Bun survive great Milltownpass

Bunbrosna were crowned Westmeath Under 21 13-a-side football champions in front of their home fans. They pulled away in the closing stages from a gallant Milltownpass side, who had threatened to produce a Houdini-like escape midway through the game.On a cold but pleasant afternoon a large crowd - the majority sporting the Milltownpass colours - made their way to the well-appointed venue and they were treated to a fascinating game.Bunbrosna completely dominated the first half - even if the losers spurned three goal chances in rare forays into their opponents" half - and looked home and dry when leading by 0-8 to 0-0 at the interval.However, a hugely-spirited Milltownpass rally on the change of ends brought them level before the midpoint of the second half-hour, but the lads in black and white eventually ran out of steam.The Bunbrosna men reeled off an unanswered 1-4 in the closing stages for a deserved victory, if somewhat flattered by the seven-point winning margin.The men in blue and white had the advantage of a significant wind in the first half and, after a couple of early wides as they struggled to gauge the strength of the elements, they rattled off four points by the tenth minute.The two corner forwards, Fintan Connaughton and Barry O"Meara, started the ball rolling with well-taken scores from either side of the goals. After Milltownpass"s first attack was repelled, the winners broke downfield and centre half back Simon Moorhead kicked a tremendous long-range point. This was soon followed by another terrific point, this time from the boot of Andy Whitney, the best player on view over the hour.Then came the losers" first goal opportunity but Stephen Treacy shot much too close to Padraig Maher, who saved easily. The Bun goalie then comfortably held Darragh O"Connor"s fly-kick, before midfielder Conor Flanagan was unlucky to see his shot for a point come back off the upright.Bun made the most of this let-off when Kevin Mitchell shot their fifth point in the 18th minute. Sandwiched between a terrific brace of points from the strong-running Andy Whitney, Milltownpass netminder Gary Brady did well to hold Kevin Mitchell"s high shot. In the 24th minute, Noel Reilly chased a hopeful through ball but his toe-poked effort just shaved the Bunbrosna post on the wrong side. After a great score from a tight angle by Fintan Connaughton put Bun eight points to the good, Noel Reilly overhit his pass to Kevin Reid who was in a goalscoring position and another Milltownpass chance had gone astray. A fine one-two between Fintan Connaughton and Kevin Mitchell initially seemed to yield a point for the former, but his shot went barely wide. Gary Brady then deflected Barry O"Meara"s shot over the endline (it seemed to be going wide without the deflection) for an unconverted "45", leaving Bunbrosna firmly in control when ahead by 0-8 to 0-0 at the break.To their great credit, the large group of Milltownpass supporters gave their heroes a rousing reception on their belated return to the fray and it definitely gave the lads in black and white a great lift, as they were unrecognisable from their lethargic first half showing. A fine catch from temporary sub Stephen Conway precipitated a flowing move which ended with Ricky Byrne opening their account in the third minute. Despite David Newman"s fine solo point for the winners, Milltownpass regrouped and they rifled over four great points between the fifth and tenth minutes. A brace from roaming team captain Kevin Reid (the second from a free), a neat finish by Darragh O"Connor (who was alert to a quickly-taken free by very hard-working midfielder Shane Gleeson) and arguably the score of the afternoon by corner back Mark Gorman (after effecting a one-two with Stephen Treacy), had Milltownpass trailing by four points.The crowd erupted in the 13th minute when Shane Gleeson"s crossfield pass found Kevin Reid in space and the number 15 blasted the ball to the roof of the net from 15 metres. Soon afterwards, Reid tapped over a 20-metre free and, astonishingly, the sides were level, with the momentum very much in Milltownpass" favour. However, that was as good as it got for the losers and exactly midway through the half, Ken Conroy"s low-trajectory shot whizzed over the Milltownpass crossbar. His opposite number, Darragh O"Connor came close to equalising before Jamie Shaw doubled his side"s advantage with a composed finish after a solo run.An error by Gary Brady almost gifted Bun"s Fintan Connaughton a goal but corner back David Devine cleared his lines. Andy Whitney then pounced on a poor Milltownpass clearance to fire over another outstanding point. With time running out, Conor Lyons held Shane Gleeson"s "45" on his own goalline and a swift move down the pitch ended with Barry O"Meara picking out the unmarked Fintan Connaughton who skilfully chipped the ball past Gary Brady to wrap up the title for Bun. Kevin Mitchell then failed in his attempt to score a second Bunbrosna goal but, in the third minute of injury-time, Ken Conroy added the icing to the cake with a neat finish from 20 metres to leave the lads in blue with the white hoop as worthy Under 21 champions.Bunbrosna: Padraig Maher; Ronan Scally, Darren Geerah; David Newman (0-1), Simon Moorhead (0-1), Sean Walsh; Andy Whitney (capt) (0-4), Conor Lyons; Ken Conroy (0-2), Kevin Mitchell (0-1), Jamie Shaw (0-1); Fintan Connaughton (1-2), Barry O"Meara (0-1). Subs: Liam Mitchell (for Newman, 42 mins), Alan Maguire (for O"Meara, 60 + 2 mins), Michael Connell (for Connaughton, 60 + 4 mins).Milltownpass: Gary Brady; David Devine, Mark Gorman (0-1); Gary Nolan, Fintan O"Reilly, Noel Reilly; Conor Flanagan, Shane Gleeson; Darragh O"Connor (0-1), David Wright, Stephen Treacy; Ricky Byrne (0-1), Kevin Reid (1-3, 0-2 from frees). Sub: Stephen Conway (for Byrne, 42 mins).Referee: Robbie Cornally (Mullingar Shamrocks).Footnote. After the game, Des Maguire, Chairman of the Westmeath Football Board, presented the cup to the victorious Bunbrosna captain, Andy Whitney, who duly delivered a very gracious acceptance speech.