REPORT: Presentation Milltown come good in second half to claim Lidl All-Ireland PPS Junior C crown

Lidl All-Ireland Post-Primary Schools Junior C Final  

Dunmore CS (Galway) v Presentation Milltown (Kerry); Fethard Town Park, Tipperary 

Dunmore Community School  2-12 

Presentation Secondary School 3-12 

By Jamie O’Flaherty 

Presentation Milltown are the Lidl All-Ireland Post-Primary Schools Junior C champions after a pulsating come from behind 3-12 to 2-12 victory over Dunmore CS at Fethard Town Park in Tipperary.

Trailing by five points at half-time – 1-4 to 1-9 – the Kerry side produced an outstanding second-half performance to snatch victory from Galway representatives Dunmore CS.

Dunmore started the game at a frantic pace, with Isabelle Murray and Rebecca Noone scoring four points apiece while Katie Slattery added a well-deserved 15^th minute goal to give her side a commanding half-time lead, after midfielder Chloe McHugh had netted for Milltown in the 12^th minute.

However, Presentation produced their best form in the second period. Katie Doe scored 1-3 for the Milltown side and Sarah Fitzgerald added 1-2 to turn the game on its head.

Rebecca Noone replied with a brilliant goal of her own but it wasn’t enough to halt the momentum of Presentation Milltown.

Isabelle Murray and Chloe Costello kept Dunmore CS neck and neck with the winners but the excellent Aideen O’Brien chipped in with three second-half points to play a captain’s role in ensuring the cup would return home to Kerry, to the joy of their huge travelling support.

Following Mercy Mounthawk’s victory in this competition last year, this win for Milltown ensures that the Lidl All-Ireland PPS Junior C silverware stays in the Kingdom.

Scorers – Dunmore CS: I Murray 0-5, R Noone 1-05 (2f), K Slattery 1-0, A Deane and C Costello 0-1 each. 

Presentation Milltown: K Doe 1-04, S Fitzgerald 1-03, A O’Brien 0-4, C McHugh 1-0, M Quirke 0-1. 

DUNMORE CS: E Diskin, C Farrell, K Kilgarriff, S Kilgarriff, E Daly, M Healy, S Hartnett, K Slattery, I Murray, C Costello, S Hunter, A Brennan Conneely, R Noone, A Deane, A O’Connor (C). 

PRESENTATION MILLTOWN: K Murphy, A Falvey, K O’Donoghue, R Daly, S Harkin, E O’Brien, I McGrath, É O’Callaghan, C McHugh, S Fitzgerald, K Doe, L Clifford, A O’Sullivan, A O’Brien (C), S Flynn.

Sub: M Quirke for A O’Sullivan (20).  

Ref – Patrick Smith (Waterford).