Ballinagh 2-11
Lacken 1-7

Ballinagh scored their first victory of this year's senior championship on Sunday night after downing neighbours Lacken with plenty to spare in the end at Kingspan Breffni.

Thomas Moore (1-3) and Kevin Smith (0-5) were most prominent going forward for the 2013 champions, with the former's goal right on the eve of half-time turning this derby around, as they went in to outscore their rivals by 1-7 to 0-3 in the second-half.

Lacken looked like they were in a enough healthy state in the run up to half-time, with Killian Galligan having hit Ballinagh's net 13 minutes in, but they were caught napping at the back in the added minutes of the first-half and once again in the 38th minute when Gavin Smith's strike all but settled the issue for Ollie Fay's men.

Eamon McEvoy's perfectly curled free had Ballinagh off the mark four minutes in and it would take their accurate midfielder to put them in front again, as many minutes later, after Micheal Shanaghy had sailed over Lacken's reply.

Fay's charges looked to be humming nicely with those two scores but their loving neighbours soon threw a spanner in the works. Ground made up by Shane Finnegan down the right flank opened up a path towards the Ballinagh goal and his cross over to Killian Galligan was perfect for the corner-forward to palm downwards to the net.

Points from Stephen Brady and Finnegan widened the margin to three, erasing an effort from Kevin Smith, and it was very nearly wiped out by the men in saffron when Aaron O'Reilly got on the end of a long ball into the square but Lacken 'keeper Colin Comerford reacted quickly to the close range effort. O'Reilly had collided with the post in his endeavours and was thankfully okay to continue.

Smith sent over his second with the help of the crossbar in the last minute of first-half regulation prior to McEvoy receiving a black card from referee James Clarke.

Despite the loss, Ballinagh were able to time their finish to the half to perfection and it saw Cavan forward Niall McDermott weighing a perfect pass into the path of Moore, who latched on before flashing a splendid finish past Comerford for all three points, leaving it at 1-4 to 1-3 at the halfway stage.

Moore and Smith upped the advantage to three after four minutes of the resumption and while Damien Keaney's side pulled one back through Conor Finnegan (free,) they'd endure disaster shortly afterwards.

In effort of a point, Ballinagh ended up taking maximum profit from their next tour forward with Gavin Smith the quickest to a rebound off the post and he turned his man slickly before burying low under Comerford.

Lacken came close to responding in kind but Stephen Brady's rocket effort flew over the bar instead of under and from there things would begin to slip away from the men from Crowe Park.

Moore and Smith both registered braces to outdo Finnegan at the far end, creating a seven-point margin, and Smith should have had Fay side's third goal with five minutes to go but, in fairness, Comeford was quick to smother his close range effort.

Stephen Brady rounded off Lacken's tally prior to McDermott kicking his sole point for the night, sealing his side's first win of the championship against the old enemy.

Next up for Ballinagh is a clash with Castlerahan this coming weekend, while Lacken face Killygarry.

Ballinagh: Declan Beard; Fergus Bogue, Aaron O'Reilly, Killian McBride; Gavin Smith (1-0), Patrick Carroll, Niall O'Reilly; Padraic O'Reilly, Eamon McEvoy (0-2, 1f); David Finnegan, Kevin Smith (0-5), Paddy O'Brien; Shane Finnegan, Niall McDermott (0-1, 1f), Thomas Moore (1-3). Subs: Sean Keating for E McEvoy (30mins, BC), Damien O'Reilly for K Smith (36, blood), Damien O'Reilly for a A O'Reilly (48), Cormac Timoney for T Moore (60).

Lacken: Colin Comerford; Kevin Shanagy, David Wilson, Daryl Buckley; Damien McKiernan, Craig Lanouze, Shane Finnegan (0-1); James Galligan, Thomas Galligan; Philip Moynagh, Niall McKiernan, Stephen Brady (0-3); Killian Galligan (1-0), Conor Finnegan (0-2, 2f), Micheál Shanaghy (0-1). Subs: Karl Clerkin for K Galligan (48mins), James Moynagh for M Shanaghy (50), Shane O'Reilly for S Finnegan (60, BC).

Ref: James Clarke (Killinkere)

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