Ballymartle’s late rally edges out Ballinhassig

(JJ Hurley)

Ballymartle 1-18 Ballinhassig 3-10

A flurry of late Ballymartle frees saw them advance to the Ross Oil South East Junior A Hurling Championship semi-final, where they face Kinsale, as they edged Ballinhassig out at Shanbally on Saturday.

Failing to score for the first seventeen minutes of the second half, it looked as though Ballymartle were about to exit the championship before a series of unanswered points brought them back into the contest.

Ballinhassig rallied, with points from Gearoid Kirby and Eddie Finn leaving a goal between the sides with five minutes left, but the Blues conceded five frees. Dan O’Leary (3f) and Ken O’Callaghan (2f) converted placed balls to give Ballymartle the win.

Indeed, it was Ballymartle who had their noses in front after five minutes, as Niall Crowley and Eoin Deasy both fired over.

The lead evaporated on seven minutes when Brendan Lombard bundled the ball over the line at the other end, and Daniel Lombard and Diarmuid O’Sullivan raised white flags.Ballinhassig led 1-2 to 0-2 after ten minutes, but Ballymartle came roaring back into the contest, with Leo Hennessy, Ronan Sheehan, and Eoin Deasy all splitting the posts.

Both sides had goal chances on thirteen and fourteen minutes, as Jack Griffin and Niall Crowley went close.

Another three scores, including a goal for the impressive Ronan Sheehan, looked to be giving the Riverstick side a stranglehold, but a penalty from Kirby—sent to the Ballymartle net—set the contest alight.

Two more dead balls from Sheehan, added to a Kirby free, left the interval score at 1-9 to 2-3.

The second half opened with a blistering goal and two points from substitute Sean Connolly.

With Ballymartle seemingly rooted to the spot, points from Kirby, O’Sullivan, and Lombard had Ballinhassig edging toward a South East semi-final as they led 3-8 to 1-9 after forty-six minutes.

However, somehow Ballymartle found their composure. Ballinhassig’s indiscipline handed the advantage to their opponents, with seven of Ballymartle’s scores coming from frees.

In a contest that could have swung either way, it was O’Leary and O’Leary who took their chances and sent their side into the semi-final.

Scorers for Ballymartle:R Sheehan 1-4 (4f), K O’Callaghan 0-4 (4f), D O’Leary 0-3 (f), N Crowley 0-2, E Deasy 0-2, L Hennessy 0-1, C Barry 0-1, M Higgins 0-1.

Scorers for Ballinhassig:G Kirby 1-3 (1f), S Connolly 1-2 (2f), B Lombard 1-1, D O’Sullivan 0-2, D Lombard 0-1, E Finn 0-1.

Teams:

Ballymartle: D O’Leary; J Butler, R Stewart, Darragh Murphy; A Harte, J Deasy, E Cummins; L Hennessy, K O’ Callaghan; C Kelleher, K McCarthy, R Sheehan; E Deasy, N Crowley, C Barry . Subs:M Higgins for C Barry (HT), J Costello for M Higgins (58INJ).

Ballinhassig: E O’Mahony; C Delea, M Desmond, D Lombard; S Butler, E Finn, M Sheehan; D Delea, J Reardan; D O’Sullivan, P Coomey, O O’Meara; J Griffin, B Lombard, G Kirby. Subs: S Connolly for J Griffin (HT), S Coleman for O O’Meara (44), K Farley for B Lombard (48), A Cussen for D Delea (49).

Referee B Barrett, Shamrocks.

Kenneth O'Callaghan and Dan O'Leary, who were Ballymartle's heroes in the Ross Oil SE Junior A Quarter Final against Ballinhassig in Shanbally