Ballivor: 1-14.  Carnaross: 0-09

Ballivor led for the duration of this encounter and were full value for their victory as Carnaross bowed out of the championship in the group stages.

The game began with Ballivor scoring the first 2 points before Frank O’Reilly opened the scoring from a free. At the first water break it was 3 points apiece, with all 3 scores coming from frees. The match continued in a similar vein with both defences on top as Ballivor held the minimal advantage with the half drawing to a close. Cillian Comaskey sent over a fine long range point before Ballivor saw their attempted effort at a point rebound off the upright landing in the grateful arms of Adam Gannon who buried it into the net. At half time Ballivor lead 1-05 to 0-04 in a half where neither team had fully clicked.

The game was won for Ballivor in the third quarter. They shut down Carnaross’ attack and broke devastatingly on the counter registering 4 unanswered points to leave the game beyond reach for the North Meath men. Frank O’Reilly received a second yellow after an off the ball incident which seemed to spark the game into life. The next 10 scores were shared evenly including 3 in a row for Carnaross. Dermot McGee and Paddy McDermott began to establish a foothold in the full forward line after good surging runs from Cormac O’Reilly. McGee, Cian O’Reilly and McDermott all converted frees to give the Ross a glimmer of hope but Ballivor raised the intensity again to close out proceedings. Darragh O’Reilly chipped in with a fine score after he was ably assisted by McGee. McDermott kicked another score from play but Ballivor picked off points at their ease to conclude the match.

It was a bitterly disappointing afternoon for Carnaross who never got going at all. Ballivor had their homework done and nullified the influence of talisman Frank O’Reilly ensuring he never got a moment’s peace . They controlled the game from the beginning and despite having 2 men black carded, they never relinquished that control until the final whistle was blown.

Carnaross - Conor Kenny; Ian Donoghue, Tomás PLunkett, Jack Roche; Odhran Farrelly, Cian O'Reilly (0-1), Pierce Fleming; Luke Gillic, Cian McGlynn; Paddy McDermott (0-2), Dillon Fox, Cillian Comaskey(0-1), Shane O'Reilly, Frank O'Reilly (0-3), Niall McDonnell. Subs - Dermot McGee (0-1) for S O'Reilly , Cormac O’Reilly for Cian McGlynn, Peter Carpenter for Odhran Farrelly and Darragh O'Reilly (0-1) for Fox.

Tweet

Most Read Stories