Late drama in Junior final as injury time score earns Milltown a replay

Kilcullen 0-7

Tom Cross JFC final

Kilcullen and Milltown will have to do it all over again after some late drama in St Conleth's Park saw both teams finish level after a low-scoring fare in the Junior Championship final. It looked certain to be Kilcullen's day when David Marshall curled over a point that pushed his side into a lead with less than 10 minutes to go, but Milltown, who only managed to score one point in nearly 40 minutes of football up until stoppage time, found an equaliser through Mick Colleton in the first minute of time added on.

It was Milltown who had the aid of a stiff breeze during the first half, but it didn't make much of a difference in their scoring tally as they failed to create scoring opportunities on a consistent basis during the opening 30 minutes of play. That was as much down to some staunch defending from Franny Shortt and Willie Jones in the Kilcullen full-back line, as the duo kept Milltown's potent pair of Ian Fitzgerald and Ronan O'Shea very quite throughout the half.

It was their colleague in the full-forward line, Alan Dignam, that was the go-to man for Milltown during the first half hour of play, accounting for all but one of Milltown's scores in the first half.

Though he was kept largely quiet, Fitzgerald did open the scoring in the second minute when he curled over a beautiful long range score following a probing run from centre-back Colin O'Shea. Dignam followed that up with a neatly struck free from 50 metres out to double their advantage.

Kilcullen needed to settle any early nerves that they had, and it was the experienced Colm Fox who eased them into the game by fisting over a point in the fifth minute. The game then went into a period where neither side managed to create many opportunities on front of goal, but that was eventually ended when Dignam converted his second free of the day after 16 minutes.

Kilcullen were dealt a major blow at this point as midfielder Sean Byrne was shown a black card for a late body check on Milltown's Kevin Byrne. That didn't stop them from registering the next point of the game however, and it came via a superb effort from Graham Lavin, who brilliantly curled the ball over from the right wing.

Dignam further enhanced Milltown's lead before the break though, knocking over two fine points, the second of which was a fabulous effort from the right wing that split the posts at the Town End. That sent Declan Brennan's side into the break with a 0-5 to 0-2 advantage, though they would have to battle against the gale force wind in the second period.

Kilcullen were wasteful with their first few efforts on goal at the beginning of the second half, chalking up four wides in as many minutes. It looked as if they would be made to rue their poor finishing when Kevin Byrne sallied up the field to take a pass from Fitzgerald and stroke over a point that sent Milltown into a four-point lead with 22 minutes left to play.

Kilcullen continued to waste opportunities on front of goal, though Ross Coughlan couldn't be faulted for his attempt that was brilliantly saved by Milltown goalkeeper Derek Moore. They managed to settle somewhat after that, and they fired over four points in the space of 10 minutes to take the lead for the first time in the game.

Colm Fox, Graham Lavin and David Marshall all pointed for the hoops, before Marshall curled over his free with less than 10 minutes left on the clock. There were frantic scenes during the final passages of the game, but Milltown were eventually offered a reprieve when Colleton slotted the ball over under intense pressure to ensure his side will get another bite at the cherry.

Scorers for Milltown: A Dignam 0-4(3f), M Colleton, I Fitzgerald and K Byrne 0-1 each.

Scorers for Kilcullen: C Fox 0-3(1f), G Lavin and D Marshall 0-2(1f) each.

Milltown

D Moore; J Cross, R Donohue, E Owen; M Colleton, C O'Shea, K Byrne; E Mulhall(J O'Reilly 53mins), O Dunne; W Dignam, E O'Toole, K Dowling; I Fitzgerald, R O'Shea, A Dignam.

Kilcullen

A Wright; B Fox(A Toft 43mins), F Shortt, W Jones; P Bell, J Lambe, H Peacock; D Barker, S Byrne(B Bell b/c 19mins); P Jones, J Whyte, G Lavin; D Marshall, C Fox, R Coughlan.