Ballinlough 2-17 (23) Na Fianna 1-07 (10)

Ballinlough welcomed Na Fianna to a stifling hot Park for Round 8 of the Division 7 League, and while Na Fianna took the opening score of the game, it was Ballinlough who started at a blistering pace, Luke Harte fielding expertly in midfield before sending the ball forward to Brandon Brunton and he made no mistake with his first effort as he rifled the net in the second minute.

From the next play a Brillant interception from Niall McDonnell saw Ballinlough turn over possession and when the ball was worked fast down the field Dan O’Brien was the one with the final touch as he swept the ball past the keeper to give Ballinlough a second early goal.

O’Brien followed that score up with a pointed free on the five minute mark to extend Ballinloughs lead to six points.

Na Fianna hit back with a point from play and indeed that score could have been a goal were it not for the excellent defensive contribution of Louis Finnegan who dispossessed his man just before he had the chance to pull the trigger.

From that score Ballinlough pushed on again and added four further scores from four individual sources with the evergreen Benji Smith, Brandon Brunton, Ciaran Ryan and Dan O’Brien all adding points to extend Ballinloughs lead to nine points by the time Referee Gabriel Patterson blew for the first of the much needed water breaks.

From the restart Na Fianna broke forward but Charlie Lynch, who had a fine game in the full back position, intercepted expertly and the ball was worked forward where a free was awarded to the home side, with Dan O’Brien duly converting.

An excellent run forward from Conor Rennicks set up Ballinlough’s next score as Ciaran Ryan added his second point from play in the 24th minute.

The Ballinlough defensive unit were working over time to create chances for their attacking colleagues and next up was Mick Geraghty who worked the ball well before finding Shane Lynch who fired over with aplomb and the gap was now twelve points.

In a game where Ballinlough had ten different scorers, Joshua Lynch added his name to the score-sheet with a point in the 28th minute.

A Na Fianna free in the 30th minute was all they could muster in response and even that score was cancelled out when Charlie Lynch strode forward before finding Benji Smith who sent over his second point in what was a very dominating half for the Ballinlough men.

So when Referee Gabriel Patterson blew the half time whistle the home side led on a scoreline of 2-10 to Na Fianna’s 0-03.

From the restart Na Fianna once again opened the scoring with a pointed free before Mick Geraghty who now has a couple of games under his belt, got his first score for the club in a number of years as he added a fine point in the 33rd minute.

Speaking of returnees, and on a side note just want to give a wee shout out to one of Ballinlough’s best supporters from across the pond, Pat Jordan, who was in attendance tonight on a trip home from Canada, and we hope he enjoyed the fine display the lads put on for him !!

Back to the game and Na Fianna had found abit of life in themselves and scored a fine goal in the 34th minute before adding a pointed free five minutes later to reduce the deficit to nine points.

Ballinlough were in no mood of letting them get a stranglehold in the second half as Shane Lynch pointed in the 42nd minute and good work from cousins Alan Gibney and Charlie Lynch saw Luke Harte find possession before stroking over his first point in the 47th minute.

Great defensive pressure from Ballinlough over the next few minutes ensured Na Fianna didn’t get any easy chances, with Louis Finnegan, David Rogers, and Robert O’Brien particularly effective in thwarting any attacks.

With plenty of scorers and scores on the scoreboard for Ballinlough, the greatest applause was reserved for Podge Muldoon as he sent over a peach of a point in the 53rd minute… if Benji Smith is evergreen then Podge is simply timeless!

A Na Fianna pointed free in the 55th minute kept their scoreboard ticking slowly but Ballinlough were firing on all cylinders and Luke Harte added his second point, before James Brooks added two points, one either side of a Na Fianna score.

So when Referee Gabriel Patterson blew the full time whistle Ballinlough ran out convincing winners of a scoreline of 2-17 to Na Fianna’s 1-07.

That result ensures our spot in Division 7 for next year and manager Andy McGovern will have been very pleased with the performance put in from these lads ahead of our clash with Longwood in Division 4 on Sunday morning!

Ballinlough Team: Senan McDermott, Louis Finnegan, Charlie Lynch, Conor Rennicks, Robert O’Brien, Mick Geraghty (0-01), Luke Harte (0-02), Joshua Lynch (0-01), Shane Lynch (0-02), Niall McDonnell, Brandon Brunton (1-01), Dan O’Brien (1-03(3f)), Ciaran Ryan (0-02), Benji Smith (0-02), Mark Tynan

Subs: Rory Smith for C.Ryan H/T, Eoghan McCabe for M.Tynan H/T, James Brooks (0-02) for N.McDonnell 41’, Podge Muldoon (0-01) for B.Smith 42’, Alan Gibney for B.Brunton 44’, David Rogers for J.Lynch 45’

Referee: Gabriel Patterson

Tweet

Most Read Stories