Narrow defeat in Cusack Cup opener

St Josephs Miltown senior side suffered a 0-7 to 0-6 defeat to Eire Og in the opening round of Division 1 league in Quilty this Friday night. A cold but dry night attracted a much larger attendance than normal for this time of the year as the evening throw-in proved a hit. Miltown started slowly as Eire Og kicked two early points. Miltown recovered to dominate possession but failed to translate it to the scoreboard as Eire Og lead 0-4 to 0-2 at the break. A gilt edged goal opportunity was missed when Gary Egan was adjusted to have touched the ball on the ground when a goal seemed certain. Eire Og lead 0-6 to 0-3 midway through the second half. Conor O'Loughlin came up from goal to blast over a '45 to kickstart a strong finish from Miltown. However, the lack of a cutting edge up front apart from Micheal Malone who kicked three long range points was to prove costly on the evening. Round two of the Cusack Cup takes place next weekend with a home game against Shannon Gaels. The team lined out as follows: Conor O'Loughlin (0-1), David Cleary, Enda Malone, Ian Sexton, Enda O'Gorman, Graham Kelly, Michael Hehir, Sean Meade (0-1), Cathal Lafferty, Gearoid Curtin, Niall Quinn, Micheal Malone (0-3), Joe Curtin (0-1), Kevin Keavey, Gary Egan. Subs used: Sean O'Connell & Seanie Malone