Slevin goals give Milltown fine first round victory

Milltown 2-7, St Mary's, Rochfortbridge 0-4

Two brilliantly engineered second-half goals ensured an emphatic victory for Milltown ladies senior footballers in round one of the Westmeath Senior Football Championship on Thursday evening, at a sunny, but breezy Rochfortbridge venue.

The visitors always held sway against a tenacious St Mary’s, Rochfortbridge side and eventually their relentless pressing game bore fruit as Leanne Slevin joined the end of a sweeping move to blast home the opening goal on 52 minutes. Up to then just four points separated the sides.

Having breached the opposing cover once, Milltown attacked in numbers again in the 59th minute and Sinead Slevin finished off a slick move, giving the opposing ‘keeper no chance.

Both sides struggled to cope with a strong cross-field breeze and scores were at a premium in the first half - Milltown leading by 0-3 to 0-1 at the break. Swarming defences generally dominated, the respective attacks frequently turned over by industrious opponents.

Neither side helped their cause with an over-reliance on the hand-passing game, but Milltown certainly had a more potent inside forward line with Sarah Dillon in their ranks, and that proved crucial at different times.

An excellent Clodagh Dillon point gave Milltown the lead after Kelly Boyce Jordan, Emma Murtagh and Laura Kiernan combined in the second minute, and Sarah Dillon soon doubled their lead. Emma Collins earned a free that Amy Cully converted in the seventh minute for the home side, but more often than not they were on the retreat.

Sinead Slevin put Milltown two clear after nine minutes and remarkably there was no further first half score. Amy Cully had an opportunity for St Mary’s in the 24th minute, but she drilled a low side wide of the target.

The second half brought improvement on the scoring front and Milltown set the standard when Gráinne Byrne delivered long for Clodagh Dillon, who set up Sarah Dillon for a third minute point. It showed how effective putting boot to ball can be. Amy Cully’s free kept St Mary’s in contention and while Sarah Dillon converted twice, another Amy Cully free left it 0-6 to 0-3 after 40 minutes.

Milltown were four clear at the midway point of the second half thanks to Sinead Slevin’s point and after that, St Mary’s had a spell that they failed to capitalise on - Michaela Brady’s effort short and Emma Collins just unable to get a hand on Elizabeth Carey’s delivery.

Had they been able to exploit Emma Collins in the full forward line with diagonal deliveries, they may have had a chance, but they generally found Kelly Boyce Jordan and co simply too strong and too well organised when they tried to work the ball through the hands.

Sarah Dillon, Gráinne Byrne and Kelly Boyce Jordan combined in a fine move to release Leanne Slevin for a terrific goal that put seven points between the sides with eight minutes remaining. A Milltown victory never looked in doubt thereafter, their second goal coming when Orlaith Sheerin, Sinead Slevin and Kelly Boyce Jordan got involved in a pacy attack that set up Sinead Slevin, whose tidy finish put the icing on the cake.

The match had ticked into the fourth minute of added time before Niamh Carey landed St Mary’s final score of the evening, but it was merely a dent on a more impressive Milltown side.

Scorers - Milltown: S Slevin 1-2, L Slevin 1-0, S Dillon 0-4 (2f), C Dillon 0-1. St Mary’s, Rochfortbridge: A Cully 0-3 (3f), N Carey 0-1.

Milltown: Karen Walsh; Emma Ballesty, Aoife Kenny, Gemma Keena; Emma Murtagh, Kelly Boyce Jordan, Jillian Ballesty; Leanne Slevin, Tracey Dillon; Orlaith Sheerin, Gráinne Byrne, Laura Kiernan; Clodagh Dillon, Sinead Slevin, Sarah Dillon. Subs: Kate Whyte for C Dillon (49), Louise Kiernan for J Ballesty (59).

St Mary’s, Rochfortbridge: Keira Kelly; Aoife Nolan, Dawn Wallace, Lucy Brogan; Michaela Brady, Fiona Coyle, Niamh Carey; Niamh McDermott, Aoife Kilcoyne; Amy Cully, Emma Collins, Orla Collins; Aoibhinn Berry, Catriona Dunne, Lisa Cully. Subs: Elizabeth Carey for L Cully (35), Nicola Judge for C Dunne (49), Rebecca Nolan for M Brady (55).

Ref: Jim Rock (Coralstown/Kinnegad).