Determined Gaels score win

Shannon Gaels  0-9

St Joseph’s  0-6

As Miltown headed to the dressing room at half-time at Kilmihil on Sunday, their followers were, understandably, confident about the outcome.

Miltown had just played against a stiff breeze and had managed to match their opponents on the scoreboard. With the assistance of the strong wind to come, the odds were very much in their favour.
Knowing defeat would almost certainly put them out of the championship, the Gaels returned in a more determined mood and three unanswered points in the opening seven minutes put down a marker.
Then they were dealt a huge blow when experienced midfielder Noel Kennedy was shown a straight red card following a tackle on Enda O’Gorman. Again, the advantage seemed to be with Miltown, who now had an extra man as well as wind advantage but despite their numerical disadvantage, Shannon Gaels refused to let go of the grip they had just taken on the tie and they went on to record a merited victory.
It was a much different story in the opening half as Miltown dictated the play. They took the lead when Joe Curtin pointed in the fourth minute but two frees by Michael Coughlan had the winners in front before Eoin Curtin levelled for Miltown in the 10th minute. Two further pointed frees by Coughlan had the Gaels in front again but, despite having the aid of the wind, they never looked like scoring from play in the first half. Miltown dominated the closing stages and two points from Eoin Curtin frees tied up the game at 0-4 each at the halfway point.
For the second half, both made changes, with the Gaels bringing in Brian O’Shea for Cathal O’Neill, while Miltown introduced Gary Egan for Joe Curtin. From the resumption, there was much more urgency in the Gaels’ play and they quickly went in front with points from John Bermingham, Michael Coughlan (free) and John Paul O’Neill.
A minute later they were down to 14 men when Noel Kennedy saw red following a tackle on Enda O’Gorman. Despite this setback, they held their grip on the tie and stretched their advantage to five points with further scores from Coughlan (free) and John Paul O’Neill.
The second half was 27 minutes old when Miltown finally added to their first-half tally. Dessie Mollohan, who had a very quiet afternoon, pointed and Sean Malone added another soon afterwards but, by now, the Gaels were firmly in control and held on for a merited win. John Neylon was outstanding at full-back for the winners and others to make contributions on the day were Michael O’Donoghue, Sean Reynolds, Frank and Tomas Cleary and Fergal Kenny.
Enda Malone, Graham Kelly, and Eoin Curtin were best for a disappointing Miltown outfit, who were kept in the dressing room for quite some time after the game.

Shannon Gaels: Keith Ryan; Frank Cleary, John Neylon, Fergal Kenny; Tomas Madigan, Brian Bermingham, Tomás Cleary; Michael O’Donoghue, Noel Kennedy; Cathal O’Neill, Sean Reynolds, John Bermingham; Michael Coughlan, John Paul O’Neill, David Neylon.
Subs: Brian O’Shea for C O’Neill (half-time), Pádraig Neylon for D Neylon (52 minutes), Brian Cunningham for Coughlan (56 minutes), Nigel Hehir for P Neylon (inj, 59 minutes), Shane Tubridy for Madigan (59 minutes).
Scorers: Michael Coughlan (0-6f); John Paul O’Neill (0-2); John Bermingham (0-1)
Frees for: 24; Wides: 11.
Bookings: Brian Bermingham (22 minutes); Michael O’Donoghue (26 minutes); David Neylon (44 minutes).
Sent off: Noel Kennedy (38 minutes).
“Although we won a lot of ball in the first half we didn’t translate that onto the scoreboard. We played much better in the second half.” Peter O’Connell, Shannon Gaels manager.

Miltown St Joseph’s: Niall Quinn; David Cleary, Graham Kelly, Enda Malone; Darragh McDonagh, Sean Meade, Enda O’Gorman; Micheal Malone, Michael Barry; Kevin Keavey, John Meade, Sean Malone; Joe Curtin, Dessie Mollohan, Eoin Curtin.
Subs: Gary Egan for J Curtin (half-time), Michael Hehir for Keavey (53 minutes), Ger Malone for Mollohan (59 minutes), Joe Curtin for Barry (59 minutes).
Scorers: Eoin Curtin (0-3, 2f); Sean Malone, Joe Curtin, Dessie Mollohan (0-1 each).
Frees for: 17; Wides: 8.
Bookings: Kevin Keavey (26 minutes); Graham Kelly (29 minutes)
“It looked great for us at half-time but the Gaels proved to be the hungrier team in the second half. Our lads were over comfortable. The Gaels ran at us and we just didn’t have an answer.” John Fennell, Miltown

Referee: Tom Stackpool, Ennistymon