Ballina maintain their perfect start to season
Ballina Stephenites corner-back Liam Golden looks to break out of defence past Ballintubber’s Noel Geraghty during Saturday evening's Mayo SFL Division 1 contest at James Stephens Park. Picture: David Farrell
Ballina Stephenites continue to set the standards all other Mayo clubs strive for, as the three-in-a-row Moclair Cup winners won their third consecutive Mayo SFL Division 1 game with only a third of their county winning side on the pitch.
Stephenites are the only top flight side not to have dropped any league points so far, albeit Ballintubber may feel they could have taken something from their trip to Moyside on Saturday evening. Midfielder Jason Gibbons saw a last gasp fisted goal attempt cleared off the line and that came just after Josh Mahon had seen his pair of two-point frees fail to reach the target. Tiernan Brady had flashed a goal chance inches over the Ballina crossbar earlier in the second-half too, and ultimately it was the slightly more clinical edge of Niall Heffernan’s side – they kicked only three wides over the hour – that saw Ballina through.
They went into the dressing-room with a 0-8 to 0-7 lead at half-time and although Ballintubber equalised within 90 seconds of the restart, when impressive Ballina centre-back Luke Jordan struck a sensational two-pointer in swift response, that sent the Moysiders - for whom Patrick Carr and Mikey Murray also scored from outside the arc - into a lead they weren’t to surrender.
