Out of 'Lough
November 27, 2011If we had scored a goal from one of those penalties, we would have been in the final," says a rueful Kevin Devine as he reflects on Ballinlough's agonising IFC semi-final defeat to local rivals Gaeil Colmcille last September.
Lady luck certainly hasn't smiled on the north Meath men in their quest to return to the senior ranks where they had spent 16 years before they were relegated in 2007. In their first year back in the intermediate grade, they lost a semi-final to Cortown after extra-time and they were beaten again after extra-time by Oldcastle in the 2009 quarter-final. After surprisingly failing to qualify for the knockout stages last year, they reached the last four again this year, only to fall short to their rivals from up the road in Kells.
"We haven't been getting the rub of the green," laments the experienced Devine, who has 14 championship campaigns with the 'Lough under his belt.
"Since coming down from senior, we've developed an unwelcome habit of losing big knockout games by a point or two. We had the chances to beat Kells this year but didn't take them. We only got a point from two penalties and those misses proved very costly in the end. One goal would have been enough to take us through to the final."
While Joey Byrne and Derek Muldoon were huge losses to Ballinlough against Gaeil Colmcille, half back and free-taker Devine refuses to use their unavailability as an excuse.
"If we had Joey and Derek, it might have been a different story, but even without them, we had the chances to win. We didn't have Peadar Byrne for the group stages because of suspension, but we still managed to get by without him and everyone knows he's a massive player for us. Because of their work situation, Joey and Derek had to emigrate and you can't blame them for leaving. Emigration is a fact of life for nearly every GAA club in the country and we hadn't really been affected before this."
He adds: "While we have some very promising youngsters coming through, we need to unearth a couple of good scoring forwards to take the next step. You couldn't fault the effort or commitment of any of the lads, but when you don't have the firepower it makes things extra difficult."
Ballinlough were once again managed by former star defender Vinny Ryan, whose selectors were Ray Lydon, Gerry McNamee and Kevin Devine's father Michael, who was part of the Kilskyre management team when they won the IHC in 1991. Drawn in Group C, they didn't get off to the best of starts, losing their championship opener in Athboy to Na Fianna 1-10 to 2-9. Ballinlough led by 0-2 to 0-1 after a low-scoring opening 20 minutes, but then a Dean Barrett goal brought the Enfield/Baconstown combination to life and they went into the break leading 1-4 to 0-4.
Ballinlough upped their game considerably after the restart, outscoring Na Fianna by 0-5 to 0-3 to leave just the minimum in it with eight minutes remaining. However, a second Na Fianna goal from substitute Harrison Silke gave them some breathing space again, and despite a quick reply from Ballinlough, they held on for the win.
Ballinlough returned to Athboy a couple of weeks later to face Na Fianna's neighbours, Longwood, and this time the result was a positive one for the north Meath club who ran out comfortable 0-11 to 0-4 winners. Favoured by a strong wind in the first half, Ballinlough had scores from Tommy McCullen, Colm Mallon, Derek Muldoon and Kevin Devine (two) to lead by 0-5 to 0-2 at the break. The 2009 junior champions were expected to mount a comeback in the second half, but it never materialised as early points from Devine and Muldoon paved the way for Ballinlough's first championship win of 2011.
Vinny Ryan's charges chalked up another comprehensive victory - 0-8 to 0-2 - over a struggling Cortown side in Carnaross to maintain their push for a place in the knockout stages. Ballinlough led 0-4 to 0-0 at half-time, but should have been out of sight after squandering a number of chances. A Kevin Devine free extended their advantage on the restart before a brace of Cortown points from Colm Kerrigan and Brian Casserly left only a goal in with 18 minutes still to play.
But Ballinlough refused to panic and two late points from veteran Ken Rothwell and another from Sean Geraghty saw them ease home.
A strong second half performance propelled Ballinlough to a 0-10 to 0-5 victory over newly-promoted Ballinabrackey in their final group game at Athboy, and also secured their place in the quarter-finals. Scores from Lorcan Maguire, Kevin Devine and Colm Mallen had the 'Reds' 0-3 to 0-2 ahead at the end of the first quarter, but their south Meath opponents fought back to take a 0-5 to 0-3 lead into the interval.
The gauntlet had been thrown down to Ballinlough and they responded in the best possible fashion by outscoring the Bracks by 0-7 to 0-0 in second half. Just as they had done against Longwood and Cortown, the Ballinlough defence snuffed out the opposing attack with team captain Benji Smith and Joey Byrne being particularly prominent. Lorcan Maguire brought them level midway through before a late run of scores from Kevin Devine (two), Colm Mallen (two) and Maguire gave them a double-scores win.
With three consecutive victories behind them and county star Peadar Byrne available again after serving a lengthy suspension, the 'Lough approached their IFC quarter-final against Clann na nGael at Kells in a confident frame of mind. After a cagy opening, Ken Rothwell's 12th minute goal settled Ballinlough. Jamie Shaw replied with a point for the Athboy/Rathcairn outfit to make it 1-1 to 0-2, but a second Ballinlough goal from former Denn player Lorcan Maguire saw them retire to the dressing-rooms with a five-point lead.
