Ballinlough 1-18 Kilmainham 2-09 

With the whole country seemingly fixated on the reunion of the Gallagher Brothers in Croke Park this weekend, some might say this game could have slipped under the radar, but it meant an awful lot to both teams competing in Carnaross on Saturday evening!!

Kilmainham started at a Supersonic pace with two points from play in the opening minutes, before Daire Shine hit back with a point from play in the fourth minute.

Kilmainham had a very decent goal chance only to be denied by a resolute Ballinlough defence, and the Ballinlough men were to be boosted when Benji Smith fired over in the sixth minute to level the sides. 

Indeed, Ballinlough should have being further ahead only for some poor shooting to let them down, and a great goal chance wasn’t capitalised on when Kilmainham cleared the ball off their goal line just in time in the 12th minute.

Daire Shine put Ballinlough ahead with a pointed free on the 15 minute mark and the Lough pushed on with points from Brandon Brunton and Darren O’Higgins, the Ballinlough sharpshooter kept relatively quiet by the outstanding work from Harry Newman who despite an age gap of about 20 years, Newman certainly stuck to his task well in Carnaross.

Further points from Sean Tunney and Tom Shine put Ballinlough into a five-point lead but Kilmainham hit back with a green flag in the 24th minute to bring themselves right back into the game.

Ballinlough didn’t panic however and stuck to The Masterplan, Eoin Briody collecting the ball in midfield surging forward, and his link up play was exceptional before he got the ball back and played it across the face of goal, no Ballinlough man was on the receiving end but the ball came off a Kilmainham defender completely wrong footing the Keeper and the ball was in the back of the net in the 26th minute.

Just before half time Oisin McDermott landed a super 45’ for Ballinlough before a Kilmainham point from play in the 32nd minute brought an end to first half proceedings, so when Referee Peter O’Halloran blew the half time whistle Ballinlough led on a scoreline of 1-08 to Kilmainhams 1-03.

With the second half commencing Kilmainham had plenty of the ball, but they couldn’t convert as solid defending from Robbie Farrell denied them any clear cut chances.

The first score of the half came in the 36th minute when Daire Shine pointed after Kilmainham breached the three-up rule, but the Kilmainham men hit back with a pointed free and a second score from play by the 40th minute to leave four between the sides.

Daire Shine who was getting fouled almost every time he got the ball just had to roll with it and keep plugging away, and he landed a fine two point free in the 43rd minute. Seconds later and Shine was raising the Orange flag again when he hit a superb two-pointer from play to put Ballinlough firmly in the driving seat.

Kilmainham were still in the game though and had chances to cut the deficit but excellent goal-keeping from Alan Gibney kept them quiet until the 46th minute when they finally managed to raise the green flag, Ballinlough disgruntled that it should have being a square ball, but after Referee Peter O’Halloran consulted with his Umpire the Ballinlough players were told to stop crying their heart out, and the goal was given!

Ballinlough responded brilliantly though with Daire Shine to the fore, as he kicked another point in the 47th minute, before brother Tom got in on the act and fired over a minute later.

Daire Shine took the next two scores, the second one in particular coming after fantastic work from Charlie Lynch, the young man making his first adult Championship start this weekend.

Kilmainham replied with two frees by the 57th minute but Ballinlough kept their lead intact when Brandon Brunton sent over a lovely point in the 58th minute.

Two late points for Kilmainham put a bit of a dent in the winning margin but in truth this game was never in doubt towards the end, and it was an evening for cigarettes and alcohol as Ballinlough held on and put themselves firmly at the top of the table with a six point win on a scoreline of 1-18 to Kilmainhams 2-09.

Ballinlough Team: A.Gibney, C.Fleming, R.Farrell, D.Caffrey, H.Ryan, O.McDermott (0-01(one 45’)), T.Shine (0-01), M.McCullen, E.Briody (1-00), B.Brunton (0-01), D.Shine (0-10(one 2pt, one 2pt free), C.Lynch, S.Tunney, D.O’Higgins (0-01), B.Smith (0-01)

Subs: J.Connell for B.Smith 43’, L.Maguire for S.Tunney 57’

Referee: Peter O’Halloran

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