Milltown/Castlemaine 1-15, Laune Rangers 5-5
Laune Rangers made it two County League Division 3B wins from two on Sunday with a local derby victory over neighbours Milltown/Castlemaine at Paddy Burke Memorial Park, Milltown – the contest marking the first time a Senior game was played on the newly developed pitch.
Laune Rangers – already without County U20 players Eoin Clifford & David Mangan & Injured Dáire Cleary – took the field without Club captain Kieran Crowley & Shane McSweeney also. Indeed, with the B Team facing Kilgarvan at the same time, Rangers had only 20 fit players at Paddy Burke Park.
Milltown/Castlemaine led by three after ten minutes, as Jonathan O’Sullivan & Cathal Moriarty (2) scored at the road end, before Roan Moriarty opened the scoring with a point for Rangers. Having taken quite a while to get going, Rangers finally kicked into gear and, after Roan Moriarty came close to scoring a goal from a dropping ball to the edge of the square, the visitors were awarded a penalty as Gearóid Hassett was hauled down by goalkeeper Cormac Leane. John Tyther successfully slotted the ball to the net to give the lead to Rangers, which was soon added to through a second goal – Shane Daly turning over a short kickout before passing to Fiachra Clifford who got his shot past Leane on this occasion to see Laune Rangers leading by 2-1 to 0-3 at the first water break.
The water break – as it so regularly happens – killed the momentum that Rangers had built, and Milltown possessed the ball for most of the second quarter. Rangers defence held firm, forcing the home side to play the ball over and back across the 45. However, their patience was rewarded with a couple of frees given and slotted by Jonathan O’Sullivan, before Cathal Moriarty struck for a goal for the hosts. Gavin McKenna & David Roche increased the lead for Milltown before Fiachra Clifford struck again for a third Rangers goal to level the game again. Milltown/Castlmaine added points through Jerome Flynn and Dylan O’Neill to take a two point lead into the break.
Half Time Score:- Milltown/Castlemaine 1-9, Laune Rangers 3-1.
Laune Rangers were level two minutes into the second half with points from Fiachra Clifford but, after Jack O’Connor saw a black card, Milltown/Castlemaine had a man advantage & got ahead again as they continued to be on the receiving end of free kicks inside the 45, and Jonathan O’Sullivan made the most of it with three consecutive points to see the home side leading by 1-12 to 3-3 at the second water break.
Laune Rangers were given the chance to equalize again as another penalty was awarded to the visitors – Stephen Sealy with a great run to get on the end of a super Matt Leslie pass before being fouled in the small square by Cormac Leane – the goalkeeper not getting away with it this time as he received a black card. This caused a delay of a few minutes as Milltown/Castlemaine management spent time in conversation with the match referee Padraig O’Sullivan, before substituting Seán Hogan in to take his place in goals during the sin bin period. John Tyther didn’t allow the delaying tactic to affect him as he found the top corner with his spot kick and scores were level at 1-12 to 4-3 with Laune Rangers now a man up for most of the remainder of the game.
A pointed free by Jonathan O’Sullivan was cancelled out by a super Fiachra Clifford point before Rangers took the lead – John Tyther pointing a free after Daragh O’Connor was fouled near goal. Rangers took control & struck for a fifth goal – Gearóid Hassett finding Fiachra Clifford who in turn passed to Peter Crowley through on goal. The captain was selfless in passing across the square to find Stephen Sealy, who picked a great time for his first Senior score by tapping into the net.
Jonathan O’Sullivan pointed another free before added one from play to leave just two between the sides, while Conor Murphy was black carded late on to give the advantage in bodies back to Milltown/Castlemaine. However, a key missed free was costly as Rangers held on to win by two.
Full Time Score:- Milltown/Castlemaine 1-15, Laune Rangers 5-5
Laune Rangers will be delighted with their win, with a third of a full strength team unavailable on the day. They now have a week off from action, with County Under 20 League getting underway next week.
Laune Rangers Team:- Jason Browne, Seán Cleary, Seán Arthurs, Patrick Carey, Peter Crowley, Conor Murphy, Oisín Daly, Shane Daly, Jack O’Connor, Mark O’Connor, Roan Moriarty (0-1), Stephen Sealy (1-0), John Tyther (2-1, 2 pens, 1f), Fiachra Clifford (2-3, 1f), Gearóid Hassett. Subs: Matthew Leslie for Moriarty, Daragh O’Connor for Carey, Shane Mangan for S Daly; Patrick Daly, Evan Madden.
Milltown/Castlemaine Team: Cormac Leane, Gavin McKenna (0-1), Pa Wrenn, Ciarán O’Connor, Jeremiah Hayes, Dwight Basalco, Kieran Carroll, Brendan Delaney, Donal Dennehy, Stephen Roche, David Roche (0-1), Jerome Flynn (0-1), Dylan O’Neill (0-1), Cathal Moriarty (1-2), Jonathan O’Sullivan (0-9, 7f). Subs: Tadhg McCarthy, Sean Hogan.
