A good start isn't half the battle!
November 30, 2005
Ballivor made an atrocious start to their Intermediate Football Championship campaign, but they somehow managed to recover sufficiently to make it through to the quarter-finals where they were eliminated by Syddan. By Paul Clarke
Only three years ago Ballivor were celebrating an Intermediate Championship success after they had stunned Navan O'Mahonys with a late point from goalkeeper Raymond McKeown in the final, but a year later they were back in the intermediate ranks again after losing an SFC relegation play-off to Kilmainhamwood.
Ballivor don't want to leave it too long before they bounce back to the senior grade again and the signs were encouraging during the 2004 campaign when they clinched promotion from Div. 3 of the All-County A League and reached the quarter-finals of the championship where they were beaten by Duleek.
They were on most short lists to enjoy a prolonged run in the 2005 championship, but the fact that they even managed to claim a place in the knockout stages was something of a miracle, given that they lost their first three matches of the group B campaign against Castletown, Carnaross and Nobber.
Every team looks for a good start to the championship and Ballivor were no different in 2005. But they didn't get it and opened the competition with a narrow 0-8 to 1-8 loss to Castletown at Athboy.
Calvin Ryan gave Ballivor an early advantage with a point, but disaster struck for Ryan when he collided with colleague Daryn Davis and was removed to hospital with a shoulder injury. Keith Ginnity got the only goal of the match and it helped Castletown to a 1-3 to 0-4 interval lead and with Ciaran Connor being sent off for a second yellow card five minutes from the end Ballivor's hopes were ended.
Another narrow defeat was suffered in the second round, again at Athboy, as Ballivor lost by 0-15 to 1-14 against Carnaross in an exciting match. Carnaross appeared to be well in control when they led by seven points (1-9 to 0-5) at the interval, the goal coming from a Gavin Murphy penalty, but with Mairtin Doran in superb form in the second half Ballivor bounced back.
However, his impressive overall tally of eight points wasn't sufficient and Ballivor were already under pressure after losing their opening two group games.
And the situation became even more serious when Nobber beat them by 2-9 to 0-11 in the third round at Martry as county player Brian Farrell provided most of the inspiration. He scored six first half points and that tally helped his side to a 0-7 to 0-5 interval advantage.
Ballivor managed to stay in contention subsequently, but a brilliant Farrell goal put Nobber in the driving seat. With Doran and Johnny Mitchell in impressive form Ballivor kept battling away, but Thomas McCormack got a second goal for Nobber to seal the victory.
You would have got big odds on Ballivor qualifying for the quarter-finals after that loss, but they stayed unbeaten for the remainder of the group campaign and got their first victory against the weakest team in the section, Drumree, when they won by 0-18 to 0-5 at Trim.
The points were in the bag at half-time when Ballivor led by 0-11 to 0-2 and the second half was a mere formality as there was no way back for Drumree.
Ballivor must have saw a glimmer of hope in their qualification bid when they achieved a second group victory thanks to a 2-9 to 1-11 triumph over a previously unbeaten Drumconrath side at Martry. This was a thrilling match which was close throughout and the teams were on level terms (1-6 each) at the interval after Joey McLoughlin had goaled for Ballivor.
Substitute Darren Ryan scored a crucial second goal to secure a narrow win and Doran top-scored with seven points.
Ballivor had to field a number of players who had previously lined out in the Junior C Championship for their sixth round meeting with Oldcastle at Athboy and, with that in mind, a draw (Ballivor 0-14, Oldcastle 1-11) was probably a good outcome.
Oldcastle held a comfortable 1-9 to 0-5 interval lead, but with Doran in superb form Ballivor battled back well and Doran edged them in front late in the game. However, they were deprived a third win on the bounce when Vincent Reynolds fired over an equaliser from a free for Oldcastle.
It all meant that going into their seventh and last group match against Donaghmore/Ashbourne at Dunsany, Ballivor had an outside chance of making it through to the business end of the competition as they were on five points after two victories, a draw and three defeats.
But they got the victory as they beat Donaghmore/Ashbourne by 2-13 to 1-13 and, somehow, they were through to a quarter-final meeting with Syddan after dicing with death during their group campaign.
Donaghmore/Ashbourne started well in a very entertaining match, but goals from Darren Ryan and James Mitchell helped Ballivor to lead by 2-6 to 0-7 at the interval. However, they were by no means safe and Donaghmore/Ashbourne got a goal of their own to get back to level terms and leave the Ballivor supporters sweating.
But with Noel Davis and Tony Fox in inspirational form Ballivor forged ahead again as Doran and Calvin Ryan got some superb scores. Doran was once again the top scorer with eight points.
After losing their opening three matches, reaching the last eight was an achievement in itself for Ballivor, but they faced a very tough assignment against John Henry's Syddan at Pairc Tailteann.
And it was a hurdle that proved just too high for them as Syddan won by 0-11 to 1-4. A well-struck Ryan goal boosted Ballivor to a minimum margin (1-3 to 0-5) lead at half-time, but the fact that they managed to add only a point to their tally in the second period speaks for itself.
Syddan, by comparison, added six points in the second half as Ballivor's attacking frailties proved very costly. Once the north Meath side found themselves with a decent advantage they defended in numbers and deservedly made their way through to the semi-finals.
However, had Ballivor goalkeeper Raymond McKeown managed to find the net from a penalty nine minutes into the second half when Syddan led by just a point it might well have been a different story. As it was, Syddan 'keeper James Sheehy saved the kick. Twelve wides over the hour also proved costly for Ballivor.
Ballivor PRO Johnny Corrigan reflected on the championship campaign which started very badly, but improved as time went on before that elimination against Syddan at the last eight stage.
"It has to be said that a lot of it was down to a lack of self-discipline," he commented. "There is no point in putting it any other way. We got one of our own lads, Trevor Smith, to train the team and it has to be said that he did his best. But the commitment just wasn't there at the start.
"We are also split with fellas playing hurling with Kildalkey and Killyon. They don't want to be training three and four nights a week for football and hurling. You can't blame them. The problem of dual players is one that clubs in the north end of the county just wouldn't understand or appreciate. You couldn't explain it to them
"I'm not making excuses, but the dual player situation is a big problem. It has to be appreciated that we are also working off a small pool of players in Ballivor and the reality is that if anybody goes away or gets injured you are weakened. And because they are dual players the possibility of picking up injuries is that much greater.
"It also has to be said that a lot of new houses have been built in Ballivor, but unfortunately we haven't got a lot of players out of it."
Ballivor's difficulties with players lining out in both football and hurling is a familiar one for certain clubs in the south of the county and the situation doesn't help their cause, but they still managed to reach the quarter-finals of the championship, despite making that awful start to their group campaign.
"Sean Corrigan went to the United States and missed a good few of the championship games, while we also had a few injuries at the beginning which didn't help us," the PRO added. "But when we did get through to the quarter-final against Syddan we should have won it.
"Indeed, we had a fair few close games in the championship, including against Castletown, Carnaross and Nobber, so we probably didn't do badly. We are only amateurs after all."
And how does Corrigan view the future for Ballivor?
"We won the under-17 special competition last year, so we have good young players coming through which is encouraging," he said. "And our under-21s look strong this year."
Ballivor's difficulties with dual players have to be appreciated, but don't be at all surprised if they figure very prominently in the 2006 Intermediate Championship.
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