Miley and Dolan goals propel Cill Óige to victory
MJS Building and Development Westmeath U13 Football Division 3 final
Cill Óige 2-15
Inny Shamrocks 0-9
Cill Óige produced a superb performance to overcome a battling Inny Shamrocks team in last Sunday’s Westmeath U13 Division 3 football final at a cool but sunny Kilbeggan.
A large crowd was present at MJS Builds St James’ Park to witness a wholehearted contest between two well-drilled and skilful teams. Following an early exchange of points, the Rosemount-Castledaly combination stamped their authority on proceedings with a flurry of scores to lead by 0-7 to 0-1 after 20 minutes.
Two goals in the space of three minutes sent them into the break with a commanding 2-9 to 0-4 advantage and there was no way back for Inny Shamrocks after that, despite an improved second-half display.
All but one of the winners’ scores came from play with Alex Pillion, Daniel Murphy, Josh Miley and Harry Dolan leading the charge.
Cill Óige were never headed after centre-forward Alex Pillion opened the scoring with the first of his six points. Patrick Wallace levelled before Pillion edged the south Westmeath outfit back in front. Inny Shamrocks goalkeeper Aidan Murtagh then made a great save from Josh Miley at the expense of a ’45 which nothing came of.
But Cill Óige continued to apply strong pressure and were rewarded with two more points from Pillion along with efforts from Fionn Higgins, Daniel Murphy and Callum Sludds which put clear daylight between the teams. Indeed, they could have been further ahead at this stage but for some wayward shooting.
A brace of Oisín Keena frees narrowed the gap, only for full-forward Miley to reply with a first-time finish after he had cleverly broken down a high ball from Fionn Higgins.
The winners were purring now and added points from Harry Dolan and Pillion before the former fired home a second goal via the underside of the crossbar after Pillion’s initial shot from distance was half-blocked.
Aiden Heduvan got a point back for the Ballynacargy-Bunbrosna boys before the interval, but they still had a mountain to climb in the second half.
Daniel Murphy restored Cill Óige’s 12-point advantage after the restart before Oisín Keena responded with a brace of frees. But back came Cill Óige with scores from Murphy and Miley to lead by 2-12 to 0-6 heading into the final 20 minutes.
Inny Shamrocks weren’t giving up and Keena kicked two more points, one from a free. But after Murphy and Heduvan (free) swapped points, an impressive Cill Óige closed it out with late scores from Pillion and Murphy (free).
Scorers – Cill Óige: Alex Pillion 0-6, Daniel Murphy 0-5 (1f), Josh Miley and Harry Dolan 1-1 each, Fionn Higgins and Callum Sludds 0-1 each. Inny Shamrocks: Oisín Keena 0-6 (1f), Aiden Heduvan 0-2 (1f), Patrick Wallace 0-1.
Cill Óige: Graham Slevin; Kieran Loddick, Joe Murray, James Nee; Michael Finan, Dara Fox, Brian McCormack; Fionn Higgins, Daniel Murphy; Callum Sludds, Alex Pillion, Mal Keaveney; Harry Dolan, Josh Miley, Nathan Marsh. Subs: Cormac Buckley, James Casey, Joe Hurley, Tadhg Smyth, Eoin Pratlett, Tomás Mulchrone, Eoin Keenan and Ryan Magee.
Inny Shamrocks: Aidan Murtagh; Jack Cahill, Adam Coloe, Liam Doyle; Oisín Clarke, Jack Britton-Keena, Seamus Clarke; Patrick Wallace, Oisín Keena; Daniel Horohoe, Aiden Heduvan, Jack Ledwith; Zack Timouny, Matthew Kelly, Peadar Baird. Subs: Gavin Mooney, Lucas Ruisinger, Alex Forde, Casey O’Prey, Cian Gilchrist, Aaron Nally, Jamie Goss, Owen Nally and Shane Kelly.
Referee: Michael Gordon (Shandonagh).