Ballinlough 1-16 St.Vincents 3-18 AET

Ballinlough and St.Vincent’s met on a calm but cool September Saturday evening in Dunganny for this Junior Football Championship and both sides had to give absolutely everything as nothing split the teams, with extra time needed to determine a winner.

St.Vincents opened the scoring with a point from play in the first minute when the returning Michael McIvor fired over, and what a boon he was to be for the St.Vincents men as he finished with a personal tally of 3-06 after eighty minutes of football was played.

A second point for the Vincent’s doubled their lead before Ballinlough hit back, with Oisin McDermott firing over a lovely two-point score from play after great work from Charlie Lynch in the fourth minute.

Ballinlough took the lead when Daire Shine fired over a free in the sixth minute and he put two between the sides as he landed another free in the 11th minute, Darren O’Higgins the man felled this time.

St.Vincents leveled proceedings with a fine two-pointer from play in the 13th minute, but Ballinlough were playing well and great work from Mark McCullen, Benji Smith and Brandon Brunton set Daire Shine up for his first point from play in the 14th minute.

There was an injury doubt over Tom Shine ahead of throw in but as always the young man gave everything for his club and chipped in with a nice score from a tight angle to give Ballinlough their two point lead back.

Brother Daire made the gap three when he fired over in the 16th minute and Ballinlough really should have had a stranglehold on this game when Darren O’Higgins bore down on goal, but his effort in the 20th minute whistled narrowly wide of the posts.

Referee Cormac Reilly was playing an advantage though, something he utilised frequently throughout the game, so Daire Shine was able to tap over a close range free to leave four points between the sides.

St.Vincents lowered the gap with a point from play in the 22nd minute, and they were to be gifted a goal seconds later when a malfunction in the Ballinlough kickout left the ball free for Michael McIvor to exploit, and once he had possession he made no mistake firing to the net for St.Vincents and bringing them right back into this game.

From that Ballinlough were punished further when Mark McCullen was black carded in the 26th minute for an off the ball incident, and St.Vincents fired over a free in the same moment to go one point ahead, but Daire Shine restored parity with a point from play in the 28th minute.

That score probably should have being the reason the sides were level at the break but St Vincent’s hit back with a point from play in the 29th minute, and so they took a one point lead in at half time, on a scoreline of 0-09 to 1-07.

With St.Vincents still holding a numerical advantage for four minutes of the second half they increased their lead with an advanced mark in the opening minute of the half.

Ballinlough responded brilliantly though with Daire Shine pulling the sides level with an excellent two point free in the 33rd minute.

With the re-introduction of Mark McCullen, Ballinlough set to work making up for lost time, and after a superb run from Eoin Briody, he linked up with Darren O’Higgins who laid the ball across the face of the goal, and Tom Shine was on hand to bury home for Ballinlough and raise the green flag.

St.Vincents added a point in the 41st minute but dogged defending from Darragh Caffrey and Robbie Farrell stopped any serious threat from occurring.

Further points were traded with Daire Shine accurate for Ballinlough in the 46th minute.

Ballinlough’s three point lead was restored when substitute Jack Connell fired over a lovely point, again after great work from Eoin Briody in the centre of the park.

All Ballinloughs hard work was undone though in a manner of minutes as St.Vincents hit a two point score from play in the 48th minute, and then when Ballinlough failed to control the ball in the midfield of the field in the 52nd minute, St.Vincents pounced launching a high ball in and it was finished to the net swiftly to give the men in maroon a two point lead.

Great credit to Ballinlough they didn’t panic and Daire Shine laid down the gauntlet hitting a point from play and a free by the 57th minute to level the sides once more.

With nothing separating the sides every attack had the potential to produce the winning score and after being patient with the ball Ballinlough worked it forward to Darren O’Higgins, and as he had done all evening his driving run caused panic in the St.Vincent’s defence and he was felled to offer Ballinlough a chance to win it in the 62nd minute.

Up stepped Daire Shine and he fired over to roars of approval from the Ballinlough Faithful, but with Referee Cormac Reilly allowing play to continue after the kick out this game wasn’t over yet.

It was time now for St.Vincents to find a hero and that came from an unlikely source as their No.2 made his way up the field unchecked, and when he found himself in space in the 64th minute he made no mistake firing over to level the sides. With that Referee Cormac Reilly blew the full time whistle and we headed for extra time.

After what was an absorbing contest over 60 odd minutes, extra time proved to be abit of a let down as Ballinlough never really got going at all and St.Vincent’s hit two early points before a pivotal goal just before the stroke of half time, once again Ballinlough failing to deal with a high ball in and the ball ended up in the back of the net for the third time.

With a healthy lead already established, St.Vincents controlled the game well from this point and the second half of extra time was more about keeping the ball then adding more scores, but they managed to do both effectively and added a two point free to their tally in the 13th minute of extra time.

Ballinlough to their credit they did get some possession in the second half of extra time, but unfortunately they kicked the ball away on several occasions without producing a score.

St.Vincents by contrast added a further point a minute before full time, so when Referee Cormac Reilly blew the final whistle it was the Ardcath men who march onto the Final on a scoreline of of 3-18 to Ballinloughs 1-16.

Ballinlough Team: A.Gibney, S.Geraghty, R.Farrell, C.Fleming, D.Caffrey, O.McDermott (0-02,(one 2pt)), H.Ryan, E.Briody, M.McCullen, B.Brunton, D.Shine (0-12)(4f, one 2ptf)), C.Lynch, B.Smith, T.Shine (1-01), D.O’Higgins

Subs: J. Connell (0-01) for C. Lynch 38’, L. Maguire for H. Ryan 53’, K.Óg Lynch for B.Smith 57’

Referee: Cormac Reilly

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