Ballivor 7-23 Cortown 0-6

The scene for Championship was Dunganny for the second week running for Ballivor - who were looking to make it two from two. It turned out they would achieve that with ease.

There was much emphasis all week in Ballivor on the first ball in this match, which worked to perfection with Ballivor raising a green flag through Martin Healy after 20 seconds after being set free from the throw in.

This set the tone for the evening as Ballivor went to strength to strength from here. Cortown could not handle Ballivors pace and power running forward despite trying to pack the defence early on. An uphill task was made even more difficult when Cortown had a man sent off after 15 minutes for inexplicably striking Martin Healy off the ball.

Ballivors 2nd goal came from the same source - the seriously impressive Martin Healy. He bet his man after a great ball forward travelled at pace towards the goal and buried the ball in the bottom corner.

Ballivor's attacking was relentless - every time a ball was played forward Ballivor broke defensive lines at pace and made goalscoring opportunities. One negative in the first half was a missed penalty from the industrious Kevin McKeon - it would be unanimously agreed that he made up for this with another dominant performance in the middle of the park.

Adam Gannon rounded off the goalscoring in the first half with another brilliant pacy move ending up with a tidy finish to the Cortown net.

Halt time: Ballivor 3-10, Cortown 0-03

What was so impressive about this performance, was Ballivors ruthlessness to keep pressing on and playing with the same intensity, despite the game in all honesty being  over as a contest at half time. This ruthless streak and desire to bury teams will be a massive addition as the Summer wares on.

The 2nd half was one way traffic like the first, with Ballivor smothering the opposition not giving Cortown a second to breathe when in possession. The few times Cortown tried to break out - Ballivor were touch tight at the back and gave very few scoring opportunities away, with the ever vocal Tosh Raleigh notably keeping the defensive troops organised and switched on for any oncoming attacks.

Again the goals started to flow with attack after attack for Ballivor - as they started to unload the added firepower from the bench. Martin Healy completed his hat-trick with a thunderbolt of a strike from just outside the 14.

Then it was the substitutes turn as Ballivor showed the strength and depth in the squad with the added quality of the men coming in. Chris Dunne added 1-1 from them bench, his goal coming after being found with a popped pass from Gannon as he burst through off the shoulder and hammered the ball home.

There was a touch of fortuity about Ballivors 6th as Martin Grundys effort squirmed into the net after a deflection. Though the 7th was no fluke as Gary Sherrock marauded up the field from full back,  found by Mark Healy on the 14, turned his man and buried the ball into the top right hand corner.

Overall it was a great evening for Ballivor, with everyone performing well - special mention to Martin Healy who ended up with 3-2 to his name in a blockbuster display.

Full time: Ballivor 7-23, Cortown 0-06

Foireann Baile Íomhair: Conor Smith, Jacob Ryan, Gary Sherrock (1-0), Martin Browne, David Raleigh, Tosh Raleigh, Killy Canavan, Kevin McKeon (0-6), Keith Keoghan (0-1), Evan Fitzgerald (0-1), Joe Mclaughlin (0-1), Martin Healy (3-2), Nicky Potterton (0-1), Adam Gannon (1-2), Brendan Mckeon (0-8). Subs used: Jamie Smyth, Chris Dunne (1-1), Mark Healy, Martin Grundy (1-0). Unused: James Kelly, Dylan Heavey, Cian McCarthy, Leon Duignan.

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