Gutsy Gaels conquer Ballycroy in bruising battle

Treanlaur Catering Mayo JFC Quarter-Final 

Eastern Gaels 1-15 

Ballycroy 0-11 

Anthony Hennigan at Riverside Grounds, Brickens 

Between the white lines in Brickens was no place for the faint of heart on Saturday evening as blood splattered and bones shuddered when the men of Eastern Gaels and Ballycroy fought to stay standing in this year’s race for the McDonnell Cup.

Gaels got the job done with a degree of comfort on the scoreboard but their bodies are sure to require every last minute to recover in time for next weekend’s semi-final such was the unrelenting nature of the exchanges at the Riverside Grounds.

It’s bad enough losing a player to injuries caused by an opponent but Eastern Gaels lost two after a first-half collision between teammates. However, the depth of their squad is such that they could introduce regular midfielder Michael McGarry and team captain Evan Godfrey, both of whom had been named to start but instead scored three points off the bench.

It took Stephen Grealis only 25 seconds to open the scoring but that was the only time Ballycroy led Eastern Gaels in this no-holds-barred encounter in which referee Rory Courell issued seven cards, including a straight red to Ballycroy substitute Raymond Grealis late in the second-half. The visitors from Erris were game opponents but ten wides to Gaels’ four, on a day when they really needed everything to go right, impacted on their ability to test the home side’s mettle better. If Stephen Grealis hadn’t had a goal effort smartly saved by Ronan Forde on the stroke half-time, they could have asked a much stiffer question of the home side who instead took a 0-9 to 0-4 lead into the dressing-room.

Eastern Gaels took the lead for the first time in the third minute when Senan Guilfoyle dummied inside Shane Ginty and fired over a glorious two pointer, and Paul Hickey’s side were never to be caught. By the 13th minute they were 0-6 to 0-1 in front, with Charlie Johnstone hitting a brace from wing-forward, and singles coming from David Smith and Senan Guilfoyle, from a ’45.

Smith was unfortunate not to raise a green flag too, when slipped inside the cover by Paul O’Gara, but his daisy-cutter smacked the butt of the right upright.

Eastern Gaels midfielder Brian Kelly and full-back Tony Alyward succumbed to injuries sustained in the 14th minute when they clattered into each other in an albeit successful attempt to disrupt a Ballycroy attack, and Kelly’s replacement, Michael McGarry, wasted no time in getting his name on the scoreboard, while a converted free by Guilfoyle and Smith’s second from play, meant that Eastern Gaels had scored nine points in-a-row during a blistering 21-minute spell.

Something clicked for Ballycroy however, during the final six or so minutes of the first-half – that something being a savage hunger to improve their lot around the middle of the park. Suddenly, powerhouses like Michael Conway, Shane Ginty, Kevin Conway and James Deane began to make their presence felt beneath the kickouts and from that came three points but three more chances untaken too.

Deane twice traded passes with Luke McManamon to forge a path through the Eastern Gaels defence and fire his side’s first point in 25 minutes. Stephen Grealis then picked off a pair of points from play, both off the left boot from the left of the posts, while there were placed balls kicked wide by Rory Conway and Michael Conway either side of Grealis drawing that near post save by home stopper Forde on the stroke of half-time.

Eastern Gaels wasted little time in extending their lead from five to seven points upon the resumption, with Guilfoyle on target prior to full-forward Jack Madden wonderfully fielding McGarry’s booming delivery and drilling over for a 0-11 to 0-4 advantage.

Those two points were negated by one big swing of Michael Conway’s boot, as the Ballycroy midfielder drove over a free from outside the arc, and the evergreen Kevin Ginty replied to a point by Evan Godfrey, introduced by Gaels’ management at half-time, which kept the margin between the teams at five points at the close of the third quarter. But when the excellent Henry Concannon, as he had done for Godfrey’s first, helped set-up the substitute’s second point too, that sparked a match-winning spurt by the Blue and Amber which saw Jack Madden crash home the game’s only goal in the 48th minute.

Madden had fielded a long ball from Luke Mannion and looked all set to shake the net until held up unfairly by James Deane. Ref Courell awarded the advanced mark instead and Madden slammed the ball to the net beyond the stunned Jack Deane.

Mannion also gave the assist for Senan Guilfoyle’s seventh point and by the 56th minute, Eastern Gaels were now ten points clear, 1-14 to 0-7.

It was at this point that the red mist descended upon Raymond Grealis whose dismissal turned a mountainous task into an impossible one for Ballycroy who, to their credit, refused to throw in the towel.

Rory Conway, having just seen a long range effort bounce back into play off the crossbar, finally scored the pointed free that his efforts deserved. Michael Conway then swept over his second two-point free from the carpet and Rory Conway doubled his tally from another free, but a three-up breach saw the visitors cough up one more point to Guilfoyle, as Eastern Gaels marched into the semi-final without a wide to their name in the second-half.

Scorers – Eastern Gaels: Senan Guilfoyle 0-1-5 (1 ’45, 2f), Jack Madden 1-0-1 (1-0m), David Smith, Charlie Johnstone and Evan Godfrey 0-0-2 each, Michael McGarry 0-0-1.

Ballycroy: Michael Conway 0-2-0 (2tpf), Stephen Grealis 0-0-3, Rory Conway 0-0-2f, James Deane and Kevin Ginty 0-0-1 each.

Eastern Gaels: Ronan Forde; Micheál Finnegan, Tony Alyward, Jarlath Concannon; Henry Concannon, Jack Ronayne, Shane Glynn; Brian Kelly, Nathan Hession; Paul O’Gara, David Smith, Charlie Johnstone; Senan Guilfoyle, Jack Madden, Ethan Owens. Subs: Michael McGarry (for Kelly 14, inj), Darren Concannon (for Alyward 22, inj), Evan Godfrey (for Smith ht), Luke Mannion (for O’Gara 38), Dean McGarry (for Owens 42-45, blood), D McGarry (for Madden 56).

Ballycroy: Jack Deane; Ronan Grealis, Tom McIntyre, Jason Calvey; Kevin Conway, James Deane, Micheál Grealis; Shane Ginty, Michael Conway; Luke McManamon, Stephen Grealis, Cillian Conway; Rory Conway, Michael McManamon, Kevin Ginty. Subs: Raymond Grealis (for C Conway 40), Micheál McCormack (for K Ginty 51), Bryan Grealis (for M Grealis 58).

REF: Rory Courell (Islandeady)