Ballina Town send title statement with big win in Westport
Westport’s Dylan O’Malley holds off Jesse Devers. Pictures: John Corless
Ballina Town withstood serious Westport United pressure to hold out for three valuable points in this Super League heavyweight contest at United Park on Saturday evening.
The visitors conceded possession to their hosts and sat in. They got a lucky break when David Cawley scored from an early penalty, and despite conceding an equaliser with twenty minutes remaining, Ballina went ahead soon after due mainly to poor defending by Westport and then nicked a third in stoppage time to seal the deal.
Westport struggled with the physicality of the side Mick Duffy has assembled, and such was the way they went about their work, that all eleven players defended when necessary. Duffy said afterwards that he was really proud of the way they played, and so he should be. Town remain the only undefeated side in the division this year, and if they can stay relatively injury-free, they will give the title a good shot based on this performance.
Westport created the better of the early openings but were unable to turn their pressure into a breakthrough. Darren Browne had two attempts, including a one-on-one with Ballina goalkeeper Mark Duffy, but failed to find a way past him. Serhii Morarenko also had an early sight of goal that perhaps deserved a better finish.
But then, in Ballina’s first attack of any consequence, Oran Canavan was brought down in the box by Noah Massey and David Cawley calmly converted the penalty to Ballina in front.
Jesse Devers had a couple of efforts for Town, but they came to nothing. That pattern continued for much of the half. Westport enjoyed spells of possession but found it difficult to break through a disciplined Ballina midfield where Cawley, Canavan, Dylan McKee and Tommy Forde were at their best.
Westport went searching for an equaliser and Kevin Kitterick and Browne both threatened, while Jack Dawson came closest when his effort crashed back off the crossbar, but Ballina took their advantage into the half time dressing room.
Westport continued to press for a way back into the game during the second half, with Serhil Morarenko and Alex Halpin both threatening as the pressure increased. Jack Dawson was denied by the woodwork for a second time when another effort came back off the bar, while Kevin Kitterick and Mikey O’Brien also went close as Ballina were forced deeper.
The breakthrough finally came on 72 minutes. Darren Browne guided a glancing header beyond Mark Duffy to bring Westport level after a sustained spell of attacking pressure. But five minutes later, Westport failed to defend Martin Delaney’s free kick and Ballina substitute, Jamie Moyles, pounced on the loose ball restore the lead.
With everyone pushed up in search of an equaliser, Westport were caught on the break when David Cawley fed PJ Gilmartin, and his cross was met perfectly by Jamie Cawley who made it three.
Town goalkeeper Mark Duffy suffered a nasty shoulder injury at the end of the match as he made a save from Kitterick and was taken to hospital. He joins the club’s growing number of injured ’keepers, which now stands at four. Everyone involved in the game wished Mark a speedy recovery.
“It was a massive game so early on in the season,” David Cawley told the after the final whistle. “They're a very good side. I've seen them when we played them in pre-season. They have a good management team, and they like to play football on the ground and they’re fast.
“We knew we'd have to suffer without the ball for spells in the game, which we did. It's not all going to be nice and dandy and keep the ball and keep it moving. You have to suffer the other side. But we came up here and we were dogged. We had a bit of quality in the right areas at the right time and we worked really hard for that win.”
Jamie Moyles thought Town played well. “We looked at the game plan very well. We knew what Westport were all about when we played them a few weeks ago. So we had a game plan and the team lined up perfectly and the plan was executed really well.
“Westport put a lot of pressure on us, but I think we just were a better team on the day. We just sat in, and we just tried to play them on the counter-attack and we got the two goals from that.”
Westport United: Gary Cunningham: Mikey O’Brien, Noah Massey, Cillian White, Alex Halpin; Caoimhín O’Toole, Serhii Morarenko, Dylan O’Malley, Jack Dawson; Darren Browne, Kevin Kitterick.
Subs: Cillian McGlade (for Morarenko 65), Dan O’Malley and Darragh Reynolds (for O’Toole and Dylan O’Malley 84).
Ballina Town: Mark Duffy: M Delaney, Daire O’Connor, Chris Maughan, Stephen Melvin; Oran Canavan, Tommy Forde, David Cawley; Jesse Devers, Dylan McKee, Jamie Cawley.
Subs: PJ Gilmartin (for Devers 58), Jamie Moyles (for McKee 68).
REF: Damien McGrath.
