Ballinlough: 5-15
Slane: 1-09
A strong Ballinlough second team made light work of a hard working Slane side in this Junior D encounter, played in sunny conditions in Kilmainham on Sunday afternoon.
The 'Lough opened the scoring in the first minute when full forward Ken Rothwell split the posts with his usual pin point accuracy. Moments later, young, hard-working corner forward Adam Fox brilliantly found the back of the net after good work by Junior O'Reilly around the middle of the field.
This one way traffic continued, and Ballinlough soon found themselves seven points to the good when speedy wing forward Paul Monaghan sprinted in to claim his sides second major score of the afternoon. Slane briefly rallied after this, registering their first scores of the afternoon, but struggled to maintain any momentum.
Kevin Beirne was controlling the middle of the field, and a lot of Ballinlough's best attacks were built on his solid fielding ability throughout the contest. This dominance continued to show on the scoreboard, as Fox sneaked in for his second goal of the game, and Paddy Briody finished off another good move with an impressive point. James O'Higgins was also at his deadly best from placed balls, and converted some fine frees in the opening period.
The industrious Oliver Brady brought the first half to a close with a powerful low drive to the back of the Slane net, to leave his side leading 4-06 to 1-03 at the change of ends.
While Slane would have been hoping for a change of fortune in the second half, it turned out to be more of the same, as the 'Reds continued to push ahead and extend their lead.
Jonathan Montgomery Francis had been a real attacking threat from his wing back berth throughout the contest, and was rewarded early in the second period with a well taken point.
Rothwell, O'Higgins, Briody and Fox all found their range with fine points, before the games last major score went in. A well struck 45 by O'Higgins was lofted into the area, dropping just short of the crossbar, but found its way to the back of the net thanks to intervention by substitute James Lydon.
Ballinlough will be delighted with this eighteen point winning margin, and their strong team performance throughout the game. They will be hoping to go one step further in this competition this year after disappointingly losing the final in 2014.
Ballinlough: L. Gibney, J. O'Keefe, E. Smith, M. Farrell, J. Farrelly, J. Baugh, J. Montgomery Francis, Junior O'Reilly, K. Beirne, P. Briody, J. O'Higgins, P. Monaghan, A. Fox, K. Rothwell, O. Brady. Subs: J. Tunney, S. Deevy, D. Montgomery Francis, J. Lydon
Slane 1-09
Ballinlough 5-15
The well known expression that "one mans disappointment is another mans delight" was very true for the Slane club on Sunday. Slane recorded an impressive win against Dunderry in Kilmainham in the first round of the Junior B championship, which was the first game of their double header in Kilmainham. The club then played Ballinlough in the Junior D championship in the second fixture. Ballinlough were unlucky to loose the 2014 Junior D championship which would have been a huge victory given that they also won the intermediate title and had a great run in the all-ireland club intermediate championship. Anything other than a Ballinlough victory here would have been an enormous surprise especially in the first round.
Slane were fielding a second championship team for the first time in more years that anyone in Slane cares to remember, but we are a small but very very proud club. 2015 has seen Slane field in the B leagues for the first time in years and they have also fielded as a stand alone Slane team in the minor league and there is great work happening in our underage structure and in the ladies section of our club so fielding in the Junior D championship was another very satisfying milestone on Sunday. This said, there is much hard work and commitment required to continue this trend and keep fielding in the B leagues and remaining Junior D Championship fixtures.
Slane did score 1-06 in the first half of this fixture and the Ballinlough backs were as busy as their forwards with goals being the crucial difference in the half. Ballinlough scored 4-05, so 9 scores to 7 was a fair exchange. Slane had a good blend of youth and experience in the side with youngsters Finn Searle, Tadhg Moloney, Marius Galligan and Johnnie Daly making their championship debuts. Hats off to experienced lads like Declan Kearns, Keith Harding, Gerry Carolan, Richie Harding, David Gough and Gavin O'Brien who also returned to assist their club and enjoy the exchange. Keith O'Brien, Daragh Johnson and Jack Macken also returned after several years away to put in fine performances and Kevin Dunne, Graham Smith, John Clarke and Simon McDonagh worked very hard for the Boynesiders . The loss of John Clarke midway through the first half did not help Slane as he had just scored 2 impressive points before getting injured. David Gough, Declan Kearns and Keith Harding were impressive throughout the game showing some of their old class with David Gough scoring a sensational point after collecting the ball in the Slane defence and running the length of the field to score. Keith O' Brien had a splendid game despite not playing for so long and Finn Searle was very impressive at full back and Marius Galligan worked hard and took his goal very well.
The second half of the game did prove challenging for the weary Slane lads but they never gave up and kept attacking the Ballinlough goals until the final whistle. Slane did manage to stem the flow of goals conceding only one goal in the second half but only managed 3 additional points in this half with Johnnie Daly getting 2 points and Daragh Johnson getting the other. Well done to all the lads for their genuine hard work in this game and to all the Jun B lads and supporters who cheared them on throughout. Great day for Slane.
Slane; Richie Harding; Gerry Carolan; Finn Searle; Tadhg Moloney; Graham Smith; David Gough0-01; Keith O'Brien; Jack Macken; Kevin Dunne; Simon McDonagh; Declan Kearns 0-02; Marius Galligan 1-0; Daragh Johnson 0-01; John Clarke 0-02; Keith Harding 0-01; Subs Johnnie Daly 0-02 for John Clarke and Gavin O'Brien for Keith Harding