Murray’s mint display helps Ballina advance
Mikey Murray smacked over three long-range points in an impressive midfield display for Ballina. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie
There’s an impressive efficiency about Ballina Stephenites at present. Averaging more than 20 points per game on the back of last year’s lowest scoring Mayo SFC Final since the 1930s, Niall Heffernan’s side seem intent on displaying that they can play the game every which way.
To have coasted to victory over Mayo Gaels and Balla in the opening two rounds of the defence of their title, both times without Mayo defender Padraig O’Hora available to them, and to have last year’s top scorer in the Mayo SFC, Evan Regan, contribute only two pointed frees last Saturday evening, and Mayo attacker Conor McStay no score at all, hints at the serious depth that exists within the squad.
Ballina’s next game, a repeat of the 2022 Mayo SFC final, will see them play Westport to decide who reaches the quarter-finals as top seeds and who as second seeds. However that game goes, all of the remaining teams in the hunt for Moclair Cup honours will wish to avoid the defending champions for as long as possible.
Mikey Murray and Frank Irwin, both of whom have senior inter-county experience, were exceptional at midfield for the Moysiders, Murray kicking three exquisite long-range points and Irwin scoring three frees to add to the goal and point he scored from play. Luke Doherty caught the eye too, with the wing-forward scoring one goal and setting up Ballina’s third, which was finished to the net by the team’s youngest player, full-forward Luke Feeney.
Balla, who had surprised many when pushing Westport all the way in Round 1, would have been happy enough with themselves after 40 minutes here as well, when trailing by only two points thanks to Gary McHale’s spectacular goal. But that was one of just three flags raised by the West Mayo outfit in a second-half almost totally dominated by the Green and Red.
There had, however, been something admirable about Balla’s first-half performance, particularly how they reacted to Ballina Stephenites hitting them for 1-1 inside the opening five minutes. Sam Callinan scored the point and Luke Doherty the goal, after Balla ‘keeper David Dolan failed to properly deal with an under-hit point effort by Frank Irwin, but the visitors replied with three pointed frees, two from Colm Murphy and one by Gary McHale, to trail by one entering the second quarter.
Mikey Murray opened his account for Ballina but Balla came again with three more on the spin, two by way of McHale frees before wing-back Jude Clarke, after a timely intercept by his full-back Ger Flanagan, kicked their first point from play, to give the visitors an unlikely 0-6 to 1-2 lead after 24 minutes. From that point on however, the men in maroon were outscored 2-11 to 1-2.
Murray was clipped from behind to give Frank Irwin a handy free from which to score his first point of the evening, while the same player raised green in the 27th minute when playing a one-two with David Tighe and burying past Dolan, at the end of a swift counterattack.
A pointed mark by Luke Doherty moved Ballina 2-4 to 0-6 ahead, although Balla were desperately unlucky not to narrow their arrears to the minimum on the stroke of half-time when Oisin Cronin cracked a shot against the Stephenites crossbar and saw the ball spin wide over the endline.
The goal the underdogs required eventually came nine minutes into the second-half, by which time Frank Irwin had nudged Ballina a point further ahead from a free earned by Luke Feeney. It was a quickly taken free at the other end by Jude Clarke into Gary McHale that saw the corner-forward let fly with a shot that whistled past David Clarke into the top left corner. The finish was fit to grace any stage but alas for Balla, who hoped the introduction of Mattie Flanagan to full-forward might reap a dividend, McHale’s major only awoke the beast within Ballina.
Evan Regan, two frees, and Mikey Murray took only four minutes to negate the goal through points, and when Irwin scored yet another Luke Feeney-earned free, the six points margin was the biggest yet between the teams. It simply grew from there, even though the Ballina management chose to withdraw centre-forward Conor McStay with 10 minutes remaining.
Irwin and Murray hit stunning points either side of Luke Feeney palming home a 53rd minute goal for a 3-11 to 1-6 lead, while Ballina could easily have had another major but Sam Callinan’s strike was thwarted by the butt of the left upright.
A Gary McHale free was Balla’s first score in 18 minutes and while that was cancelled out by Luke Doherty, McHale pointed again, this time when getting his fist to sub Conor Nolan’s high delivery into the goalmouth. But that, too, was met with a reply, as a fisted point by James Doherty saw him become Ballina’s seventh different scorer.
The champions are certainly not backing from the challenge of trying to defend their crown.
Scorers – Ballina: Frank Irwin 1-4 (0-3f), Luke Doherty 1-2 (0-1m), Luke Feeney 1-0, Mikey Murray 0-3, Evan Regan 0-2f, Sam Callinan and James Doherty 0-1 each.
Balla: Gary McHale 1-5 (0-4f), Colm Murphy 0-2f, Jude Clarke 0-1.
Ballina Stephenites: David Clarke; Liam Golden, Ger Cafferkey, David Tighe; Brendan Collins, Sam Callinan, Luke Jordan; Mikey Murray, Frank Irwin; Luke Doherty, Conor McStay, Niall Feeney; Evan Regan, Luke Feeney, Ciaran Boland. Subs: James Doherty (for Jordan 48), Ciaran Sweeney (for McStay 52), Daniel Feeney (for N Feeney 55), Blair Norton (for Golden 57).
Balla: David Dolan; Shaun Dempsey, Ger Flanagan, Brian O’Donovan; Conor Dunleavy, Patrick McLoughlin, Jude Clarke; Ryan Fadden, Shane Conway; Colm Murphy, Conor Walsh, Jack Harte; Gary McHale, Aaron Walsh, Oisin Cronin. Subs: Matthew Flanagan (for A Walsh 36), Val Roughneen (for Conway 41), Oisin Jordan (for Fadden 50, inj), Luke Flatley (for Clarke 55), Conor Nolan (for Murphy 58).
REF: Christopher Burke (Hollymount)
