St. Vincent’s 0-13 Ballivor 0-9

On Saturday evening, Ballivor made the cross-county trip to Ardcath for Round 4 of the Football League although it was only Ballivor’s second outing of the campaign with games against Dunderry and Kilbride, both falling foul to the weather.

The away game to St. Vincent’s in the league seems to be an annual occurrence for Ballivor at this stage, so they knew the tough test that was about to be faced, and so it proved with the East Meath men taking the two points once again.

Ballivor were up against it from the start for a number of reasons. Holiday’s, injuries and babies (Congratulations Paddy and Aoife Conneely) meant that Ballivor only had a panel of 17 to pick from on the day. Added to the gale force wind that Ballivor were playing into in the first half, it was never going to be easy. While missing players, weather conditions, refereeing decisions, etc could all be used as excuses, it was obvious to everyone in attendance that the better team won on the day.

The first twenty minutes were close. Ballivor kept it tight at the back and forced Vincent’s to take shots from far and wide areas of the field. Despite the wind, Tosh Raleigh’s kick-outs were still reaching 50/55 metres which did help to bypass the high St. Vincent’s press. Ballivor got a point from play from Martin Healy and another from a Kevin Mckeon free which put the scores at 0-4 to 0-2 with about 5 minutes left of the half. A score which Ballivor would have been happy with at the break under the circumstances. Unfortunately, Vincent’s put a bit of a run together and the shots they were missing earlier in the half started to dissect the uprights. The home team scored 5 quick points in succession and led by 7 at half time.

Half Time St. Vincent’s 0-9 Ballivor 0-2

The second half threw in and although the wind settled a little bit it was definitely now favouring the away team, wearing their alternative green strip. Ballivor started well and got points through Ciarán Dowling, Adam Gannon and Kevin Mckeon. St. Vincent’s game management against the wind was very impressive. They held the ball well and slowed the pace of the game, they didn’t drop deep as many teams do when facing a wind and their sweeper did well in stopping any quick ball that Ballivor tried to play into the full forward. They also kicked a few more points of their own which kept the visitors at arm’s length. For the second game in a row, it seemed that Ballivor were having trouble breaking down a well organised defence, a trend that they will be hoping to nip in the bud as soon as possible. Ballivor got two more points, one from Gannon and another from Kevin Mckeon leaving the gap at 5 points coming down the homestretch. A free was awarded to Ballivor on the Vincent’s 20-metre line and subsequently brought up to the 13-metre line for dissent. Kevin Mckeon went for goal from the free and it was charged down by the rushing Vincent’s defender, like Stephen O’Keefe against Anthony Nash and deflected over for a point. The referee deemed there was no issue with how close the defender was to the free, awarded the point and then decided that he’d seen enough and blew the full-time whistle.

Thanks to St. Vincent’s for their hospitality and referee Peter O’Halloran. Ballivor’s next game is at home to Kilbride on Thursday, and they will be looking to bounce back quickly from this defeat.

Ballivor team: Tosh Raleigh, Noah Doyle, Gary Sherrock, Martin Browne, Ciarán Browne, Mark Healy, Brendan Mckeon, Darragh Ryan, Evan Fitzgerald, Shay Diggins, Martin Healy (0-1), Ciarán Dowling (0-1), Mark Hand, Kevin McKeon (0-5 4 frees), Adam Gannon (0-2)

Subs: Jamie Kavanagh for Martin Browne, Thomas Macleod for Mark Hand

Tweet

Most Read Stories