O’Shea himself. Rheban went down the other end and won a penalty of their own, missed it and then scored a point, all before O’Shea’s goal finally went up on the board to give Milltown a three-point lead.

“I thought I scored it, so I turned around and went off celebrating,” laughed the 27-year-old.

“A minute later my brother came onto the pitch to me – he’s a selector – and asked, ‘did you kick it wide?’ I was like ‘jeez I hope not’. It wasn’t up on the scoreboard yet, and then everyone asked me had I kicked it wide and I thought Jesus, I hope I didn’t turn around and start celebrating after kicking a penalty wide. The referee said no, it was a goal, so I got a bit of a sigh of relief.”

It was a bizarre situation to even before the confusion after he found the net. Facing a goalkeeper from the penalty spot can be a nerve-racking enough experience, but to face the uncertainty of an outfielder with little to lose in the closing stages of a county final heightens the pressure.

“I’ve taken a good few the last few years, but the last one I took I kicked wide! So I thought it was déjà vu there for a minute,” smiled O’Shea.

“It was strange because I didn’t know which one of them was going in goals and I was trying to eye up a few of them and see what way they were looking. But no, I have that spot and I got that way every time. I put the head down and put it there in the corner.”

Celebrations in Milltown will continue into the coming days, but they will also span as far as Clare in the next couple of weeks as John O’Reilly, a late substitute for the red and green, is getting married in the Banner County.

“We’ll party now for the week! John O’Reilly, I want to give him a shout out because he’s getting married in the next two weeks. He’s getting married down in Clare so we’ll all be going down to continue the party down there and hopefully we’ll give Leinster a good aul rattle,” concluded O’Shea.