MILFORD UTD. 4 V 2 BONAGEE UTD. ( after. Extra-time ). After a scoreless first-half it looked as if Milford were coasting to the next round of the FAI Junior Cup when goals by Gary Merritt ( 55mins ) and sub Darren Mc Laughlin ( 75mins ), had them comfortable in front. However to their credit Bonagee refused to accept defeat and a double change off the bench lifted them and goals by Mark Hunter and Aiden Mc Laughlin in the final five minutes sent this one to Extra-Time and forced Milford to lift themselves again to win it. There were few clear-cut chances in the opening half, although the home side did go close when both Joey Cullen and Mark Flood saw efforts come back off the crossbar. Bonagee had two great chances to take the lead in the opening three minutes of the second-half and both fell to Aiden Mc Laughlin. In the 47th minute Eamonn Cannon’s pip point cross found the head of Mc Laughlin but he headed wide from six yards, and a minute later Noel 0 Donnell’s excellent long ball found Mc Laughlin free in the box but he shot straight at keeper Damien Crossan. Milford made them pay in the 55th minute, two defenders failed to deal with a ball in the air and Gary Merritt pounced to race through and slot past keeper John Carr. In the 68th minute Joey Cullen and Sub Darren Mc Laughlin combined to send Ryan Toye through but he shot wide. However it was 2-0 in the 75th minute, Sub Anthony Hegarty sent Merritt away and when Carr made a super save to deny him Darren Mc Laughlin was on hand to blast the rebound to the roof of the net, game over we thought, but we were wrong. Bonagee introduced both Paddy Mc Gowan and Frankie Mc Brearty and both had an impact. Merritt almost made it 3-0 with another cracking drive but Carr saved well and a minute later it was 2-1. Mc Gowan’s pip point cross found Mark Hunter and he slotted home from close range and two minutes later it was 2-2 . . The two subs were involved in the build-up down the left before Andrew Connolly’s cross found the head of Aiden Mc Laughlin and he headed home via a slight deflection to send us to Extra-time. The home side lifted themselves again despite those set-backs, and scored twice in four minutes. Conor Mc Hugh who had scored three points for Milford Minors in their Championship victory up on Saturday, played Joey Cullen through and with plenty still to do Cullen shook off a defender and drilled a low shot past Carr. Then another of Saturday’s Minors, Ryan Toye showed great determination to break through several tackles before hammering an angled shot to the top corner of the net to send Milford into the next round. MILFORD UTD. ; Damen Crossan, Conor Mc Hugh, Ryan Toye, Mark Flood, Eoin Ferry, Adam Serrinha, Terence Shiels, Joey Cullen, Darragh Greene, Gary Merritt, Jonah Serrinha. SUBS ; Darren Mc Laughlin for Greene ( 60mins ), Anthony Hegarty for Jonah Serrinha ( 66mins ), Ciaran Blaney for Adam Serrinha ( 114 mins ), James Whelan for Shiels ( 118 mins ). BONAGEE UTD. ; John Carr, Shane Kelly , Taylor Russell, Glenn Rainey, Noel O Donnell, Graham Cullen, Joe Friel, Eamonn Cannon, Mark Hunter, Aiden Mc Laughlin, Andrew Connolly. SUBS ; Darragh Harper for Friel ( 39mins ). Paddy Mc Gowan and Frankie Mc Brearty for Kelly and O Donnell ( both 78mins ), Seamus Mc Ginty for Russell ( 112 mins ). REFEREEE ; Mick Lagan.
