A late rally from Towers was enough to send them through to the semi-finals of the Dublin Junior A Football Championship (Niall Connaughton’s pictures from the fixture can be viewed here: http://goo.gl/5MSJ7). With a resilient Towers side trailing by a point with two minutes remaining, a breaking ball from a Man O War kick-out was won by Ger Hickey whose precise pass into the inside forward line found midfielder Dermot Milton. He kept his composure and kicked a superb point from out near the touchline to bring the home side level for what looked like a draw. But Towers were now on top and had the momentum and Hickey and Milton were again influential in fielding possession and it was substitute Paudie Swinburne, from Milton’s pass, who struck the winning score from 30 metres.
James Fleming opened the scoring for Towers and a great ball inside from Paul Clifford allowed Eoghan Young put Towers 0-2 v 0-1 ahead. Man O War were a point ahead after 15 minutes when Alan Milton and a Man O War forward were shown red cards. Dermot Milton (free) and Justin McGrane from 40 metres pointed to give Towers a 0-4 v 0-3 lead and corner forward Tom Curran, who posed problems for the visitors defence throughout, fed James Fleming to point after 20 minutes and give Towers a two point advantage. Curran then got himself on the scoresheet when he scored an excellent point from a tight angle, after Ger Hickey found him with a precise cross-field pass. But coming into the break Towers found themselves behind, when Man O War pointed and then scored a goal, having missed two good chances earlier in the game. Another Milton free left a point in it at half-time 0-7 v 1-5.
The visitors extended their lead straight after the break and McGrane then pointed a free before substitute Stephen Homan won a high ball when surrounded by three Man O War men and the free he won was converted again by McGrane. But two points for the visitors left Towers three behind against the tough and resilient north Dublin side. Time was on Towers side a converted 45 from Milton and point from Ger Homan, following a good run in the inside forward line by Curran, left just a point in it with minutes remaining. A great one-on-one save from Gordon Gallagher kept Towers in the Championship and Man O War extended their lead before Milton pointed a free, after Stephen Homan won yet another ball in the full forward line. Man O War went on to score their final point, leaving it at 0-13 v 1-11, before the late rally from Towers brought success in this tightly fought, tough contest.
Round Tower: Gordon Gallagher, Seán O’Donnagain, Paul Lanigan, David Clarke, Mark Champman, Paul Clifford, Alan Milton, Dermot Milton, Eoghan Moore, Ger Hickey, Eoin Young, Denis Macken, Tom Curran, James Fleming, Justin McGrane. Used subs: Stephen Homan for Fleming; Ger Homan for Eoghan Moore; Jason Murphy for McGrane; Paudie Swinburne for Macken; Dave Costigan for Lanigan.
