Luck is with Luke as Ballinrobe are county-final bound

IFC Semi-Final

Ballinrobe 0-14

Moy Davitts 0-8

Paul O’Malley in Garrymore

A bitter succession of wides, a saved penalty, a red card and a black card to your star man when the game’s momentum has just turned your way; if the Intermediate semi-final from which Ballinrobe emerged victorious last Saturday evening had been following a script, its writer would have had nothing but cruel intentions for Moy Davitts.

Ballinrobe, with their aggressive, relentless pressing and highlight reel-worthy selection of scores, were good value for their place in the Sweeney Cup final but for Moy Davitts, they will wonder what difference scoring a penalty on the stroke of half-time, with Ballinrobe coming out for the second half a man light due to a black card, could have made. Instead, Luke Jennings made a wonderful save and left daylight between the two teams going into the dressing rooms at the break.

The man advantage at the start of the second half counted for very little and Ballinrobe would actually extend their lead through the pinpoint accuracy of Jennings, now an asset at the other end of the pitch, whacking over frees for fun from two-point territory. The Foxford men trailed by 9 points early in the second half but finally got things moving on the scoreboard yet again after converting a few frees.

However, Cian McHale’s black card on 49 minutes marked a point of no return for Moy Davitts. Their key forward and All-Ireland winner caught Liam Burke on the run with a poor tackle and although he returned to the field of play before the end, his absence had already sapped Moy Davitts of courage and confidence going forward. They would end the game with 13 men after being shown two red cards late in the day.

Kevin Quinn, Cian O’Connell and Cian May struck in the opening minutes for Ballinrobe to give them a cushion early on. Cian McHale fired a two-point free wide with his first effort of the game but the second time around, from similar range, he scored to cut the gap to one.

Ewan Duffy had his turn from two-point country for Ballinrobe and Evan O’Brien would extend their lead with the finest score of the game. O’Brien jinked around the defender and launched a super effort between the posts to make it 0-6 to 0-2. Cian O’Connell made it 0-7 and then he made it 0-8 with back-to-back scores.

Moy Davitts were well-matched in everything but accuracy. McHale would send a 45 wide while Ronan Clarke and Conor Reid also failed to hit the target. Anthony Jordan scored their first for 19 minutes with 29 played after Ballinrobe were turned over high up the pitch. Moy Davitts were playing with a bit more confidence and would soon win a penalty. Caoimhin Donnelly was flashed a black card for a foul on Ronan Clarke after Liam Devenney conferred with both umpires and the linesman.

It proved to be no double whammy for Ballinrobe. Brian Heneghan struck his penalty well but Luke Jennings had the measure of the effort, getting down well to make the save and keep the gap at 5 points at half-time.

Despite the man advantage, it would end up being Ballinrobe who put points on the board in this period of play. Luke Jennings turned from penalty hero to points provider, firing over two two-point frees. The second was from a serious distance, not far off the halfway line and it soared through the night air and just over his opposite number’s crossbar.

The deficit was nine points and Moy Davitts got to work reducing that number. Ronan Clarke struck a two-pointer from a free after a foul on Cian McHale and Ryan Kenny, not long off the bench, popped over a fine point. Conor Reid went on a barnstorming run through the middle of the pitch and won a free for his efforts. McHale fired it over and on the next play, Moy Davitts turned over possession, won a free kick and McHale converted again.

Liam Burke took full flight on the dugout side of the pitch to try and generate an attack for Ballinrobe but Cian McHale got his leg in and brought down the wing-back. There were a few complaints from the Moy Davitts bench but little from the player himself as he was shown a black card.

The next blow for Moy Davitts came when Darragh Ruane was given his marching orders for a poor challenge on Barry Langan that brought the Ballinrobe man’s day to an end. Ballinrobe had the numbers game but still had to be of sound mind defensively with only four points between the teams. Ronan Clarke’s two-point free dropped into a danger zone and they managed to clear their lines.

The ever-impressive Cian O’Connell was back on the scoresheet once again, firing over a free while Diarmuid Duffy added the insurance score from play. Moy Davitts Conor Reid was shown a second yellow before time was up.

It was a painful loss and a gut-wrenching way to exit the Intermediate Championship for Moy Davitts but for Ballinrobe, it is a glorious return to the county final, a chance to write the wrongs of defeat on the grand stage three years ago to Kilmeena and an opportunity to bring Senior Football back to the south Mayo town.

Scorers: Ballinrobe: Cian O’Connell 0-0-4 (1f), Luke Jennings 0-2-0 (2’2pf), Ewan Duffy 0-1-0 (1’2pf), Kevin Quinn, Cian May, Evan O’Brien and Diarmuid Duffy 0-0-1 each.

Moy Davitts: Cian McHale 0-1-2 (1’2p, 2f), Ronan Clarke 0-1-0 (1’2pf), Anthony Jordan and Ryan Kenny 0-0-1.

Ballinrobe: Luke Jennings: Caoimhin Donnelly, Aaron McDonnell, Liam Burke: Diarmuid Duffy, Barry Langan, Aaron Crowley: James Murphy, Cian May: Ryan Corcoran, Evan O’Brien, Cian O’Connell: Ewan Duffy, Joe Burke, Kevin Quinn. Subs: Rossa Burke (for Langan 52), Conor Jennings (for Quinn 57), Sequoyah Duffy and Sean Flannery (for Crowley and L Burke 60+3), Peter Butler (for O'Brien 60+6).

Moy Davitts: Chris McGlynn: Ajay McGrath, Fionán Cruise, Cathal Clarke: Jamie Clarke, Colm McHale, Conor Ryder: Conor Reid, Oisin McHugh: Stephen Clarke, Cian McHale, Padraig Ruane: Brian Heneghan, Anthony Jordan, Ronan Clarke. Subs: Sean Reid and Darragh Ruane (for S Clarke and McHugh H/T), Ryan Kenny (for J Clarke 41), Jack Dunleavy (for Jordan 47), Brian Reape (for Cruise 59).

Ref: Liam Devenney.