Spa and Milltown/Castlemaine met in glorious sunshine in Fitzgerald Stadium this afternoon in Rd1 of the 2024 County Championship. Despite a good opening half that saw Spa leading by four points at the break, a determined performance from Milltown/Castlemaine in the second half secured their one point victory. Spa now meet Na Gaeil next weekend in round 2, and the game will be knockout.

Oran O’Neill, Dan O’Donoghue and Evan Cronin had three points on the board before Jonathon O’Sullivan opened the scoring for Milltown/Castlemaine in the twelfth minute. There was a good build up by the Spa players before Ryan O’Carroll made it 0-4 to 0-1. The first goal chance of the day followed soon after, Milltown /Castlemaine making a drive towards the Spa goal but the finishing shot veered to the right and wide. Evan Cronin added another Spa point, and at the end of the first quarter, Spa were leading 0-5 to 0-1.

Shortly after, Shane Cronin was closing in on goal at the Dalton’s Avenue end but his shot flew past the goalmouth and veered wide. Cathal Moriarty and David Spillane exchanged points before the first goal of the day, Gavin Horan breaking through the Spa defence and rattling the net in the 25th minute. They were soon threatening goal again, and Shay O’Meara and Shane Cronin did well to clear, but unfortunately in blocking the shot, Shane Cronin picked up an injury that saw him replaced for the remainder of the game. Dan O’Donoghue and Evan Cronin kicked two great points, and Michael Foley followed shortly after with a 14-yard free, to give Spa the advantage at the break by 0-9 to 1-2.

A determined Milltown/Castlemaine came out for the second half and Gavin Horan split the posts within seconds of the restart. Spa had a couple of early efforts wide of the post, and Milltown/Castlemaine were soon descending on goal again with Gavin Horan slotting past the keeper in the 39th minute to level the sides at 0-9 to 2-3. Ciaran Spillane replied immediately with a point but a free from Cathal Moriarty levelled the game once again. Sean Hogan and Gavin McKenna edged Milltown/Castlemaine in front for the first time of the game, and at the start of the final quarter they were closing on goal once more, this time as the ball was punched high but it came off the crossbar and was cleared. Milltown/Castlemaine had begun to dominate the game and were now leading 2-6 to 0-10.

Corner-back Pa Wrenn increased that lead to three, but Spa responded well and Cian Tobin (f) and sub Michael Horgan with a mark quickly had the game reduced to the minimum once again. Milltown/Castlemaine however, were in control now and the two Spa points were quickly cancelled out two points by Brendan Casey and Gavin McKenna at the other end. With five minutes left on the clock, Milltown/Castlemaine were leading 0-12 to 2-9.

Ryan O’Carroll and Jonathon O’Sullivan swapped scores and then Ryan hit another lovely high ball that curled right between the posts in the 59th minute. Gavin Horan raised the white flag at the other end and Evan Cronin did the same for Spa in the 63rd minute. Spa were battling hard to get those final scores and a 14-yard free from Cian Tobin after 64 minutes gave hope of extra time, but unfortunately the clock ran out and Spa suffered a one point defeat on a final score-line of Spa 0-16 Milltown/Castlemaine 2-11.

Well done to our team and management and wishing all our injured players a speedy recovery.

Spa will now play Na Gaeil next weekend in round two and this round will be knockout. Game will be played in neutral venue and fixture details to be confirmed.

Spa: Shay O’Meara, Eric O’Donoghue, Eoghan Cronin, Eoin Fitzgerald, Conor Stack, Dan O’Donoghue, Ryan O’Carroll, Ciaran Spillane, Michael Foley, Oran O’Neill, Evan Cronin, Michael Kearney, David Spillane, Shane Cronin, Cian Tobin. Subs: Jack O’Sullivan, Luke O’Neill, Thomas Cronin, Michael Horgan

Milltown/Castlemaine: Cormac Leane, Gavin McKenna, Anthony Kelliher, Pa Wrenn, Kieran O’Carroll, David Roche, Killian Kerins, Donal Dennehy, Gavin Horan, Jonathon O’Connor, Stephen Roche, Conor Spillane, Brendan Casey, Jonathon O’Sullivan, Cathal Moriarty. Subs: Sean Hogan, Jerome Flynn, Eanna O’Connor, Oisin Spring, John Dennehy

Referee: Eamonn Moran (Ballydonoghue)

Photos: Anne Holland