Ballinlough 0-14 Dunsany 1-12

Ballinlough welcomed last year’s Junior Championship winners Dunsany to the Park for Round one of the Meath GAA Division 3 League. With both sides missing a host of household names and neither team partaking in their respective Cup competitions, it was anyone’s guess as to how this one was going to go this afternoon!

Throw in was preceded by an impeccable minutes silence in memory of Brendan Cummins, the great Dunsany and Meath Gael, before Referee Paul Mooney got things underway, Ballinlough starting brightly with a Kit Óg Lynch point from play in the opening minute.

That score was followed up by a point from play for Harry Ryan, after excellent defensive work from Jack Connell and Charlie Lynch who was making his adult debut this afternoon and put in a fine shift at corner back.

Dunsany opened their account with a pointed free in the seventh minute before firing home the games first and only goal seconds later, the lively Jack Cottrell with the finish.

Ballinlough had a goal chance of their own moments later only to be denied by the leg of Ciaran Flynn in the Dunsany net, but Harry Ryan did manage to bend the rebound over the bar to leave just a point between the sides.

Further points were traded with Cottrell accurate for Dunsany while Benji Smith got his name on the scoresheet with a well taken score in the 19th minute.

We had seen little to nothing of the new rules in the opening twenty minutes of the game, but all that changed as Oisin McDermott had the honour of kicking the first two pointer in competitive football for the home side, landing two monster points from outside the 40m Arc. The first was an off the ground free in the 21st minute, before a lovely effort three minutes later which split the posts to completely turn the scoreboard on its head, Ballinlough now leading by three.

Dunsany were still threatening down the other end, but they were denied several times by the wily Robbie Farrell who was alive to any dangerous balls towards the Dunsany forward line. They did manage a point from play in the 27th minute, but Ballinlough finished stronger with Kit Òg Lynch nailing a super score from outside the Arc to boost Ballinlough’s tally by two again, before Niall McDonnell completed the scoring with a well taken point on the stroke of half time.

With that Referee Paul Mooney blew the half time whistle the scoreboard reading 0-11 to Dunsanys 1-03, those two pointers working wonders for Ballinloughs lead.

Dunsany started the second half with intent and they were to be assisted by a couple of score able frees that were sent over the bar to reduce the deficit back to three points by the 37th minute.

Jack Connell popped up with a lovely score for Ballinlough a moment later but again another converted Dunsany free allowed them to keep themselves within touching distance of the hosts.

Great work from Benji Smith and Substitute Louis Finnegan saw the two combine well before setting up Harry Ryan for a nice point in the 42nd minute, and that score was followed by an excellent point from the boot of Oisin McDermott a moment later.

The visitors were still well in this game though and could have added to their goal tally only for the reflexes of Alan Gibney in the Ballinlough net as he saved a couple of genuine goal efforts in as many minutes to keep Dunsany out. 

The concession of another free in the 49th minute though allowed them to chip away at Ballinlough’s lead, this score causing much confusion as the Umpire waved the white flag which was reflected on the scoreboard and my notebook, but unbeknownst to many Referee Paul Mooney had actually signaled for a two pointer, and to be fair he was closer to the action that any, so after a couple of minutes, the scoreboard and my notes were swiftly rectified to include the missing point!

The visitors were relying heavily on placed balls for scores in this game and they were afforded another opportunity in the 52nd minute to leave just two points between the sides.

That gap was reduced to one point with a Dunsany point from play in the 56th minute, and while a lot of decisions in games are subjective and Referees are doing their best, Harry Ryan can feel particularly hard done by as he bore down on the Dunsany goal before having his jersey severely tugged just as he pulled the trigger, his shot going harmlessly wide, but a major sense of bemusement from the Ballinlough Faithful as to why the ball wasn’t brought back for what was as clear a free in as you’ll ever see.

To rub salt into the wound, from the restart Dunsany bounded down the field and kicked the leveling score in the 58th minute, before adding what was to be the winning point two minutes later on the stoke of full time.

So when Referee Paul Mooney blew the full time whistle Ballinlough let this one slip away with Dunsany taking the win on a scoreline of 1-12 to Ballinlough’s 0-14.

A disappointing defeat today but promising signs shown and plenty to work on ahead of Round 2 next weekend!!

Ballinlough: A.Gibney, C.Lynch, R.Farrell, C.Rennicks, J.Connell(0-01), D.Caffrey, C.Fleming, O.McDermott(0-05(one 2pt Free, one 2pt)), E.Briody, N.McDonnell(0-01), H.Ryan(0-03), B.Smith(0-01), K.Óg Lynch(0-03(one 2pt)), S.Tunney, B.Brunton

Subs: L. Finnegan for S.Tunney 38’, L. Maguire for R.Farrell 43’, M. McCullen for N. McDonnell 53’

Referee: Paul Mooney

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