Ballinhassig Pull Clear After Tempers Flare in Belgooly

Ballinhassig 0-15 (0-1-13) Ballymartle 1-07 (1-1-5)

Ballinhassig captain Patrick O'Leary with Ballymartle's Fionn Desmond and Referee Michael O'Mahony Kilbrittain 

Ballinhassig claimed a vital two points in the Procure.ie South East Junior A Football Championship with a hard-earned victory over Ballymartle in Belgooly on Friday evening.

The contest was played in a sporting manner for much of the game before tensions rose in the closing stages.

After Ballymartle reduced the gap to a single point around the 50-minute mark, tempers boiled over, resulting in three dismissals, and Ballinhassig took advantage to pull clear.

The Blues made the brighter start, with Patrick O'Regan opening the scoring, although Ryan Deasy quickly replied for Ballymartle to leave the sides level.

Ballinhassig soon regained control as Diarmuid O'Sullivan converted a close-range free before further scores from O'Sullivan, Brian Lynch and Evan Cullinane helped stretch the lead to 0-4 to 0-1 after 14 minutes.

At the opposite end, Eoin Lombard helped marshal a disciplined Ballinhassig defence, forcing Ballymartle to shoot from distance. O'Regan continued to impress in attack, adding another point before O'Sullivan also raised a white flag as Ballinhassig extended their advantage.

Ballymartle stayed in touch and were rewarded just before half-time when Niall Crowley pointed, leaving Ballinhassig 0-7 to 0-2 in front at the interval.

The second half began in ideal fashion for Ballymartle. Ryan Deasy converted two frees before landing a superb two-point effort that dropped into the square and bounced over the crossbar. Cillian Lordan then levelled matters on 39 minutes to complete the comeback.

Ballinhassig responded well, however, and regained the initiative with three unanswered scores. Evan Cullinane found the target before O'Sullivan added two more points to put daylight back between the teams.

Ballymartle struck a significant blow on 48 minutes when Fionn Desmond slipped a neat pass through for substitute Patrick Cronin, who finished to the net and cut the deficit to a single point.

The game took a dramatic turn shortly afterwards as tempers flared. Referee Michael O'Mahony issued red cards to Ballymartle duo Simon Dorney and Lewis Keohane, while Ballinhassig's Sean Lombard was also dismissed.

With Ballymartle reduced in numbers, Ballinhassig finished the stronger. Patrick O'Leary chipped in with two late points, while O'Sullivan added another to complete an important victory.

Scorers for Ballinhassig: D O'Sullivan 0-8 (2pt, 2F), P O'Regan 0-3 (2F), E Cullinane, P O'Leary 0-2 each.

Ballymartle: R Deasy 0-5 (2pt, 1F), P Cronin 1-0, C Lordan, C Cronin 0-1 each.

BALLINHASSIG: S Kearney; E Lombard, K Maguire, C Kirby; P O'Leary, C Desmond, J Grainger; D O'Donovan, G Daly; B Lynch, E Cullinane, D O'Sullivan; S Lombard, S O'Neill, P O'Regan.

Subs: O Meara for S O'Neill (39), R Casey for G Daly (56), T Madden for P O'Regan (58).

BALLYMARTLE: G Murphy; E Deasy, S Dorney, D Murphy; C Lordan, L O'Callaghan, L Hennessey; R Deasy, F Desmond; N Crowley, J Dwyer, R Sheehan; J O'Sullivan, S Cummins, L Keohane.

Subs: E O'Leary for S Cummins (39), P Cronin and A Harte for J O'Sullivan and R Sheehan (46), F O'Keeffe for D Murphy (55).

Referee: Michael O'Mahony (Kilbrittain).