O’Connor’s Late Strike Fires Ballygarvan to South East Glory

Ballygarvan 1-14 Carrigaline 0-15

(JJ Hurley)

Ballygarvan's three in a row Procure.ie SE Junior A Football Champions

Evan O’Connor’s superb injury-time strike proved the difference as Ballygarvan edged Carrigaline in a dramatic Procure.ie South East Junior A Football Final at Shanbally on Saturday.

In a contest that swung back and forth throughout, Carrigaline looked poised for victory entering the closing stages, having battled bravely against a strong breeze to take a one-point lead on 48 minutes.

Their best chance to seal the win came shortly after, when Tim Vaughan’s punched effort rattled the crossbar, denying them a crucial goal.

Moments later, Niall Dowd struck a free to level matters on 57 minutes and set up a tense finale.

Garvans Micheal O Mahony attempts to block down Carrig's Jack McGrath (Bernard Laverty)

With the sides locked in a fierce battle for the decisive score, man-of-the-match O’Connor stepped up with a brilliant two-pointer deep into injury time to nudge Ballygarvan ahead. A late Vaughan free reduced the deficit, but it wasn’t enough to deny Ballygarvan the Pa Joe Cronin Trophy — and a place in the next round against Avondhu champions Charleville.

Ballygarvan’s Bainisteoir Liam Sheehy praised his team’s resilience afterward, noting the physical and tactical intensity of the clash and the challenge posed by a strong Carrigaline outfit bolstered by returning senior players.

Carrigaline had made the brighter start, with early two-pointers from Ian Sheerin and Keelan Daly pushing them ahead after ten minutes.

Ballygarvan hit back swiftly, though, as Ray O’Halloran — who finished with 1-4 before being forced off injured in the second half — raised a green flag on 11 minutes to haul his side into contention.

Carrigaline made the most of the breeze to reassert control through points from Andrew Daly, Jack Kelly and Tim Cronin by the 20-minute mark.

Garvans Kevin Lyons surrounded by Carrig's Billy Pope, Ronan Kelleher and Cian Barry. (Bernard Laverty)

But Ballygarvan, refusing to wilt, rallied impressively.

Captain O’Halloran led by example, firing over three points in quick succession, with O’Connor and O’Dowd also on target to leave the sides finely balanced at 0-8 to 1-5 approaching the interval.

However, late first-half scores from Kieran Kavanagh and Vaughan’s two-pointer restored Carrigaline’s three-point cushion at the break.

Ballygarvan turned the tide early in the second half, using the wind effectively as O’Halloran, O’Connor, Dylan O’Connor and O’Dowd all found their range to move one point clear by the 37th minute.

Carrigaline responded immediately — Vaughan equalising before Dylan O’Connor edged Ballygarvan ahead again.

Then came a barren spell for Ballygarvan, who went 17 minutes without scoring while Carrigaline hit three unanswered points to lead 0-15 to 1-11 with 12 minutes left.

But the closing stages belonged to Ballygarvan. Dowd’s free levelled the contest once more, and O’Connor’s composed late strike sealed a thrilling win for the men in red.

Scorers for Ballygarvan: R O’Halloran 1-4, E O’Connor 0-4 (1 two-pointer), D O’Connor (1 two-pointer free), N O’Dowd 0-3.Carrigaline: I Sheerin 0-4 (1 two-pointer), T Vaughan (1 two-pointer free), T Cronin 0-3, K Daly (two-pointer free), J Kelly (two-pointer) 0-2 each, A Doherty, K Kavanagh 0-1 each.

BALLYGARVAN: C Fitzgerald; P Ryan, A Dunne, Z Davidson; S Fenton, S O’Donovan, D O’Mahony; P O’Halloran, D O’Connor; E O’Connor, M O’Mahony, C O’Regan; D Mackey, R O’Halloran, N Dowd.Subs: C Downey for R O’Halloran (43 inj), S Brady for P O’Halloran (54), C O’Leary for O’Regan (60).

CARRIGALINE: K Daly; A Doherty, L Ahern, P Laverty; B Murphy, C Barry, J Kelly; K Kavanagh, I Sheerin; D Sutton, J McGrath, K McNulty; T Vaughan, B Pope, T Cronin.Subs: D Greene for Sutton (h-t), R Kelleher for Doherty (49), S Horan for Vaughan (58).

Referee: Kevin O’Sullivan (Valley Rovers).

Myles Barry presenting the Pa Joe Cronin Memorial Trophy to Ballygarvan's winning Captain Ray O'Halloran. (Delores Kidney)