Longwood 0-2 Ballivor 5-10

Ballivor’s season began with a comfortable victory over neighbours Longwood on a very chilly Thursday evening in Group D of the Corn na Boinne.

Longwood had already played a game in Round 1 where they were defeated by Moynalvey, but Ballivor who were yet to taste 2025 competitive action were primed and ready to go after a solid six weeks of pre-season training and numerous challenge games around the country.

Ballivor started very quickly against the wind in the first half, 4 minutes into the game, Ciarán Dowling continued his pre-season goal scoring form when he broke through from wing-forward and cooly slotted the ball into the bottom corner. This was quickly followed 2 minutes later by a trademark slaloming run from Adam Gannon which was also struck to the Longwood net.

New joint-captain Brendan Mckeon reminded the lads that it wasn’t soccer they were playing when he kicked two points in a row in the 11th and 12th minutes of the game, one of which was punishment for Longwood failing to leave three forwards up the pitch.

Longwood were temporarily reduced to 14 when centre-back Sean Sheridan received a black card for cynically stopping a quick Ballivor counter-attack.

The visitors continued to keep control, the other half of the new captaincy duo David Raleigh dictating the play from centre back. With the game effectively out of reach, Kevin Dowd and his management team were able to experiment with new tactics without much risk of anything going wrong.

Debutant Billy Birmingham scored Ballivor’s third goal, followed by a Ciarán Dowling point to put Ballivor 12 in front. Longwood got their first point of the day from a free just before the half time whistle.

Half-time: Longwood 0-1 Ballivor 3-3

The second half started with three Ballivor points from play from Kevin Mckeon, Brendan Mckeon and Adam Gannon respectively. Longwood replied with another pointed free but unfortunately for the hosts this would be the last impression that they would make on the scoreboard. Ballivor who had a huge panel on the day started to run the subs, making 17 subs in total.

The game was over as a contest and the crowd had started to head to the warmth of their cars. Ballivor kept tipping away, another goal for Billy, 1-1 for Brendan and points for Kevin Mckeon, Paddy Conneely and Cealain Geraghty brought the total to 5-10.

Well done to the six players who made their competitive adult debuts for Ballivor, Kaden De Lacy, Conal Diggins, Finn McCluskey, Aaron McGee, Billy Birmingham and Jamie Jiwan.

A decent opener for Ballivor, but they’ll need to convert more of their scoring chances the next day against Moynalvey with the winner progressing to the semi-final.

Thanks to referee Shane Mooney and to Longwood GAA for their hospitality and having the pitch in such great condition at this time of the year. We wish a speedy recovery to Jamie Smyth and Killian Canavan who both picked up injuries on the night.

Ballivor: Thomas Raleigh, Noah Doyle, Mark Healy, Ronan Comey, David Conneely, David Raleigh (JC), Gary Sherrock, Kevin McKeon, Keith Keoghan (VC), Conal Diggins, Billy Birmingham, Ciarán Dowling, Adam Gannon, Brendan McKeon, Cathal Mckeon.

Ballivor scorers: Brendan McKeon (1-4, 1f), Billy Birmingham (2-0), Adam Gannon (1-1), Ciarán Dowling (1-1), Kevin Mckeon (0-2), Paddy Conneely (0-1), Cealain Geraghty (0-1)

Subs: Kevin Burke, Joe McLaughlin, Kaden De Lacy, Brendan Quinn, Richie Sherrock, Aaron McGee, Finn McCluskey, Evan Burke, Darragh Ryan, Paddy Conneely, Mark Hand, Luke Douglas, Cealain Geraghty, Ciarán Browne, James Kelly, Jamie Jiwan, Thomas Macleod, Killian Canavan, Ryan Byas

 

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