Ballyheane record thumping win in Connacht Cup
Ballyheane’s Jack Tuffy (left) had a comfortable afternoon at centre-half in dealing with the limited threat of Straide & Foxford United.
The men from Ballyheane booked their place in the third round of the Connacht Junior Cup in style after hitting nine past a struggling Straide & Foxford United side.
Niall Vahey stole all the headlines last Sunday afternoon, as the forward garnered a hat-trick to aid to his sides thumping win.
The level of intensity shown by both teams were worlds apart. The writing was on the wall from very early on as the Ballyheane forwards began to get in behind the S&F defence and it took only seven minutes before the away team had their first of the afternoon. Dan Purcell played a pitch-perfect ball into the path of Niall Vahey, who was immediately met with pressure from the S&F keeper Darren Flatley, but the forward confidently rolled the ball out of harm’s way and into the back of the net.
Minutes later Ballyheane could have had a second in quick succession after a corner was launched into the box where it eventually landed in the direction of Michael Fahey only for his header at goal to be caught in mid-flight by the keeper.
The second breakthrough came in the 23rd minute of play following the ball being inadvertently spilled in the box where Jack Rochford was waiting to take full advantage like a seasoned poacher.
S&F regained their composure and began to keep some periods of possession and eventually see the half out until the break. But the second-half soon became what felt like one of the longest halves in history for S&F as Ballyheane came at them like a steam train.
The visitors forward line began to put on a show that included some easy on the eye build up play that resulted in Dan Purcell grabbing Ballyheane’s third of the afternoon.
The battle in midfield was being overwhelmingly won by the Ballyheane midfielders and it gifted the side with a huge advantage going forward. The pressure eventually got to the S&F kickout after Niall Vahey intercepted a ball that was mishit and Vahey struck the ball past Flatley and into the net. The ball was back in the S&F net directly a minute after the last with none other than Vahey striking gold yet again and bagging a well-deserved hat-trick.
This fifth goal gave the opportunity for Ballyheane to introduce new faces off the bench and one of the substitutes Shea McAtamney made a big contribution from the bench as his fresh legs proved too much to handle for the home side’s defence as he netted the sixth after being only a matter of minutes on the field.
The last twenty minutes became a hard watch for the neutral as the away side controlled all the possession. The goal of the game came in the 76th minute when Michael Fahey hit a belter of a shot of his left boot that nestled into the bottom corner of the goal.
The only real clear cut goal chance for S&F fell at the behest of Michael Guilfoyle but his effort marginally sailed to the right and wide.
Ballyheane got their eighth and nine towards the end from McAtamney again as well as a second for Fahey as the two-time Mayo Super League champions cruised their way through to the next round in style.
