Five see red as Milltownpass reach junior final

A total of five players. three from losers, St. Pauls and two from Milltownpass were sent off by referee, Damien Maher as the latter side battled their way to the Westmeath Junior Football Chammpionship final.Ultimately, six points separated the sides and while Paul Brady’s late goal put a gloss on the victory, the men in black and white were full value for the win. In what turned up to be an incident filled second half, the referee would have been fully justified had he issued the ultimate sanction to more players following a nasty second half melee.A good sized attendance was present in Lakepoint Park, St Loman’s on Saturday afternoon and were treated to a decent enough game of football, which unfortunately may well be remembered for all the wrong reasons. A late replacement for the unavailable Sean Carroll, match official, Damien Maher had a testing afternoon.Several players from both sides got involved in an unseemly second half skirmish which led to the dismissal of Milltownpass’ Mark Gorman and St. Paul’s talisman Johnny McGuinness (St Paul’s) on striaght red cards. Worse was to befall St Paul’s shortly after when Dara Brady was sidelined for an overly-robust tackle while close to the end Paul Gilsenan (St Paul’s) and Paul Brady (Milltownpass) were dismissed on second yellow cards.As stated it was Brady’s near the end of normal time that put sdaylight between the sides. It was the culmination of a fine passage of play with Brady picking up a superbly judged pass from Seamus Faulkner to round off a defence splitting move. It was the icing on the cake.Up to that point, the winners had been heavily relient on ace marksman Andy Devine to keep them in the tie. His final tally of six points played a significant role in this success as he picked off vital minors in the second period when St. Pauls were really pressing.In a patchy enough opening period, it was St Paul’s who made the early running. A pointed free by Johnny McGuinness put them in front before David Dolan unhinged the Milltownpass defence to fire over the Saint’s second point . Almost ten minutes had elapsed before Kevin Reid opened Milltownpass’ account from a placed ball but McGuinness restored Pauls two point advantage after Paul Gilsenan had been impeded. The Clonmellon were made to rue a couple of missed opportunities. Milltownpass needed a boost and when Shane Flanagan’s brilliantly fetched a high ball, Andy Devine was on hand to score good point. Dermot Faulkner restored parity for the men in white and black and that man Devine signed off the half with a pointed free in stoppage time. It left Milltownpass with the minimal advantage, 0-4 to 0-3, at the break.The advantage was soon doubled when Noel O’Reilly pointed from play. They were now showing a greater hunger and Andy Devine set up Paul Brady who extended the lead futther. And it could have been bigger again as Devine should have found the net in the fourth minute. The dynamic corner forward raced on to a pinpoint Shane Flanagan pass) but blazed over the crossbar. The Clonmellon outfit were rattled but Conor Slator took a pass from Dara Brady and pointed and then Paul Gilsenan followed up with another. The wily McGuinness pointed another free and suddenly there was just a point between the sides.Two uplifting points from Andy Devine spurred Milltownpass and they appeared to have weathered the storm.The flare up soon followed fanned by an innocous initial incident which started with two players tussling off the ball but which ended with an unseemly melee. Referee, Maher took decisive action and banised both Mark Gorman and Johnny McGuinness. St. Pauls cause was mortally wounded. Dara Brady followed the same lonely path wen sent off with seven minutes remaining.Andy Devine kicked over another good score to give the men in white a four-point cushion. As the game approached stoppage time, Milltownpass secured the match clinching goal as Andy Devine, Seamus Faulkner and Paul Brady combined for the latter to finish to the net from close range.St Paul’s went in search of a late goal, but Philip Gilsenan’s initial free was blocked on the line, while his second effort was deflected over for the final score.When the final whistle Milltownpass had six points to spare and a place in Sunday week’s decider against Milltown had been garnered.Scorers: Milltownpass: A. Devine 0-6 (2 frees), P. Brady 1-1, D. Faulkner, K. Reid (free) and N. O’Reilly 0-1 each. St Paul’s: J McGuinness 0-3 (frees), Paul Gilsenan, Philip Gilsenan (free), C. Slator and D. Dolan 0-1 each.Milltownpass: Gary Brady; Paul Brady, Damian Loran, Mark Gorman; Stephen Treacy, Fintan O’Reilly, Shane Gleeson; Shane Flanagan, Dermot Faulkner; Seamus Faulkner, Kevin Reid, Noel O’Reilly; Darragh O’Connor, David Wright, Andy Devine. Subs: David Devine for D. O’Connor, Shane Donoghue for Reid, Emmet Brennan for Wright.St. Pauls: Oliver Mulvaney; Mickey Murphy, Johnny Fitzpatrick, Gareth Nolan; Barry Davis, Kenny Higgins, Robbie Dugdale; Paul Gilsenan, Philip Gilsenan; Darren Henry, Johnny McGuinness, Dara Brady; Emmett Cuneen, Conor Slator, David Dolan. Subs: Mickey Travers for Cuneen, Jimmy McQuaid for Nolan, Richard Sheridan for Henry, David Whelehan for McQuaid.Referee: Damien Maher (Ballynacargy).