Historic victory for Ballinrobe boys against ‘aristocrats’
Action from last Sunday's Connacht PPS senior 'A' championship clash between Ballinrobe Community School and St Jarlath's College in Cong, which saw a famous win for the Mayo students. Picture: Andy Walsh
Connacht PPS Senior A Football Championship – Group 2 - Round 2
Ballinrobe Community School 1-10
St Jarlath’s College, Tuam 0-10
At St Feichin’s Park, Cong
Ballinrobe Community School made history at the weekend as they defeated St Jarlath’s College, Tuam, for the very first time in a cracking Connacht Post Primary Schools senior ‘A’ championship encounter at The Neale GAA grounds on Sunday.
With eleven of the starting line-up eligible to play next year, the result and performance of the South Mayo team was a hugely encouraging one going forward, not just in terms of this year’s championship but next year’s also.
Coming into this important tie, St Jarlath’s had won their opening round match against last year’s champions, Summerhill College of Sligo, while Ballinrobe suffered defeat to Rice College, Westport, after a disappointing performance.
Knowing anything less than a victory would likely see their chances of reaching the knockout stages end, Ballinrobe used the breeze in the first-half to their advantage and led 0-7 to 0-5 at the interval. Six of first seven points came from Mayo minor Tom Lydon, with Simon Boyle finding the other score before half-time. Cian Farragher and Jack Heneghan were among the scorers for Jarlath’s.
Although they were now playing against the inclement conditions, Ballinrobe Community School outscored St Jarlath’s 0-2 to 0-1 in the opening ten minutes of the second-half through Finnian Walsh and Tom Lydon before Conor Jennings fired in a goal midway through, which would ultimately separate the two sides at the finish. St Jarlath’s rallied towards the end but Ballinrobe held on as the visitors missed a number of chances from frees and from play.
“We’re very happy with that,” said Ballinrobe midfielder Jack Keane after the game. “It was a tough game, tough conditions, but the lads pulled through. We brought the intensity in the last few trainings and it followed through today.
It’s the first time the school has ever beaten Jarlath’s. It’s a huge win.”
The Ballinrobe team is managed by Damien Egan who said the day was all about “bringing the battle to Jarlath’s”.
“When you have lads like Tom Lydon and Jack Keane, ball winners, we got the scores we needed. The last seven minutes was insane stuff but our backs stood up. You have to be proud of the heart and bottle we showed out there. At the end of the day, to get a win against the aristocrats Jarlath’s is a historic day for the school.
“If we play like that against Summerhill, we’ll give it a good crack,” assured Damien Egan.
Ballinrobe Community School will meet the defending champions Summerhill in the final group game on Wednesday, January 10. A win will guarantee their place in the knockout stages while a draw could see them miss out due to their heavy defeat to Rice College in Round 1.
Ballinrobe CS: Dylan Walsh; Sean Coyne, Evan Connevey, Eoin O’Dea; Luke Muniz, Conor Jennings, Daithí Butler; Jack Keane, Tiernan Egan; Simon Boyle, Robbie Hughes, David Cameron; Evan Lydon, Tom Lydon, Finnian Walsh. Subs: Shane Mahon (for O’Dea); David McGrath (for T Lydon inj).
