Gunning inspires late flourish as Milltown topple Tubberclair

Milltown 1-15, Tubberclair 1-11

By Eamon A. Donoghue

Milltown came from behind to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against Tubberclair, thereby getting their first win of this year’s Westmeath IFC campaign in Tang last Saturday.

Tubberclair led this game all through until it counted most, at the end. The South Westmeath team were 1-11 to 0-10 in the ascendancy with five minutes left in the game. It looked like Tubberclair had done enough.

A two-pointer from youngster Tom Bourke and another from Eoghan McCabe had their supporters in raptures, but they hadn’t bargained on the character that Milltown showed.

It was number five Matt Gunning, playing in the forwards, that lit up the ground and won this game for his team. Gunning had already kicked an outrageous score off the outside of his right boot, but his three kicks that culminated into five points (including a brace of two-pointers) were even better.

Tubberclair took off in whirlwind fashion and Milltown struggled to keep tabs on their opponents. Finn Duffy was the Tubberclair goal scorer after Kealan Connell had his attempt blocked.

Duffy also kicked an early score and with Connell adding a point, it was Tubberclair 1-2 Milltown 0-0 after just three minutes.

After Tom Bourke had his goal attempt deflected behind, it looked like Tubberclair had another goal from the resulting 45 which ended up in the net. But the ball seemed to touch a Tubberclair player that was standing in the square and the ‘goal’ didn’t stand.

Milltown gradually got their bearings and they rolled off scores in quick succession. Luke Gunning, Daire Hynes and Ben McGauran were the scorers and Luke Gunning had a goal attempt saved. The bare minimum separated them in the 22nd minute, Tubberclair 1-2 Milltown 0-4.

Duffy was the Tubberclair scorer again, he kicked their first point in around 20 minutes. Connell then added another and McCabe kicked a free, making it Tubberclair 1-5 to 0-4.

Then Milltown gave Tubberclair plenty of warning of their capabilities as last year’s finalists responded and finished the half strongly. First, it looked like McGauran kicked a two-pointer from a free but a white flag was raised, and then McGauran did kick a two-pointer from a free. Tubberclair just held on for a one-point lead at half-time, 1-5 to 0-7.

Immediately after the interval, McGauran kicked another free and levelled the game. But they scored just once more in the next 25 minutes. Tubberclair took over and kicked some excellent scores to lead 1-11 to 0-10 with just minutes remaining.

At the end of the first half, Milltown had shown their character and willingness to battle to the end. And Matt Gunning had shown he was willing to have a go from any angle or distance.

Matt Gunning first kicked a two-pointer to cut the arrears to two scores. Then he kicked another two-pointer, even better than the first, to level up the game. But he wasn’t finished there, he added another point for good measure and his scores alone would have won the game.

Milltown added one more score which ended the contest, a goal from substitute Seán Sommers and it was game over.

Despite this defeat, Tubberclair are second in the Section A table, one point ahead of Milltown, who are tied on three points with Multyfarnham.

Player of the match: Matt Gunning (Milltown). Gunning scored some outrageous scores, especially the pair of two-pointers that turned the game in Milltown’s favour. Conor Gibney and Ben McGauran also made big contributions. For Tubberclair, Tom Kelleher, Tom Bourke and Kealan Connell did all they could for their team.

Scorers – Milltown: M Gunning (2tp) and B McGauran (1tpf, 2f) 0-6 each; S Sommers 1-0; D Hynes 0-2; L Gunning 0-1. Tubberclair: F Duffy 1-2; E McCabe 0-3 (1tp); K Connell and T Bourke (1tp) 0-2 each; S Claffey and F Kelleher 0-1 each.

Milltown - Damien Byrne; Diarmuid Maguire, Bernard Kiernan, Sean Dillon; Matt Gunning, Conor Gibney, Tommy Lynn; Jack Murtagh, Dylan Murtagh; Daire Hynes, Paddy Sommers, Jack Duncan; Luke Gunning, Conor Lynn, Ben McGauran. Subs: Jarlath Boyce for L Gunning (53 mins), Sean Sommers for P Sommers (54).

Tubberclair - Kevin Fagan; Taylor Slevin, Cathal Tighe, James Madden; Stephen McGonagle, Tom Kelleher, Liam Staunton; Gavin Delaney, Sean Claffey; Tom Bourke, Paul Keegan, Eoghan McCabe; Fred Kelleher, Kealan Connell, Finn Duffy. Subs: Daire O’Connor for Duffy (47 mins).

Referee - Niall Ward (Garrycastle).