Ballinlough 1-05-11 (24) St.Colmcilles 1-01-05 (10)

Ballinlough welcomed St.Colmcilles to the Park for Round 9 of the Division 4 League and with a number of regular starters absent for various reasons it was a chance for some other players to step up and make their mark on the team and none did more so than Harry Ryan who finished the evening with a massive tally of 1-12 for himself in what was an impressive and resounding victory for the home side.

Ballinlough opened the scoring with a Harry Ryan free in the opening minute before St.Colmcilles took the lead with two quick points from play.

Parity was restored in the fourth minute with Ryan once again accurate from the placed ball before adding a two point free in the 10th minute to leave Ballinlough leading by two.

The first two pointer of the game was quickly followed up by one at the other end from St.Colmcilles Christian Finlay and the visitors restored their lead with a point from play from the dangerous Jack Reynolds.

Darren O’Higgins levelled the sides with a point from play in the 19th minute but Cilles edged in front again when Reynolds was accurate once more a moment later.

Ballinlough were guilty of some very wasteful shooting and sent a number of shots wide of the posts in this opening half, and they were to be punished when St.Colmcilles won possession and worked the ball swiftly down the field before it was played across the face of Goal, and while Alan Gibney came out in good time, his attempted punch of the ball missed the target and the St.Colmcilles attacker was left with the easy job of palming to the net in the 21st minute.

A Harry Ryan free in the 23rd minute kept Ballinlough ticking over, and he was to hit his second two point free three minutes later when Referee Gabriel Patterson brought the ball forward for a stopping of the Solo & Go from further out the field.

Ballinlough soon took the lead again with Ryan once again to the fore as he sent over his third two pointer, this time from play, in the 31st minute, before Conor Fleming punished a poor St.Colmcilles kick-out and added his name to the score sheet with a tidy point from play.

So when Referee Gabriel Patterson blew the half time whistle Ballinlough led by two on a scoreline of 0-11 to St.Colmcilles 1-06.

From the restart St.Colmcilles started brightly but a combination of defending from Robbie Farrell and an excellent defensive hand in from Ferghal Gibney saw possession overturned and the ball worked down the other end where Harry Ryan fired over in the 32nd minute.

Darren O’Higgins kicked his second point of the evening in the 35th minute and he could have been the orchestrater of a Ballinlough goal when he combined well with Brandon Brunton, but the shot from Brunton was denied by the goal-keeper.

Very patient play from Ballinlough saw them hold onto possession and work their next score as Tom Shine made his run from deep before linking up with Darren O’Higgins and he found Mark McCullen who might have had goal on his mind but opted for the safety of thumping the ball over the bar instead in the 42nd minute to leave Ballinlough five points up.

A free in outside the Arc on the opposite side allowed Tom Shine show off his abilities as he slotted one over in the 43rd minute, and Harry Ryan added his eleventh point of the evening with a well taken score a moment later.

St.Colmcilles were really struggling for possession and thus scores in the second half and they had to settle for a converted 13m free in the 47th minute as their first and only score of the half to reduce the gap to seven points.

Ballinlough in contrast were having no problems finding the sticks and with Darren O’Higgins providing the driving runs, substitute Luke Harte showed quick hands to lay off the ball to the onrushing Harry Ryan and he tipped over his 12th and final point of the game in the 49th minute.

While points were of no further interest to him, Ryan was not finished scoring and following another fine run and pass from the speedy Darren O’Higgins, Harry collected possession before cooly slotting the ball past the keeper with his left foot from a tight angle in the 51st minute.

To cap off a fine performance Ryan showed great tenacity to get back and help his team-mates with defensive duties over the next couple of minutes as well, and once the ball was inevitably turned over, Darren O’Higgins took his chance to add his third point of the game… he’s getting good at them now !!

While the game was effectively over as a contest for some time there was still time for a moment of sheer brilliance and while Harry Ryan will steal the headlines, the score of the game came from the boot of Tom Shine who sent over an outrageous two point score from play from some distance beyond the 40m Arc to conclude a impressive scoring rout for Ballinlough on home soil.

So when Referee Gabriel Patterson blew the final whistle Ballinlough took the win on a scoreline of 1-21 to St.Colmcilles 1-07, while securing their position in Div.4 and also giving themselves an outside chance of reaching the Semi-Final spots!!

Ballinlough Team: Alan Gibney, Ferghal Gibney, Robbie Farrell, Conor Rennicks, Joshua Lynch, Seán Geraghty, Conor Fleming(0-01), Mark McCullen(0-01), Tom Shine(0-04(one 2ptF, one 2pt)), Darren O’Higgins(0-03), Harry Ryan(1-12(3f, two 2ptF, one 2pt)), Jack Connell, Kit Óg Lynch, Brandon Brunton, Dan O’Brien

Subs: Shane Lynch for K.Óg Lynch 34’, Luke Harte for D.O’Brien 45’, Mick Geraghty for M.McCullen 52’, Charlie Lynch for J.Connell 53’, Louis Finnegan for J.Lynch 54’, Ryan Kellett for C.Rennicks 54’, Robert O’Brien for R.Farrell 55’

Referee: Gabriel Patterson

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