Ballinlough 2-12 Drumbaragh 0-11

Ballinlough welcomed Drumbaragh to the Park on a bright Tuesday evening for Round 10 of the Division 4 League knowing a win was required to keep their promotion hopes on track.

The home side hit some early wides before Drumbaragh took the first score of the game with a point from play in the eighth minute before good work from Harry Ryan and Collie Mallen set Darren O’Higgins up to fire over the bar, the man who rarely scores points getting the honour of putting the first Ballinlough point up on the new scoreboard!!

A Harry Ryan free in the 10th minute gave Ballinlough the lead but they were pegged back when Drumbaragh nailed a free of their own, and then another score from play left them one up with 13 minutes played.

Ballinlough were playing some tidy football though and were finally rewarded when Conor Fleming pounced on a poor Drumbaragh kick-out and fed Darren O’Higgins, who jinked his way between defenders before passing perfectly to Mark McCullen, and he made no mistake firing to the net from close range to boost Ballinlough and give them a two point lead.

To be fair to the visitors they responded well taking the next two scores of the half to level the sides by the 16th minute, but Ballinlough were motoring well themselves with Harry Ryan hitting a free in the 21st minute to restore the lead.

The next score for Ballinlough might have come from the boot of Tom Shine, but it started with excellent defensive work by the duo of Benji Smith and Conor Fleming who forced the turnover before the ball was worked to Shine and sent over the bar in the 25th minute.

Another point for Ballinlough, a fine effort from Jack Smith left three points between the sides before a Drumbaragh point from play closed the game. Ballinlough can feel somewhat aggrieved that they only had a two point lead at the break as a late goal chance for Collie Mallen came to nothing, so when Referee Paddy Clarke blew the half time whistle, Ballinlough led on a scoreline of 1-05 to Drumbaraghs 0-06.

The second half started like the first with the ball sent wide of the posts early on, but that issue was soon rectified when Brandon Brunton fired over in the 32nd to leave three points between the teams again.

Drumbaragh for their part started to deploy a new tactic in the second half with plenty of high balls sent towards the Ballinlough rearguard but Alan Gibney in the net was more than comfortable under the high ball and played his part to thwart any danger from that particular angle.

Two points from distance for Drumbaragh left just a point between the sides by the 36th minute but Ballinlough were capable of deploying different tactics themselves, with Lorcan Maguire collecting a short kick-out and working the ball forward to Tom Shine who fired over to put the gap back to two.

Further points were traded with Drumbaragh hitting a free and Tom Shine responding in kind with a converted free for Ballinlough in the 42nd minute.

Substitute Lorcan Maguire was having a massive impact on this game with his judgement and excellent reading of the ball to deny Drumbaragh any clear cut chances and more often than not it was Maguire who came out of defense with the ball in his hands to set up the next Ballinlough attack.

From one such attack a free was awarded and while the shot was potentially “on”, the decision was made to work it short to Harry Ryan, and that choice was to prove decisive as Ryan sent a shot towards the post.

Now just while I was about to make a note cursing the fact he had dropped another ball short into the Keepers hands, Ryan pulled off what can only be called a  “Harry Ryan Special” as the low ball miraculously deceived the Drumbaragh keeper and floated over his head and into the net in the 46th minute !!

From that score Ballinlough pushed on with points for Daire Shine, Kit Óg Lynch and  Jack Smith, before Darren O’Higgins was gifted a gilt edged goal chance but somehow managed to not put the ball in the net, it was actually harder to miss and the scoreboard operator added the score such was the conviction the ball couldn’t have ended up anywhere else other than the net !!

Alas the goal was removed from the scoreboard and Drumbaragh hit back with a point from play, but Ballinlough responded with a score from the excellent Brandon Brunton who showed all of his pace as he left his defender in his wake before pointing in the 55th minute.

With Drumbaragh gunning for goals at this late stage it was important for Ballinlough heads to remain calm and cool, and that’s exactly what they did as some astute defending resulted in no breach of their goal mouth area, and despite Drumbaragh taking the final point from play in the 59th minute, no serious goal chance was coughed up by the home team.

So after almost four minutes of added time Referee Paddy Clarke blew the full time whistle, Ballinlough taking the victory on a scoreline of 2-12 to Drumbaragh’s 0-11.

That win keeps Ballinlough in contention for a Semi-Final spot with one more game to play so Manager Ken Rothwell will be ensuring his side take nothing for granted when we head to Bohermeen to face St.Ultans in nine days time !!

Ballinlough: A.Gibney, C.Fleming, J.Connell, B.Smith, D.Shine(0-01), S.Geraghty, J.Lynch, H.Ryan(1-02(2f)), M.McCullen(1-00), N.McDonnell, T.Shine(0-03(1f)), B.Brunton(0-02), D.O’Higgins(0-01), J.Smith(0-02), C.Mallen

Subs: L.Finnegan for N.McDonnell H/T, L.Maguire for C.Fleming 32’, K.Óg Lynch (0-01) for C.Mallen 42’, J.Casserly for J.Smith 55’

Referee: Paddy Clarke

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