Ballygarvan forced to battle all the way

JJ Hurley

Ballygarvan 2-11 Ballymartle 1-12

Ballygarvan advanced to the Procure.ie SE Junior A Football Final following a tough encounter with Ballymartle in Belgooly on Sunday.

Ballygarvan observing a minute's silence for Stephen McCarthy, who was killed in a motorbike accident last weekend. (Delores Kidney)

A goal apiece from Dan O’Mahony and Evan O’Connor early in the second half suggested this game could be over as a contest, but Ballymartle had other ideas.

Indeed, the Riverstick outfit were right back in this contest as Simon Dorney played in Ryan Deasy for a goal on 43 minutes—it was game on.

Two more points from Deasy and Dan O’Leary and the sides were all tied up on 50 minutes at 1-11 to 2-8.

However, the experience of Ray O’Halloran and Cillian O’Regan pushed their side ahead by two in the closing ten minutes.

Despite O’Leary closing the gap to a single score, the industrious O’Connor finished the game out with the final score of the day.

As a contest, it was Ballygarvan who set the tempo early as Shane Buckley opened with a two-point score, but Ballymartle had evened the contest on six minutes as O’Leary and Luke O’Callaghan added points.

With a large crowd enjoying a fast, free-flowing game, the sides were all tied up on 16 minutes at 0-4 to 0-4, which included a Ryan Deasy 45.

Ballymartle’s Jack Dwyer had a great goal opportunity on 21 minutes following a pass from Ryan Deasy, but Conor Fitzgerald produced a brilliant stop.

Two more points from O’Leary and Paudie Dorney, to a single 45 from Daniel Mackey, left Ballymartle leading by 0-6 to 0-5.

Without some of their big guns, including Séan Brady, Ballygarvan did have the luxury of introducing Evan O’Connor and Kevin Lyons in the second half.

The introduction lifted Ballygarvan as O’Halloran landed an early score, but the opposition also emphasised their intent with points from Eoin Deasy and O’Leary.

Five minutes of outstanding football had Ballygarvan adding two goals and a point, as O’Connor and O’Mahony raised green flags and Niall O’Dowd added a point.

However, Ballymartle, led by Deasy, fought back into the contest, but Ballygarvan’s experience took them over the line as they now face Carrigaline in a repeat of last year’s decider.

Scorers Ballygarvan: E. O’Connor 1-1, D. O’Mahony 1-0, S. Buckley (0-2), D. Mackey (0-2, 1f, 1 45), R. O’Halloran (0-2), M. Cussen (0-2), C. O’Regan (0-1).Ballymartle: D. O’Leary 0-5 (3f), R. Deasy 1-3, L. O’Callaghan 0-1, E. Deasy 0-1, P. Dorney 0-1, S. Dorney 0-1.

Teams: Ballygarvan: C. Fitzgerald; P. Ryan, A. Dunne, Z. Davidson; D. Mackey, S. O’Donovan, C. Mackey; P. O’Halloran, C. O’Leary; S. Buckley, M. O’Mahony, C. O’Regan; D. Mackey, R. O’Halloran, N. Dowd.Subs: S. Fenton for Z. Davidson, E. O’Connor for C. O’Leary, K. Lyons for C. Mackey, D. O’Connor for D. O’Mahony, M. Cussen for S. Buckley.

Ballymartle: C. Barry; E. Cummins, R. Stuart, D. Murphy; P. Dorney, E. O’Leary, L. O’Callaghan; S. Dorney, F. Desmond; E. Deasy, C. Lordan, R. Deasy; N. Crowley, J. Dwyer, D. O’Leary.Subs: Jack Deasy for E. Cummins, L. Hennessy for N. Crowley, F. McCarthy for J. Dwyer, Wesley O’Brien for Eoghan O’Leary, S. Corry for D. Murphy.

Referee: Kevin O’Sullivan (Valley Rovers)

 Evan O'Connor celebrates his goal in the Procure.ie South East Junior A Football Semi Final as Ballymartle's keeper CIan Barry is powereless to prevent the goal. (Delores Kidney)