Ballinlough 6-11 Bective/Dunsany 2-06

Ballinlough welcomed Bective/Dunsany to a picturesque Ballinlough Park this morning with crisp, fresh conditions and a pitch that is surprisingly still holding up very well for this time of year.

A hat tip to groundsman Gerry McNamee who must have been flat out all week !! The last time these two sides met in Bective, the Lough stormed into a massive lead and were out of sight by half time, but today the visitors had their homework done and kept the Ballinlough Faithful on the tips of their toes for the opening thirty minutes.Ballinlough got the dream start in the 02nd minute when Eoin Briody played a lovely ball in which James McDonnell held onto, turned his man and sent the ball flying past the keeper and into the net. Daire Shine added a pointed free a moment later before Bective/Dunsany got their first score of the game, and what a score it was. Awarded a 45’ the kicker struck the ball perfectly, it had the accuracy but didn’t have the distance which proved beneficial in the long run, as their full forward was quickest to react to the dropping ball and wrong sided Matthew Farrelly in the Ballinlough net to give the visitors a much needed boost. From the restart, Oisin McDermott and Jack Connell combined well to set up Daire Shine with his first score from play.

Shine was to turn provider seconds later when he caught the kick out cleanly and laid off to Kit Óg Lynch who used his soccer skills to good effect to connect with the rolling ball and send the keeper the wrong way to restore Ballinlough’s lead. Oisin McDermott added a point from a free in the 15th minute, about 40 metres out and off the ground, he made no mistake sailing the ball over the bar, but Bective/Dunsany upped the tempo in the next ten minutes hitting 1-03 without reply to leave the sides level with 25 minutes played.It was tit for tat in the closing stages of the first half with neither side able to break the deadlock, that is until James McDonnell won the ball around midfield, and did supremely well to hold onto it and evade two defenders before getting Oisin McDermott in on the action. There was only one thing on Oisins mind as he danced his way through the green and white jerseys and hit his shot low and hard, and past the Bective/Dunsany keeper, to give Ballinlough a three point lead, just before referee Colm McManus, who was having an impressive game himself, blew the half time whistle. I never like to enter the dressing room at half time so I’ve no idea what was said in those ten minutes, but between a combination of that and maybe the realisation that we were in a game, our lads came out a different animal in the second half, and played more like the standards we have become accustomed to from this group of players.Kit Óg Lynch was unlucky to see his point effort be waved narrowly wide in the opening seconds of the half, but he was to be rewarded in the 34th minute when he took on a shot from a very tight angle. Now I don’t believe it took a touch from anyone else as the ball sailed over the heads of the defence and nestled into the top corner of the net, so it stands as a Kit Óg Classic in my records!Most fellas who score two goals always like to complete the hat-trick, but I don’t think even Kit Óg anticipated it would come so soon.

The ball had hardly cleared the halfway line before it was sent back into the Ballinlough forwards. Anyone who knows Mr.Lynch will know he is a very accomplished soccer player, and it was the honing of those skills that lead to his third goal in the 35th minute, as he controlled the ball expertly on the ground, weaving through defenders before slotting the ball past the goal keeper to give Ballinlough a much healthier nine point lead. James McDonnell added to his goal from earlier with a fine point from play, before Bective/Dunsany got their first score of the half in the 40th minute. But Ballinlough were not done yet and went on a scoring spree from the 41st minute. James McDonnell scored his second goal of the game, while Daire Shine kicked a point from play, and then another one from a placed ball. Kit Óg Lynch did eventually get his point in the 46th minute, before Daire Shine added his fifth point of the morning, another industrious shift put in by him. Usually when Ballinlough have their tails up, his twin brother Tom, likes to see if he can get himself on the scoresheet.

Last time we played Bective/Dunsany he bagged himself two points when the game was already won, and he repeated the trick again today, scoring in the 49th and 52nd minute. His first point has to be credited to the great work by two of the younger squad members, Ciaran Ryan and Will Sherlock, who linked up well to give Tom the opportunity to put the ball over the bar. Either side of Toms antics, Oisin McDermott kicked his customary 45’ off the ground to leave the home side 6-11 to 2-04 up with 52 minutes played. Credit to Bective/Dunsany they decided if they were going down, they were going to play to the final whistle and although they found it very hard to break down a sturdy Ballinlough defence led by Stan Ryan and Ronan Cunning, they did add two further points to their tally in the 53rd and 57th minute. With little to no injury time required, Referee Colm McManus blew up right on the button of 60 minutes to send Ballinlough into their fourth juvenile/minor final of 2019. With nearly all of these players having already tasted success this year at U-14 and Minor level, it would be just the icing on the cake for the middle team to also finish the year with a trophy. Slane/Rathkenny await us in the Final, and we will take nothing for granted with either of those teams. But for now the lads can enjoy their Sunday, reflect on a job well done, and then focus will switch to the Final in a couple of weeks time.

Ballinlough: M.Farrelly, F.McDonnell, S.Ryan, R.Cunning, T.Shine (0-02), J.Connell, S.Rooney, O.McDermott (1-02(one 45’), L.Brunton, E.Briody, D.Shine (0-05(2f), N. O’Reilly, K.Óg Lynch (3-01), J.McDonnell (2-01), J.Ryan, C.Ryan, T.McKeown, W.Sherlock, D.Brady, L.Tunney

Referee: Colm McManus

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