Ballinrobe dig deep to gain revenge for ’24 loss
Mark Flannery breaks forward for Ballinrobe during their South Mayo U16 'A' final win against Claremorris. Picture: Andy Walsh
Age-old rivals Ballinrobe and Claremorris met each other halfway in Hollymount for the South Mayo U16 ‘A’ final and it was the Robesiders who edged out the win last Thursday evening.
In a repeat of last year’s final pairing, when Claremorris ran out seventeen points winners, Ballinrobe eased the stranglehold that Claremorris have had at underage level in the division and will hope this latest crop provide the club with a bright future.
Their star of the show was centre-back Eoin Jennings, who scored all but three points of Ballinrobe’s tally, and he got his first goal in the fourth minute as he danced his way through the Claremorris backline before finishing past goalkeeper David Walsh.
The response from the Blue and White was impressive, with points from Keenan Mortimer and Aidan Brogan followed by the midfield duo of Hugh Lenihan and Oisin Sweeney combining, with the latter putting Claremorris ahead well a well-placed strike into the top corner of the net.
Jennings responded with a free for Ballinrobe to leave the minimum between them, but Claremorris again scored two points on the spin though Aidan Brogan and Henry Noone, a free. Ballinrobe’s Donnacha O’Connor traded a point with Noone when Claremorris doubled their three-point lead with theirs and Oisin Sweeney’s second goal, as Daniel O’Keeffe played in the midfielder on 21 minutes.
Ronan Denning almost responded with a goal of his own two minutes later but was denied by Ballinrobe goalkeeper Ajay Gormely Walsh. Ballinrobe, however, would keep on the coattails of Claremorris as points from Rory Coyne and Eoin Jennings, a free, saw the Maroon and Yellow cut the gap to four at the break, Claremorris leading 2-5 to 1-4.
Eoin Jennings struck another two frees either side of a Claremorris point by Daniel O’Keeffe to reduce the gap to three, and Jennings would level it up on 41 minutes. Referee Jarlath O’Connor signalled for a penalty after Jennings was tripped by the goalkeeper when through on goal and their star man sent David Walsh the wrong way.
With all the momentum behind them, Sam Place then put Ballinrobe in front with a point, taking the lead for the first time since the ninth minute. Claremorris would go ahead once more thanks to points from Mark Hurley and Henry Noone but they were dealt a blow early in the final quarter after Hugh Lenihan was shown a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident.
A point ahead but now a man down, Claremorris looked short of ideas and Ballinrobe finished strongly and who else but Eoin Jennings guided them home with three points (including two frees) in the final twelve minutes to clinch a famous win.
Scorers – Ballinrobe: Eoin Jennings 2-0-7 (1-0pen, 6f), Donnacha O’Connor, Rory Coyne and Sam Place 0-0-1 each.
Claremorris: Oisin Sweeney 2-0-0, Henry Noone 0-0-3 (1f), Aidan Brogan 0-0-2 (1f), Keenan Mortimer, Daniel O’Keeffe and Mark Hurley 0-0-1 each.
Ballinrobe: Ajay Gormley Walsh; Ryan McCormack, Shay Philbin, Mark Flannery; John Munroe, Eoin Jennings, Max Vaitekunas; Rory Coyne, Ethan Tierney; Ronan Denning, Jack O’Toole, Rodrigo Silis; Sam Place, Finn Conway, Donnacha O’Connor. Subs: Caoimhín Murphy (for McCormack 10, inj), Harry Gilrane (for Silis 51).
Claremorris: David Walsh; Tom Comer, Avram Petkovic, Hugh Gilmore; Jason Garvey, Matthew Gilligan, Keenan Mortimer; Oisín Sweeney, Hugh Lenihan; Daniel O’Keeffe, Mark Hurley, Jake Morley; Henry Noone, Aidan Brogan, Darrach Higgins. Subs: Mark Warde and Emmet Burke (for Higgins and Mortimer ht), Charlie Hanley (for Morley 57).
REF: Jarlath O’Connor (The Neale)
