Ballinlough 3-20 Drumbaragh 1-07

Ballinlough and Drumbaragh made the short trip to a pristine Moynalty despite the heavy rains of the evening and the Moynalty club should be commended for having the pitch in such pristine condition.

Daire Shine opened the scoring with a Ballinlough point before Drumbaragh hit back with a point from play in the third minute. The men in red were to take the upper hand early on when Mark McCullen played an exquisite ball into Darren O’Higgins and while the sharp-shooting Higgins was felled on his way to goal, Brandon Brunton was on hand to tap the loose ball into an empty net to give Ballinlough a three point lead.

A Harry Ryan free in the seventh minute extended the lead before Drumbaragh hit back with a well taken advanced mark to keep just the goal between the sides. County hurling star Seánie Geraghty got his name on the score-sheet early on when he played a lovely 1-2 with the ever influential Mark McCullen in the 13th minute.

From the fifteen minute mark Drumbaragh seemed to have awoken from their slumber and hit the next two points in quick succession before taking an unlikely lead in the 16th minute when a Ballinlough kick out went astray and the punishment was to see the ball hit the back of the net.

A fine fetch from Mark McCullen in the middle of the field provided the next scoring opportunity as the Drumbaragh men didn’t retreat quickly enough for Referee Kieran Olwell’s liking and the ball was brought forward to an easier 40m free for Oisin McDermott, who nailed the ball between the posts off the ground from distance as only he can.

Two further points for Drumbaragh kept them leading but some excellent hassling from Harry Ryan out of possession ensured the ball was turned over in the middle of the park and played forward to Darren O’Higgins who fisted over from a tight angle to reduce the deficit to one point.

The aforementioned Ryan was really beginning to grow into the game now as he  rattled off the next three scores of the half, all frees, the third in particular on his left foot from a tight angle, but it was no bother to Harry as he gave Ballinlough a two point lead heading in at half time.

So when Referee Kieran Olwell blew the half time whistle the score board read Ballinlough 1-08 to Drumbaraghs 1-06.

With the first half being fairly nip and tuck, spectators would have being forgiven for expecting more of the same in the second half, but this was anything but as Ballinlough put on a masterclass of shooting to completely deplete and demoralize their opposition.

The persistent fouling from the Drumbaragh defense was beginning to cause them bother as two early frees were converted by the in-form Harry Ryan to give Ballinlough a four point lead by the 34th minute.

While the forwards were in fine scoring form for Ballinlough what was more telling was their work rate when out of possession and Darren O’Higgins epitomized that when he chased the ball all the way back to the Ballinlough 20m line before forcing the turnover, the ball worked forward to Daire Shine who made no mistake firing over to extend Ballinloughs lead.

Another Harry Ryan free this time in front of goal,as Daire Shine was near decapitated, boosted Ballinlough further before brilliant work from Benji Smith set up Seánie Geraghty for his second point of the evening in the 39th minute.

With every foul committed by Drumbaragh they were punished as the red hot Harry Ryan fired over another free in the 40th minute, before Benji Smith got his customary point from play when things are going well for Ballinlough!!

While his eight placed ball scores were impressive, Harry Ryan saved the best till last as he started an attack way out on the wing the wrong side of midfield, and then having played a perfect pass into the forward line, he ran the length of the pitch to be on the receiving end of the next pass before firing over from play in the 44th minute.

Another man who is beginning to find his form again was Daire Shine and he fired over two points from play in as many minutes to enhance what was already a handsome Ballinlough lead.

Ballinlough had the ball in the net for a second time in the 50th minute when Oisin McDermott found Darren O’Higgins, and while he still had plenty of work to do, he skipped away from his defender and let fly a rifling shot to the net to boost his own personal tally to 1-01.

O’Higgins was soon to turn assistant as he collected the wayward Drumbaragh kick-out and with it becoming a 50/50 race between Kit Óg Lynch and the Drumbaragh keeper, Lynch kept his composure and finished to the net soccer style to gift Ballinlough their third goal of the evening.

Drumbaragh’s first real chance of the second half came all the way in the 55th minute when they had a decent goal chance but Alan Gibney was more than able to deal with the shot before getting a good clearance off to deny the Drums any chance of a second goal.

The man who has provided more assists than most, finally got his name on the score sheet this evening when Mark McCullen scored an excellent point in the 56th minute and we hope there will be plenty more scores like that to come from the big midfield man.

It took Drumbaragh 27 minutes of the second half to finally trouble the scoreboard operator as they pointed for the first time in the 57th minute, but not content to even give them the honour of getting the last score, Daire Shine popped up with a point from play in the 61st minute to cap off a mesmerizing half of football from the Ballinlough men and send them sailing into the Final with a resounding victory.

So when Referee Kieran Olwell blew the full time whistle the scoreboard read Ballinlough 3-20 to Drumbaraghs 1-07.

A mighty win and promotion secured, but plenty of work still to do and first up is our Div.7 Final against Oldcastle on Saturday evening where we will be hoping to bring home the first bit of silverware of the year.

Ballinlough: A.Gibney, C.Rennicks, R.Farrell, L.Finnegan, D.Caffrey, S.Geraghty(0-02), J.Lynch, O.McDermott(0-01), M.McCullen(0-01), B.Smith(0-01), D.Shine(0-05), H.Ryan(0-09(8f)), D.O’Higgins(1-01), J.Smith, B.Brunton(1-00)

Subs: K.Óg Lynch(1-00) for B.Brunton H/T, C.Fleming for C.Rennicks 43’, N.McDonnell for S.Geraghty 50’, M.Tynan for D.O’Higgins 55’

Referee: Kieran Olwell

Tweet

Most Read Stories