Ballybay 0-17 Donaghmoyne 0-6 Ballybay put down something of a marker as far as their championship potential is concerned with this commanding performance that saw them ease to an eleven points victory over Donaghmoyne in Castleblayney on Sunday evening last to book their place in the semi finals. Ballybay were in almost total control throughout this contest, posting a return of 17 points, 11 from play and in the process serving up some of the most attractive football seen in the intermediate championship so far. Ballybay though will not get too carried away either by this performance or the margin of victory in that they know they were up against a Donaghmoyne team that sorely missed the presence of county player Rory Woods who would certainly have made a difference but it is unlikely that even his presence would have reversed this result giving the composite nature of Ballybay's overall performance. From goalkeeper to full forward they were in control in almost every sector and looked very composed on the ball as they fashioned scores on counter attacks and repeatedly stretched Donaghmoyne to breaking point. Paul Finlay led the scoring charts with a total of eight eight points, six from frees, but he was also central to Ballybay's overall game plan and orchestrated a lot of what happened on the field. A notable feature of Ballybay's game was also the fact that all six starting forwards got on the score sheet and it was in that aspect of their play that they held a distinct advantage over a Donaghmoyne side that struggled to create the scoring chances. Ballybay were never headed in the entire contest after Paul Finlay opened their account within 90 seconds of the start and by half-time they had established a nine points lead and stamped their authority on the game. The somewhat one-way nature of the exchanges continued in the second half although Donaghmoyne to the credit kept going to the bitter end with wholehearted performances from John Cumiskey , Christopher Deery, Pauric Donaghy and Seamus Markey but they never looked like closing the gap sufficiently. Teams and Scorers: Ballybay: Sean Gorman, Sean McCabe, Fergal Smyth, James Kerr, fergal McArdle, Mickey Lennon, James Garraghan, Thomas O'Neill, Drew Wylie, Shane McQuillan 0-1, Paul Finlay 0-8 (6f), Bryan McCabe 0-2, Christopher McGuinness 0-2, Pauric Kerr 0-1, Gerry Connors 0-2. Subs: Hugh Malone for J Garraghan, Cillian McAviney 0-1 for G Connors, John Rutledge for P Kerr, Darren Smyth for S McCabe. Donaghmoyne: Tomas Deery, Bernard Kelly, John Cumiskey, Stephen Martin, Matthew O'Reilly, Joe Kelly, Ciaran Lynch, James Connolly, Christopher Deery 0-1, Pauric Donaghy 0-2 (1f), John Farrell, Paul Kelly, Ruadhri Woods 0-1, Seamus Markey 0-1, Gerard Lynch. Subs: Francis McBride 0-1 for G Lynch, Raymond Smith for J Farrell, Fergal McMahon for P Kelly, Joe Ruddy for C Lynch. Referee: Brendan McMahon (Eire Og). Tweet

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