Milltown battle past Meath champs and into Leinster IFC semi-final

Milltown progressed to the final four of the Leinster Club IFC when they trudged past Meath champions Duleek-Bellestown in Cedral St Conleth’s Park. It was a nervy, intense and draining game but it is yet another win in the province for the Kildare side which lifted a Leinster title at Junior level just three years ago as they march on to the semi-finals of the IFC.

Milltown midfielder Conor Sheerin opened the day’s scoring a couple of minutes in after he was found in space by a fine side-footed pass from Alan Dignam across the top of the arc.

Ryan Lynch’s kick-outs were an immediate source of joy of Milltown, an early stray restart from the Duleek stopper gave them all the encouragement they needed to push up even further.

Just one play after another Lynch kick met Milltown hands, Liam Kelly worked the ball back to one of their stars of 2026 Joe Dunne with the midfielder curling over from outside the arc.

The Kildare men were happy to sit in out of possession and frustrate the visitors, but Duleek did open their account when some Milltown defending overstepped the mark and John Flood tapped over to reduce the gap to two with 10 minutes now on the clock.

When they had the ball, Milltown were more than happy to build from the back and did so with confidence, their manoeuvring up the field often afforded them space in attack which they could and perhaps should have made more of in the opening quarter. The Duleek defensive set-up wasn’t as resistant compared to Milltown’s pair of battles with Suncroft.

It was a cool team move that opened up Duleek next and it became clear that if Milltown remained patient they had the tools to open up the opposition defence.

Ben Curran made this game 0-4 to 0-1 but Duleek’s no.10 Kyle Doherty had an instant reply on the break with a lovely effort from out wide.

That aforementioned patience was not on Alan Dignam’s agenda when his side came forward again. Minutes after Ben Curran had missed from outside the arc, the centre-forward unleashed a stunner off his weaker left side to double Milltown’s lead.

That gap was back to three in short shrift when John Flood picked up his second for Duleek, again from a free.

Five minutes to go in an intriguing opening half and Milltown led 0-7 to 0-3 after they slowed play down again before Liam Kelly’s lofted effort crept over the crossbar.

Directly in the eyeline of this writer’s press box position, Alan Dignam stood over a free from some 50m out. The swing of his right boot was between the posts, dropping short, but not short enough for Ryan Lynch to fetch as the Duleek stopper double-fist punched Dignam’s shot over the bar.

Milltown looked set for a commanding and deserving six-point half-time lead but there was a sucker punch waiting for them in added time. In the late throws of defending the half’s last play, Duleek’s corner-back Cillian Kirwan snuck through unnoticed and was found in an unforeseen amount of space 20m from goal. The no.2 seemed content to sidefoot his effort for one but instead dropped it over Omar Dunne and into the far corner of the net.

The late goal was a sloppy concession and such a sting for Milltown who saw their lead halved just before the interval. It was a huge boost to Duleek-Bellewstown who now trailed by just three at 0-9 to 1-6 and the Meath champions were set to operate with a modest breeze at their backs for the second half.

Conor Sheerin looked set to be the man to recommence scoring in the second half too after a hard-running by Liam Kelly earned him a simple free. Sheerin dropped the set-piece short and did nothing to help early Milltown jitters in doing so.

John Flood reduced the gap to three in the 35th minute with a simple free of his own.

Milltown’s slump continued with Liam Kelly lucky to escape a black card for a pointless step across a Duleek man and they looked to be flagging when James McWeeney reduced the gap to the minimum in the 39th minute.

It had been really poor after the restart from the Kildare champions but they did, as all teams of quality can, and found a moment of inspiration. The very next attack changed the flow of this game entirely and it was again Conor Sheerin emblematic of his team’s mood, this time for the right reasons. Sheerin streamed towards goal before cutting back onto his favoured left and struck the ball beneath the Duleek ‘keeper.

Alan Dignam’s adding a fifth to his tally meant Milltown carried a five-point 1-10 to 1-5 lead into the games closing 15 minutes.

Duleek found their footing again through John Flood who added his fourth and first from play. Second half substitute Alan Bowden contributed too to make this a three-point game headed into the final 10.

That margin became two when Johnny McDonnell took a ball fired into his chest before spinning and dropping one over.

The tension was ramping up with every passing phase in Newbridge but Paddy Donoghue was able to steady the side being pegged back with a close-range free to make the game 1-11 to 1-8 with three to go.

Those nerves then got into the head of the trailing side as they showed an overeagerness to push forward when they breached the 3v3 rule and allowed Donoghue another simple free to make the gap four points.

It was desperation for both teams late on and a free won in front of the posts for Duleek was not deemed enough and they sharply worked the ball back out to midfielder Shane Crosby who struck from outside the arc.

A two-point gap and all to play for with a minute of additional time to go, Milltown managed a perfect reply on the counter to keep a goal between the teams as they gave what little they had left after emptying the tank. Ben Curran was the man on the end of their final surge up the pitch with the wing-forward, who had a super game throughout, fisting over the bar from a tight angle.

The Kildare men fetched the resultant kick-out and the final whistle soon followed as Milltown progressed to a Leinster Club IFC semi-final with a hard-fought 1-13 to 1-10 win over Duleek-Bellewstown.

Milltown: Alan Dignam 0-5 (1 x 2pt, 1 x2ptf ), Conor Sheerin 1-1, Joe Dunne 0-2 (1 x 2pt), Paddy Donoghue 0-2 (0-2 frees), Ben Curran 0-2, Liam Kelly 0-1.

Duleek-Bellewstown: John Flood 0-4 (0-3 frees), Cillian Kirwan 1-0, Shane Crosby 0-2 (1 x2pt), Alan Bowden 0-1, Kyle Doherty 0-1, James McWeeney 0-1, Johnny McDonnell 0-1.

MILLTOWN: Omar Dunne; Jamie Cross, Cian Buckley, Sean Murphy; Kevin Byrne, Colin O’Shea, Liam Kelly; Joe Dunne, Conor Sheerin; Ben Curran, Alan Dignam, Niall Finnegan; Paddy Donoghue, Ronan O’Shea, Ben Heuston. Subs: Shane Daly for Conor Sheerin (47 minutes), Sam O’Hara for Ben Heuston (57 minutes).

DULEEK-BELLEWSTOWN: Ryan Lynch; Cillian Kirwan, Colm Regan, Glen Callaghan; Cianan Byrne, Tom Bowden, Oisin Miland; Shane Crosby, Robin Clarke; Kyle Doherty, Eoghan Heeney, Sam O’Leary; Johnny McDonnell, John Flood, James McWeeney. Subs: Alan Bowden for James McWeeney (43 minutes), Kyle Callaghan for Eoghan Heeney (44 minutes), Tiarnan McKeon for Oisin Miland (53 minutes), Joe Hartford for Johnny McDonnell (56 minutes).

Referee: Eamon O’Connor