Regrets for 'Robe as fast start serves Moy Davitts well
Ronan Clarke of Moy Davitts is held by Ballinrobe corner-back Jason Butler during Sunday's Mayo IFC quarter-final in Sraith Garbh, Foxford. Picture: Annettte Clarke/Moy Davitts GAA
Ballinrobe endured a wasteful spell at the start of the second-half, spurning a number of chances that could have given them a route to victory against Moy Davitts on Sunday.
This was an eagerly anticipated meeting of two teams who fell only very narrowly to eventual All-Ireland champions Crossmolina in last year’s championship, Ballinrobe after extra-time at the semi-final stage, Moy Davitts after a replayed county final.
The best of Moy Davitts in this game came in the first-half where they scored two goals and led by four at the break. They were off the pace in the second-half and crawled over the line in the end, thanks in large part to a gargantuan effort by Brian Heneghan, the full-forward who dropped deep as the latter stages of the match approached to spark some encouragement in the besieged Moy Davitts defensive ranks.
Heneghan, who scored three points and was instrumental in the second goal, was fouled early doors and this led to Ronan Clarke’s opening free inside the first minute. Heneghan then fed Brian Reape who forced a great save out of former Mayo minor goalkeeper Luke Jennings. Conor O’Brien got one back for Ballinrobe before Reape fired over with a textbook finish.
Three minutes later, Reape was put through on goal once again and this time made no mistake. Padraig Ruane was the provider, bursting through the Ballinrobe defensive ranks having turned over Jennings’ kickout before laying it off to Reape who finished.
Aaron Crowley, named to start in place of Joe Burke, turned on the afterburners and forced Jack Dunleavy’s foul. Evan O’Brien converted the free but Ballinrobe’s slow start continued as Reape and Heneghan added further Moy Davitt’s scores.
Kevin Quinn and Liam Burke replied for the South Mayo side but Moy Davitts would extend their lead with two two-pointers. Ryan Kenny was inches outside the arc and raised an orange flag while Ronan Clarke launched a big swing of his boot to send the ball flying between the posts.
Evan O’Brien proved to have just as good a range with a free from two-point land but Ballinrobe then failed to clear their lines up the other end. There was a big scramble for the ball which Brian Heneghan emerged from with possession. He found Ryan Kenny in space on the overlap and he played it to Sean Kelly in front of goal. Kelly dummied the goalkeeper and tapped into the net.
The reply was instant and it needed to be for Ballinrobe at this stage. The dust had hardly settled on Kelly’s goal when Liam Burke went up the other end and hit the back of the home side’s net. Rossa Burke added a point for the visitors to bring the game to half-time with a four-point difference between the sides.
Ballinrobe will rue the opening 10 minutes of the second-half. Liam Burke, Kevin Quinn, Conor O’Brien and Evan O’Brien all had efforts from a reasonable range drift wide, while Conor O’Brien also had a free drop into goalkeeper Shane Moyles’ arms. Conor Reid fouled Diarmuid Duffy and the ball was brought up to the edge of Moy Davitts’ arc but Luke Jennings sent the two-point effort wide. Even a 50% success rate would have made a huge difference for Ballinrobe at this juncture but finally, Conor O’Brien fired over a free to end their drought.
Moy Davitts were lacklustre compared to their rampant first-half but Heneghan showed great leadership to get them moving again with back to back points. Aaron Crowley and Conor O’Brien added points to cut the gap to three once more. Luke Jennings popped over a two-point free, brought forward to the arc after Jack Dunleavy’s foul, to bring ‘Robe to within a point.
They would get no closer however, as Anthony Jordan came in fresh off the bench to add two points. Brian Reape scored another while Cian McHale converted a free. Ewan Duffy and Aaron Crowley pointed for Ballinrobe but the goal they needed proved ever-elusive and time ran out.
The only black mark for Moy Davitts linchpin Brian Heneghan came at the end when he was shown a black card for an incident involving Ballinrobe’s Liam Burke, who was shown a second yellow card for his role in the fracas.
Scorers – Moy Davitts: Brian Reape 1-0-3, Sean Kelly 1-0-0, Brian Heneghan 0-0-3, Ronan Clarke 0-1-1, Ryan Kenny 0-1-0, Anthony Jordan 0-0-2, Cian McHale 0-0-1f.
Ballinrobe: Liam Burke 1-0-1, Evan O’Brien 0-1-1 (1tpf, 1f), Conor O’Brien 0-0-3 (2f), Luke Jennings 0-1-0 (1tpf), Aaron Crowley 0-0-2, Ewan Duffy, Rossa Burke and Kevin Quinn 0-0-1 each.
Moy Davitts: Shane Moyles; David Byrne, Tadhg Ruane, Jack Dunleavy; Colm McHale, Oisin McHugh, Cathal Clarke; Conor Reid, Padraig Ruane; Brian Reape, Cian McHale, Ryan Kenny; Ronan Clarke, Brian Heneghan, Sean Kelly. Subs: Ajay McGrath (for C Clarke 48), Anthony Jordan (for Kenny 50), Jamie Clarke (for S Kelly 52), Stephen Clarke (for Byrne 56).
Ballinrobe: Luke Jennings; Jason Butler, Aaron McDonnell, Conor O’Brien; Sean Flannery, Diarmuid Duffy, Peter Butler; James Murphy, Evan O’Brien; Ryan Corcoran, Ewan Duffy, Rossa Burke; Kevin Quinn, Aaron Crowley, Liam Burke. Subs: Cian O’Connell (for E O’Brien 39), Rory Gilrane (for McDonnell 48), Evan O’Brien (for C O’Brien 59), Dara Sweeney (for Butler 60).
REF: John Glavey (Aghamore)