Clann na nGael decided to throw their county man Shane McAnarney into attack for the second half, but it made no difference as first Kevin Mallen pointed, and then the same player finished an excellent move to the net to make it 3-2 to 0-2. The Ballinlough tails were up now and Peadar Byrne (two), Kevin Devine, Ken Rothwell and Lorcan Maguire tagged on further scores to make it 3-7 to 0-3 before McAnarney scored a late consolation goal from the penalty spot for Clann na nGael.
That victory set up a mouth-watering local derby clash with Gaeil Colmcille in the semi-final at Pairc Tailteann on September 10. With former Ballinlough and Meath star Jody Devine (Kevin's brother) managing the Kells men, there was more than just a place in the county final at stake as both sides went at each other hammer and tongs. Gaeil Colmcille had wind advantage in the first half and led by 0-3 to 0-0 at the end of the opening quarter thanks to points from Martin Barrett, Gary Arkins and Brian Hanlon after Cian Mallen had put a ninth-minute penalty wide for Ballinlough.
Despite that miss and their slow start, the 'Reds' battled back with scores from Kevin Devine (two), Ronan McGuinness and Peadar Byrne to trail by the minimum, 0-4 to 0-5, at the break. Within six minutes of the restart, Ballinlough - who now had the wind to their backs - were back on level terms through Devine and Mark McCullen. Danny McGovern and Brian Hanlon restored the town side's lead before Ballinlough were awarded a second penalty, which Peadar Byrne could only put over the bar.
Another Byrne point tied up the scoring once more with six minutes to go, but Philly Ward had the final say for Gaeil Colmcille to give them a 0-10 to 0-9 victory.
There was further disappointment for Vinny Ryan's men when a draw with Oldcastle cost them a place in the Division 2 A league final. Ballinlough's second team, meanwhile, didn't enjoy their best of championship campaigns (they competed in the JFC 'D'), but fared much better in the Division 6 B league, reaching the final against Drumbaragh. After a titanic struggle, however, they lost to the Drums 1-15 to 2-14 after extra-time.
Kevin - who collected a brace of Division 1 A league medals in 1997 and '99 - concludes on a positive note by saying: "I was involved in the U21 management with Ken Rothwell and Michael Geraghty this year and I was very encouraged by the talent at that level. They were a good, big team with plenty of football in them. There's a bright future in store if we can hold onto these young lads."
Ballinlough lined out as follows against Gaeil Colmcille in the IFC semi-final: K McGuinness; B Smith, P Muldoon, R Farrell; K Devine, J O'Reilly, Colm Mallen; S Fagan, Cian Mallon; P Byrne, L Maguire, M McCullen; R McGuinness, K Mallen, K Rothwell. Subs used: S Geraghty and T McCullen.
The Ballinlough team which lost the Division 6 B league final to Drumbaragh after extra-time was: M Brady; Jonathan O'Reilly, E O'Reilly, J Baugh; P Briody, Junior O'Reilly, J O'Higgins; K Mallen, S Byrne; B Smith, M McCullen, C Briody; N Farrelly, S Deevy, S Geraghty. Subs used: R McGuinness, D McCartan, S Smith and M Geraghty.
U17's claim league honours
Ballinlough produced a strong final quarter to edge out Wolfe Tones (2-14 to 1-13) and claim the Division 4 U17 league final in Cortown.
It was 'The Reds' who started better with early scores from Ricky McDermott and Jack Tunney but Wolfe Tones responded with three points. Ballinlough forged ahead again with further scores from McDermott and Tunney but when Tones converted a penalty, they went ahead 1-4 to 0-6 after 20 minutes.
The goal was a blow to Ballinlough but their response was emphatic, impressive midfielder Gary Reilly drove forward and finished brilliantly despite considerable pressure and then only minutes later Jonnie Reilly and Jack Tunney combined to put Ricky Mc Dermott through on goal and the U-15 player finished low to put his team in the driving seat at half-time; 2-7 to 1-7.
Wolfe Tones shaded the third quarter and were level midway through the half. It looked as if Tones were in the better position to push on for the win but Ballinlough stepped it up considerably in the final quarter. James Baugh, Michael Geraghty and Paul Farrelly defended resolutely and Gary Reilly and Ricky McDermott got late scores to seal a memorable victory.
Ballinlough captain James Baugh accepted the trophy from minor board chairman John Kavanagh after the match.
Ballinlough: Lorcan Gibney, James Baugh, Matthew Farrell, Kevin Beirne, Michael Geraghty, Paul Farrelly, Gary Reilly (1-1), Brian Brady, Jonnie Reilly, Ricky Mc Dermott (1-8), Daire Farrelly (0-1), Jack Tunney (0-4), Ferdia Mc Cormack. Subs: Oliver Brady, Joe Farrelly, James Lydon, Killian Mc Caffrey and Matthew Mc Enerney. Tweet
