Gaelic Games

Milltown claim historic All-Ireland Intermediate club title

Westmeath club too strong for Cahir while Dunboyne defeat Bantry in junior decider

Dunboyne captain Julie Kavanagh and team-mates celebrate with the cup after victory over Bantry Blues in the All-Ireland Ladies Football Junior Club final at the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick. Photograph: Diarmuid Greene/Sportsfile
Dunboyne captain Julie Kavanagh and team-mates celebrate with the cup after victory over Bantry Blues in the All-Ireland Ladies Football Junior Club final at the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick. Photograph: Diarmuid Greene/Sportsfile
Sun Dec 06 2015 - 17:30

Ruth Kearney inspired Milltown of Westmeath to an historic All-Ireland intermediate club football final success over Cahir of Tipperary (2-14 to 2-12) yesterday.

But the Westmeath champions had to fend off a spirited late fightback from Cahir before landing the silverware.

Milltown were cruising to victory, leading by ten points inside the final ten minutes, before their Tipperary opponents cut the deficit to just two points by full-time.

Goals from Emma Buckley and Roisín Howard had Cahir dreaming of an incredible fightback and when Aisling McCarthy pointed with just 15 seconds remaining, Milltown were clinging on at Parnell Park in Dublin.

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The clock

But the clock was against Cahir, who were also beaten finalists in 2012, as Milltown held on to claim a very first club title for Westmeath in any of the adult grades.

Ultimately, it was a stunning start to the second half that paved the way to glory for Milltown.

They were a point down at the break, 0-6 to 0-7, but opened with a blistering run of 1-2 without reply.

County star Kearney rattled home a brilliant goal 27 seconds after the restart and when Sinéad Boyce and the excellent Leanne Slevin added points, Milltown were four points clear, 1-8 to 0-7.

Milltown went on to dominate the second half as Cahir struggled to gain a foothold again and when 14-year-old Sarah Dillon (daughter of manager Tom) came off the bench to fire home a superb goal with eight minutes remaining, Milltown were 2-14 to 0-10 clear.

But Cahir had a kick or two left in them and those late strikes from Buckley and Howard had Milltown sweating.

On Saturday Dunboyne claimed the All-Ireland junior title as they made light of the weather conditions to produce a superb display and overcome a young Bantry Blues side 1-10 to 1-3.

The seeds for victory were sown in the first half where the Meath club dominated. They restricted Bantry to a single point from Aoife O’Driscoll.

Full forward Vikki Wall’s goal helped Dunboyne lead 1-3 to 0-1 at the interval.

Julie Kavanagh was a dominant figure for the Meath side.

Dunboyne kept their stranglehold on the game after the break thanks to points from Shelly Melia and Wall (twice).

It was 1-7 to 0-2 when O’Driscoll’s goal threw Bantry a lifeline. Wall added another score to settle Dunboyne and she finished with an impressive personal 1-6 from play.

ALL-IRELAND INTERMEDIATE CLUB FC FINAL (Parnell Park) – Milltown 2-14 (R Kearney 1-3; L Slevin 0-5 (3f); S Dillon 1-0; S Boyce 0-2, R Dillon, B Beglan, F Kearney, L Keena 0-1 each.) Cahir 2-12 (R Howard 1-3 (0-1f), E Buckley 1-0, A Moloney, A McCarthy (1f) 0-3 each; A Corcoran 0-2; O McEniry 0-1). ALL-IRELAND JUNIOR CLUB FC FINAL (Gaelic Grounds) – Dunboyne 1-10 (V Wall 1-6; AM Moffatt, S Melia, A Thompson (f), F O'Neill (0-1 each) Bantry Blues 1-3 (A O'Driscoll 1-1 (0-1f); L Coppinger, R Murphy (0-1 each).