Bonus point win for Ballina in league opener
Blayze Molloy fetches possession in the lineout for Ballina in their victory away to Creggs on Saturday night.
Saturday night under lights on the grass pitch in the heart of Creggs village provided the setting for Ballina’s opening Connacht Junior League Division 1 fixture. The history between these two great clubs who have vied for superiority over the decades set the scene for a classic.
Ballina launched their assault up the slope, dominating possession and territory for the initial phases. Multiple breaks by the team in green set the tone, with crisp handling and hard running making Ballina look particularly dangerous. Blayze Molloy exploited one such multiple phase attack to gallop though the centre, making thirty metres only to be tackled by the Creggs full-back, Shane Dowd.
Billy McVann, prominent throughout, was next up to make inroads into Creggs territory. His drive brought Ballina to within fifteen metres of the Creggs line. The Quinn brothers combined off the ensuing ruck ball, with Cian firing the ball to the onrushing Calum who broke through the Creggs defence to score the opening try after 10 minutes which Cian Anderson converted.
Creggs answered with a penalty kick by Mark Purcell 10 minutes later after a period of pressure by Creggs.
A yellow card was then flashed to a Creggs player and Anderson kicked the resultant penalty to put the score at 3-10 in favour of the men in green.
Big tackles by Conor Boyce and Luke Sweeney helped to keep Creggs on the back foot. Ian West showed good skill before offloading to Paul Brennan who looked dangerous every time he got on the ball. Unfortunately, crossing by Ballina in midfield meant that referee, David Burke, denied Blayze Molloy a try.
The Ballina dominant scrum, powered by Gary Kavanagh and Sean O’Connell, exploited their one man advantage driving Creggs in reverse. The referee gave the advantage to Ballina. A quick penalty tap opened the door for Calum Quinn to get over for a converted try, which left the half-time score 3-17 to Ballina.
Luke Sweeney was next over the Creggs line but was denied a score, being held up after a great lineout take by Thomas Hannigan. An ensuing scrum to Ballina on the Creggs line gave the opportunity for Eddie Dodd to release Ronan Molloy who scored after 47 minutes.
Twenty minutes later, concerted Creggs pressure saw their best player on the day, Mark Purcell, get over for a try. The Creggs replacements had injected energy into their efforts. Four minutes later, Ronan Dowd got over for another Creggs try to put the score at 13-22 and the momentum was with the men in Purple and White hoops – and still a full eleven minutes remained on the clock.
Ballina rallied, however, with replacements Mike Finnerty, Alex Hennigan and Jack Murphy each giving it 100%.
An intercept by Billy Ruane, who showed clean heels over 60 metres to the Creggs pursuers, saw the sub touch down Ballina’s fourth try to guarantee a bonus point win. And the final word was left to schoolboy, Conor Connolly, who converted from wide out on the left to put the final gloss on the result.
Next up, Ballinasloe are the visitors to Heffernan Park for Ballina’s first home league game of the season. Kick-off next Saturday, October 4 is at 7.30pm.
Ballina: Paul Brennan, Ian West, Calum Quinn, Ronan Mollloy, Eddy Dodd, Cian Anderson, Cian Quinn; Gary Kavanagh, Billy McVann, Sean O’Connell, Brian Donohoe, Thomas Hannigan, Conor Boyce, Luke Sweeney, Blayze Molloy. Replacements: Jack Murphy, Michael Finnerty, Alex Hennigan, Billy Ruane, Conor Connolly.
Creggs: Shane Dowd, David Gacquin, Mark Purcell, Eoghan Coyle, Dean O’Reilly, Brian Cleary, Cormac Dolan; Tom Farrell, Ethan Glennon, Thomas O’Brien, Ciaran Purcell, Aodan Kelly, Lee Kilcoyne, James Brandon, Brian Diffley. Replacements: Matthew Curley, Eoghan Cahill, Luke Divilly, Luke Gregory, Ronan Dowd.
/////////box off///
Castlebar were only outscored four tries to three but by fourteen points on the scoreboard as they suffered a 17-31 home defeat to Ballinasloe in Saturday’s other game of Mayo interest in the CJL Division 1A. On Sunday, in the Bank of Ireland Curley Cup, Claremorris touched down six times in an impressive 39-15 win against Ballina’s 2nds while Ballyhaunis scored seven tries in an impressive 10-43 win away to Corinthians 3rds.
There was an all-Mayo clash in the Connacht Women’s Invitational Cup on Sunday which saw Westport beat visitors Ballinrobe 50-10.
