*Micheál Murray holds off the challenge of Alan Sweeney. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill.
ST JOSEPH’S Miltown will face Lissycasey in the final of the Cusack Cup after comprehensively powering past St Breckans in Wednesday’s semi-final.
St Joseph’s Miltown 3-19
St Breckans 0-10
Venue: Hennessy Memorial Park, Miltown Malbay
Ahead from start to finish, St Joseph’s Miltown are sixty minutes from claiming a a ninth Cusack Cup title and appear to be in fine fettle with the hunt to lift the Jack Daly just five weeks ago away from kicking off.
Of the two sides, Miltown appeared to streets ahead when it came to fitness, football and decision making.
Leading by fourteen points at the interval, St Joseph’s Miltown had more than a foot in the Cusack Cup final. Six two pointers and long-distance goals from Cormac Murray and Ralph Whelehan putting them in such a dominant position.
Heading into the final round of games, St Breckans were at the top of the table but successive losses to Éire Óg and St Joseph’s Miltown have denied them a place in the league final. Minus key personnel such as goalkeeper Tristan O’Callaghan and talisman Jamie Stack hurt their cause but down the manner of their latest loss is a concern with the start of championship just around the corner.
Playing with the aid of the breeze from the off, Miltown expertly used it to their advantage and were 0-10 0-0 in front with eight minutes on the clock, landing five two pointers in this spell. Darragh McDonagh opened their scoring, Cormac Murray and Eoin Cleary both kicked frees with Murray then converting a sideline kick.
Though it was an opening quarter where St Breckans struggled to break the lines and really found it difficult to get out of their own defence, the manner in which Miltown were able to take their scores factored with their undeniable star quality up front has them moving in the right direction under new manager Seán O’Brien.
Within seven minutes, Miltown bagged two fortunate goals. Cormac Murray appeared to be going for a two pointer and his shot took a bounce to elude netminder James Garrihy. Similarly Garrihy was caught on the hop by a Ralph Whelehan shot which sent the umpires reaching for the green flag.
It took St Breckans nineteen minutes to register a score, Rowan Danaher getting them off the mark, by half time they added a two pointer and a single from Eoin Byrne plus a point from Liam Tierney, his return from a leg injury will boost their cause once he gets more minutes under his belt prior to the first round.
Against the elements in the second half, it didn’t deter the hosts who fired the first three points on the restart, two via Micheál Murray and one from Cleary.
Murray’s input was beginning to grow, he forced a turnover and offloaded to Paul Frawley who popped on the move to Stephen Murphy, he found Eoin Cleary and an excellent 1-2 sequence with quick movement of the ball through the hands allowed Cormac Murray raid for his second goal on forty two minutes.
Opting to use up their substitutes from here, Miltown’s attacking threat waned but crucially they didn’t falter defensively to hold on for a fully merited victory. Micheál Murray, Paul Frawley, Cormac Murray, Ralph Whelehan and Gordon Kelly stood out for the side last crowned Cusack Cup champions in 2021.
Certainly it was an evening where St Breckans didn’t give an accurate or true reflection of themselves. That said, there must be an element of worry with how poor they were given that all their players that took to the field would have aspirations of featuring in their championship team. The Spa still seem a bit perplexed when it comes to knowing where Alan Sweeney should be positioned to help rather than hinder their cause.
Scorers St Joseph’s Miltown: C Murray (2-4 1TP, 1TPf), E Cleary (0-7 1TP, 2TPf), R Whelehan (1-0), D McDonagh (0-3 1TP), M Murray (0-2), E Lineen (0-1 1f), G Kelly (0-1)
Scorers St Breckans: E Byrne (0-6 1TPf 3f 1’45), R Danaher (0-1), L Tierney (0-1), P O’Dwyer (0-1), S Hurley (0-1),
St Joseph’s Miltown:
1: Coilin Hayes
4: Cian Flanagan
3: Seanie Malone
2: Eoin O’Brien
7: Gordon Kelly
8: Paul Frawley
6: Cillian Keavey
12: Ralph Whelehan
5: Stephen Murphy
9: Micheál Murray
11: Eoin Cleary
10: Conor Neylon
14: Cormac Murray
13: Darragh McDonagh
15: Euan Lineen
Subs:
27: David Barry for Cleary (43)
18: Jamesie O’Connor for Neylon (45)
22: Niall Toomey for Keavey (48) (inj)
20: Ronan Keavey for Kelly (52)
21: Tim Lenihan for C Murray (57)
St Breckans:
1: James Garrihy
2: Mark Healy
3: Patrick Doherty
4: Padraic O’Dwyer
5: Colm O’Brien
6: Cian Burke
7: Jack Sheedy
9: Liam Tierney
8: Micheál Flanagan
10: Eoin Byrne
11: Alan Sweeney
12: Rowan Danaher
15: Conor Shannon
21: Cathal Guerin
13: Cathal Morgan
Subs:
19: Seamus Hurley for Tierney (34)
18: Mark O’Donnell for Flanagan (46)
22: Rian O’Neill for Shannon (57)
20: Ryan Burke for Danaher (57)
24: Joe Stack for
Referee: John O’Connell (Cooraclare)
Gallery of photographs by Gerard O’Neill.
