Milltown win by two points in hard fought opener

Miltown 2-7 Cooraclare 1-8

When 2006 county champions Cooraclare visited reigning league
holders Miltown on Saturday most people would have expected
the game to be used as a gentle start to the year. For the
first game of any season you expect to see teams try new
players not wanting to give anything away for bigger games
that may be ahead later in the year but these teams know
each other so well shadow boxing would be a waste of time
so both teams lined out at almost full strength in what
turned out to be a very entertaining game. Cooraclare playing
with the aid of the breeze started the brighter and had
two early scores from full forward Eithne Morrissey and
an Ann-Marie Callinan free. I

n one of their first attacks Miltown struck for a goal from
full forward Michelle McCaw. This score was almost instantly
cancelled out when directly from the resulting kick out
Cooraclare won possession and worked a lovely move that
ended with Helen Quinn finishing to the Miltown net to regain
the lead. Cooraclare stretched the lead to five points through
three more Ann-Marie Callinan frees before Fiona Lafferty
and Denise Sexton kicked two points for Miltown to leave
the half-time score 1-5 to 1-2 to Cooraclare. Cooraclare
started the second half with a point from Niamh Chambers
but a goal from a Fiona Lafferty free and points from Michelle
McCaw, Suzanne Murphy and a long rang Fiona Laffery effort
saw Miltown hold a two point lead going into the final quarter.

Both teams added two more points in the final ten minutes.
As the game entered injury time Cooraclares Eithne Morrissey
had to leave the field with what looked to be a re-occurrence
of the ankle injury she suffered in last years Munster Club
Final.

David O’Brien, Miltown.