Crosserlough 2-13
Ballinagh 1-13

Crosserlough fired a goal in each half to take the derby spoils against neighbours Ballinagh in their senior championship opener at Kingspan Breffni this evening.

Ryan O'Reilly (1-2) and Pierce Smith (1-3) shot the winners' majors in the 21st and 40th minutes respectively, but it was Dara McVeety's unrivalled contribution which swung the tie in their favour as the Cavan forward was at the heart of everything good about Crosserlough's play over the 60 minutes.

Ballinagh looked in an ideal position after striking a fortuitous goal that helped them to lead by 1-2 to 0-1 after eight minutes, but once O'Reilly punched for their opponents' first green flag some 13 minutes later the men donned in black and amber would move in front and never surrender the lead.

Smith's strike 10 minutes into the second-half looked to have them home and dry but Ollie Fay's charges pushed them all the way, leaving a goal in the difference come the added minutes, but their neighbours were able to negotiate their way to victory in the end.

Shane Finnegan opened up Ballinagh's account in the first minute of this entertaining contest with an ambitious effort from the right corner and while the victors would hit back almost immediately through a Smith free, disaster struck them some five minutes later.

Having carried possession along the right flank, David Finnegan tried an ambitious effort of his own which dropped short but it would end up reaping max profit for the 2013 champions when 'keeper Anthony Smith let it slips through his hands and into the back of the net.

A superbly struck 50-metre free from Eamon McEvoy a minute later really looked to have Ballinagh humming, but their counterparts were far from dead and buried and in their talisman McVeety they'd a flier to drive them forward. The Cavan senior orchestrated Ryan O'Reilly's first point of the evening and landed one himself in the 11th minute to quickly trim the difference back to two.

Niall McDermott had an early goal chance go by the way side, which saw Smith redeeming himself in the Crosserlough goal, and when Smith and McDermott cancelled each other out with frees it provided O'Reilly with the chance to put the men in black and amber in front in the 21st minute, which he dually did - fisting in McVeety's pass beyond a stranded Killian Finnegan.

That was a clear turning point in the contest, as McVeety sailed over from 40 metres to double McCarthy's men's advantage a minute later, and they'd ride their momentum right up to half-time with that man McVeety adding another and Eoin Cusack curling over a difficult free, closing the half at 1-7 to 1-3.

Ballinagh enjoyed the better restart with a brace each from McDermott (frees) and Finnegan eating into their arrears, as Cusack (free) and Patrick O'Reilly having raised white flags at the other end, but all of that good work would be undone once Smith rifled into their onion bag on 40 minutes.

McVeety supplied Crosserlough's centre-forward in a perfect position to lash home for all three points, although they'd be reduced to 14 when Patrick O'Reilly was issued a red card from referee Tony Gregory.

Ballinagh needed a quick response otherwise the game was up for them and they got it through points from Kevin Smith and McDermott (free), reducing the margin to three with a quarter of an hour left on the clock.

Crosserlough found their big man on the square again as O'Reilly drilled over with another opportunity of goal on, and Smith quickly backed it up to leave it at 2-11 to 1-9 in favour of Darragh McCarthy's men.

A superbly struck free from Eamon McEvoy sparked another mini-revival from Fay's men though, with overs from Smith and David Finnegan giving them hope heading into injury-time.

Crosserlough held out though as Shane McManus's sensational score ensured a three-point win and they'll look forward to a battle with Gowna next weekend, while Ballinagh face up to neighbours Lacken in what will be a hotly-anticipated derby clash.

Crosserlough: Anthony Smith; Karl Lynch, Colin Lynch, Patrick O'Reilly (0-1); Mark Stewart, Dara McVeety (0-4, 1f), Paul McEvoy; Conor Rehill, Eoin Cusack (0-2, 2f); David Shalvey, Pierce Smith (1-3, 2f), Shane McVeety; Shane McManus (0-1), Ryan O'Reilly (1-2), Stephen Smith. Subs: Darren Gaffney for D Shalvey (52mins), Kevin Smith for S McVeety (54), James McEvoy for S McManus (60).

Ballinagh: Killian Finnegan; Alan Smith, Aaron Reilly, Killian McBride; Gavin Smith, Patrick Carroll, Niall O'Reilly; Padraic O'Reilly, Eamon McEvoy (0-2, 2f); David Finnegan (1-1), Kevin Smith (0-2), Paddy O'Brien; Shane Finnegan (0-3), Niall McDermott (0-4, 4f), Thomas Moore. Subs: Damien Reilly for P O'Brien (21mins, BC), Enda Brady (0-1) for A Reilly (48), Declan Beard for K Finnegan (58), Peter Donohoe for A Smith (59).

Ref: Tony Gregory (Bailieborough)

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