Mullahoran 3-7
Ballinagh 0-14 aet

by Shane Corrigan
at Kingspan Breffni Park

Back-to-back goals in extra-time worked the oracle for Mullahoran last night as they saw off Ballinagh at the second attempt to move into the quarter-finals of the senior football championship.

A slow burner start turned into a thrilling spectacle between these two rivalled outfits at Kingspan Breffni Park, where goals from Daniel Smith and Peter Paul Galligan towards the end of the first-half of extra-time made all the difference for Mullahoran despite Colin Gumley notching 0-8 for their opponents over the 80 minutes.

The sides had been inseparable during the first-half, mirroring last Saturday night's meeting, but when Dreadnoughts centre-back Sean McKeogh netted three minutes into the second-half one could be forgiven for thinking that Gerry Cadden's men had struck a decisive blow in this airtight contest.

However, the 2013 champions put their faith in Gumley to restore the balance for them, which he dually did, and when they introduced Niall McDermott to the fray with a little over 10 minutes to go they looked the more likely side and led with six to go. That remained the case until the fourth minute of injury-time when Smith forced extra-time, where two goals in the space of a minute did the irreversible damage to Bernard Morris's side, whom did their damnedest to recover in the second-half before coming up just short.

Ballinagh started this replay clash off in fine style with midfielder Thomas Moore flying over a 50-metre free and adding another from about 30m before Philip Brady and Enda O'Reilly (free) landed a pair for the Killydoon men to erase efforts by Kevin Smith and Gumley (free).

It left the would-be winners with a two-point gap to close before half-time and they did so thanks to a strong finish to the half which saw Kevin Fitzsimons, O'Reilly and Nannery raise white flags, outweighing a single at the other end from David Finnegan, to leave it all square for the second-half at 0-5 each.

Mullahoran enjoyed the dream restart when handball star Paul Brady broke possession at full-forward right into the path of an onrushing McKeogh and the number six coolly stroked the ball past Declan Beard in the Ballinagh goal. A black card for wing back Chris Prior, two Gumley scores (one a free) at the other end and the sight of McDermott replacing Anthony Gaynor at full-forward weren't the positive signs the Dreadnoughts were looking for after their major, as county man McDermott, who was carrying injury, had Ballinagh level within a minute (48) of coming on.

A 40-metre from Gumley six minutes later had the town side back in the ascendancy, meaning it was Mullahoran's turn to dig deep again with the clock winding down on them. A gem from Paul Brady along the right flank certainly put them on the right path but Ballinagh looked to have it won when Finnegan earned a free inside for Gumley to convert with the pressure on. 

The men in saffron lost corner-back Killian McBride to a red card, after picking up a black card on top a yellow, but they showed all the signs of holding on for victory until O'Reilly drilled in a last ditch free from alongside the Mullahoran dug-out and the ball found its way to Smith, who held his nerve for the equaliser.

Mullahoran would only register two scores in extra-time, but when they eventually arrived in first-half injury-time they acted as a devastating combo blow to their counterparts. The first saw Smith read a misplaced back pass to Beard supremely and from the latter's kick-out veteran Christy Shiels, on in place of Fitzsimons, nabbed possession and sent through Killian Brady, who unselfishly offloaded to Galligan for the second.

It left Ballinagh with a mountain to climb for the last 10 minutes and they very nearly scaled it, with Gumley in fine shooting form for them, sailing over 0-3 towards the end as Mullahoran's backs scrambled to keep their goal sheet clean until the last whistle.

The win leaves Mullahoran with a berth in the last eight to savour, while Ballinagh still remain in the competition, having to come through another round to join the winners from 2012.

Mullahoran: Dominic Crudden; Matthew Hynes, James Reilly, Seanie Smith; Michael Brady, Sean McKeogh (1-0), Chris Prior; Killian Brady, Kevin Fitzsimons (0-1); Philip Brady (0-1), Peter Paul Galligan (1-0), Tomas Nannery (0-1); Paul Brady (0-1), Enda O'Reilly (0-2, 1f), Jason Donoghue. Subs: Paddy Brady for C Prior (36mins, BC), Shane Shiels for Galligan (48), Daniel Smith (1-1) for Philip Brady (54), Galligan for Nannery (66), Christy Shiels for K Fitzsimons (69), Edward Dalton for M Brady (70).

Ballinagh: Declan Beard; Fergus Bogue (0-1), Patrick Carroll, Killian McBride; Gavin Smith, Niall O'Reilly, Philip Bogue; Padraic O'Reilly, Thomas Moore (0-2, 2f); Kevin Smith (0-1), David Finnegan (0-1), Cathal Bogue; Colin Gumley (0-8, 6f), Anthony Gaynor, Ronan O'Reilly. Subs: Niall McDermott (0-1) for A Gaynor (47mins), Sean Keating for Ronan O'Reilly (57), O'Reilly for Finnegan (66), Gaynor for A Bogue (70), Enda Brady for Keating (75).

Ref: Chris McCaffrey (Templeport)

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