Hehir brothers were in goal-scoring form for Milltown

By BILLY COSS Milltown .2-7  Maigh Culinn .0-9   SUPERBLY-finished goals by Seán and Mark Hehir combined with a committed and disciplined defensive effort secured Milltown's place in the second round of the S.F.C. at the expense of Moycullen on Sunday afternoon. On the surface, the final scoreline suggests that pre-match expectations and form lines held up but this was a match in which Milltown threatened to throw away a sizeable lead and left Moycullen nursing plenty of regrets after a failure to convert vast amounts of second-half possession into a match-winning total. Milltown have achieved a high win ratio in League and Championship football in recent seasons and after reaching the SFC last four and collecting Division 1A silverware in 2011, came into this campaign ranked by many as the team best equipped to emerge from the chasing pack and challenge Corofin and Killererin, the Championship's â€Ëœbig two' in modern times. On the evidence of Sunday's display in the sweltering heat however, major improvement is required but a win is a win and a tricky opening round tie has been safely negotiated. Not for the first time over the past year â€â€ most notably their Championship win over Caherlistrane last August and League final defeat of Tuam Stars in November â€â€ it was backs-to-the-wall for Cathal Sheridan's team in the second half. Moycullen controlled possession for long spells after the break (roughly 65 per cent to Milltown's 35 per cent) but their inability to make sufficient in-roads in attack and convert that superiority into scores would prove costly.[private] Most of the damage was done by Milltown in the opening half. Mark Hehir showed occasional flashes of his class on the way to a final tally of 1-4 (three frees) but was upstaged in attack by older brother Seán on this occasion. The Milltown full-forward was centrally involved in most of their better attacks, hitting 1-2 of his own from play and drawing fouls that resulted in a further two converted frees. His goal in the 25th minute was one of genuine quality. After gaining possession 20 metres out, Seán Hehir looked to be bottled up by the covering Moycullen defence but he somehow managed to break the tackle before finishing brilliantly to the right corner of Seamus Friel's net. That score pushed Milltown into a 1-5 to 0-3 half-time lead and with much of Moycullen's build-up play laboured in the face of a organised Milltown defence, in which David Hernon in particular came up with some crucial blocks and interceptions, it was difficult to see any way back. A 22-minute scoring drought was to follow from Milltown and that fade-out left the door open for a Moycullen team that upped their game considerably in the second half and gained almost complete control of midfield. Points from Philip Lydon, Fergus Kerrigan and Mark Lydon, Moycullen's best player by some distance, reduced the deficit to two as the prospect of a comeback win gathered momentum.  Milltown were repeatedly forced into defensive mode and there was little sign of them adding to their interval total until the match-winning score, which perhaps underlined the key difference between the teams, arrived with less than 12 minutes remaining. The winners were far more direct in their attacking play throughout and when Moycullen sub Henry Lydon misjudged and got caught under a bouncing ball off the rock-hard turf, Mark Hehir read the situation to perfection and broke inside the defensive cover to finish expertly past Friel. In one fell swoop, all of Moycullen's second-half progress was undone. Although Brian Walsh, Conor Bohan and Philip Lydon hit unanswered scores and Gareth Bradshaw flashed a difficult goal chance wide, Milltown struck late points from Damien Brennan and Seán Hehir to deservedly, albeit unconvincingly, to close out a match played in energy-sapping conditions. Milltown: C. Nolan; D. Forde, S. Varley, D. Hernon; D. Mullahy, Ciarán Blake, J. Martin; Cathal Blake, captain, D. Blake; S. Blake, M. Hehir (1-4, three frees), D. Brennan (0-1); F. Nicholson, S. Hehir (1-2), T. Wrynne. Subs: M. Martin for Wrynne, 38 mins; B. McGrath for Mullahy, 59 mins.  Moycullen: S. Friel; K. O'Connor, J. Doran, G. Bohan; E. Walsh, D. Lee, P. Ezergalis; M. Lydon (0-1), Pat Lydon, captain; G. Bradshaw (0-1, free), C. Bohan (0-1), F. Kerrigan (0-1); C. Hurney, Philip Lydon (0-3, all frees), T. Higgins (0-1). Subs: H. Lydon for O'Connor inj., 10 mins; B. Walsh (0-1, free) for Pat Lydon 42 mins. Referee: James Molloy. Herald Sport Man of the Match: Seán Hehir (Milltown). [/private]