South Mayo derby ends all square again
A late equaliser by Dean Shaughnessy secured a share of the spoils for Ballinrobe Town against Claremorris. Picture: Ballinrobe Town AFC
For the second time this season the South Mayo ‘El Clasico’ ended honours even as neither of these sides could be deemed the winner after another pulsating 90 minutes of action on a sun-splashed Sunday at The Green.
This season’s previous Super League clash at Concannon Park back in April ended in a 2-2 draw. Indeed, it isn’t just this season that these great South Mayo rivals couldn’t be separated, as both of last season’s clashes in the Premier League ended in 1-1 draws.
This was certainly a feisty encounter and both sides were full of endeavour over the course of a game that ebbed and flowed and kept both sets of supporters enthralled.
Ballinrobe entered this game after suffering back-to-back away defeats at the hands of a resurgent Ballina Town and Kiltimagh/Knock United, and the hosts very nearly made the dream start to this clash after four minutes. A deadly counter-attacking move saw possession played into the path of JP O’Gorman, but his angled drive was deflected away.
At the other end, the marauding Mark Maloney very nearly fashioned the opener for his team-mates but his crisp volley hit the side-netting.
The game was beginning to sparkle into life, with a cross from the in-form Dean Shaughnessy crying out for a touch from the lurking O’Gorman, but the chance went abegging.
Simon Collins’ Claremorris troops very nearly crafted the opening goal of the morning on 20 minutes when Maloney raced onto possession but his deflected drive trickled inches wide.
The Town’s best chance of the first half arrived on 27 minutes. A peach of a deep cross from the hard-working Killian McHugh found Shane Ryan, but the latter ballooned a gilt-edged close-range opportunity over the crossbar.
Two minutes later, the visitors pilfered the lead. Ballinrobe were pressing into enemy territory but a turnover saw a route-one Claremorris delivery find the scuttling Mark Maloney and he ghosted past a static home defence and applied a superb finish beyond the reach of the beaten Shaughnessy.
Ballinrobe regrouped and they had a decent attempt on goal when Jose Poblaciones’s long-ranger free-kick forced Keith Saunders into a routine save.
Xavi Vazquez’s charges almost received the perfect half-time fillip on 37 minutes when some intense pressure play from the Red and White saw a chance fall to the industrious Theo Bellanger, but his close-range effort was blocked by the alert Saunders.
The first noteworthy effort of the new half fell to the Robesiders on 49 minutes when their raiding centre-back McHugh tried his luck but found the Claremorris custodian equal to the challenge.
Despite such a high tempo and drive from both sides, chances were few and far between during the opening 25 minutes of the new half. This game really came to life, however, during the final 15 minutes of action which kick-started with a stinging angled drive from O’Gorman hitting the Claremorris upright on 75 minutes.
The second half introduction of Richard Dalton also offered Ballinrobe new energy and impetus around the middle of the park and gradually the hosts began to find ways to bypass the heretofore rigid Claremorris rearguard action.
The Robesiders persistence eventually paid dividends on 80 minutes. Sean Shaughnessy’s inch-perfect kick-out released the scampering O’Gorman and his superb right-wing cross found the poaching Dean Shaughnessy, with an arching close-range finish.
The locals could well have snatched the lead on 85 minutes when the busy Dalton set-up O’Gorman, but his chance flashed narrowly wide.
However, against the run of play, Claremorris very nearly recorded a smash and grab victory during the dying embers of this clash, when John Heneghan bore down on goal, but under-pressure, he scuffed a golden opportunity agonisingly wide.
