‘Robe reveal their strength in southern derby
Liam Burke of Ballinrobe tries to force his way through the Kilmaine cover during last Friday night's intermediate championship clash at Flanagan Park. Picture: Andy Walsh
Ballinrobe sauntered to an easier than expected victory in this South Mayo El Clasico which was played before a packed Flanagan Park on Friday night.
This eagerly awaited clash drew an attendance from near and far, and the fact the game was played under floodlights only added to the bubbly atmosphere.
Prior to throw-in, visiting Kilmaine were perched at the top of the Group 3 table, however, the guests were issued with an early warning as Ballinrobe rattled off three quick-fire points during the opening few minutes courtesy of Aaron McDonnell, Joe Burke and Ewan Duffy, a free.
To their credit, Kilmaine didn’t falter and four brilliantly taken frees by their dead-ball sniper Adam Barrett resulted in the Green and Red nudging ahead by 0-4 to 0-3 in the 12th minute, much to the delight of the raucous away supporters. However, an eager Ballinrobe managed to take a significant step in their quest for victory when Peter Ford’s troops plundered a three-pointer on 13 minutes. Peter Butler, who made some vital interceptions throughout the tie, played an inch-perfect ball into the path of the scuttling Joseph Burke who darted towards goal before finishing with aplomb.
Adam Barrett, from a free, reduced the deficit to just a point on 16 minutes his teammate Finn O’Loughlin made a heroic block to deny Ballinrobe’s Ewan Duffy a certain point.
The Maroon and Yellow seemed to be making better use of their attacking forays, and efforts from Kevin Quinn and Ewan Duffy, a free, bridged a three point gap between these South Mayo rivals.
Ballinrobe’s Eoin Gilrane was a lively presence at centre-back and he very nearly scored a goal of the season contender on 27 minutes, when making a meandering and uninterrupted sally towards goal only to see his effort trickle inches wide past Adam Keady’s post.
On the stroke of half-time, Liam Burke set-up his Ballinrobe teammate Quinn and the latter smartly fisted the ball over the crossbar and the Robesiders led 1-6 to 0-5 during the half-time musings.
Tom Flynn’s Kilmaine outfit were fired up at the start of the second period and a point during the opening seconds from Hugh O’Loughlin signalled their intent.
Gilrane replied in kind for the hosts, before the effervescent Jarlath Mullin pointed a peach of a score for the chasers.
The Flanagan Park men appeared to have weathered the early second-half onslaught from Kilmaine, and points from Ewan Duffy, a free, Kevin Quinn, a mark, and Liam Burke enhanced Ballinrobe’s dominance of the scoreboard as they now led 1-10 to 0-7. But things could have been much different during that Ballinrobe scoring burst had Jarlath Mullin’s goal-bound effort not been blocked by Aaron McDonnell on the goal-line.
Kilmaine’s Michael Hession and Ballinrobe’s Joseph Burke then proceeded to swap points, before Burke’s team-mate Cian O’Connell saw his thunderous strike hit the crossbar after being teed-up by Ryan Corcoran. Indeed, moments later O’Connell was once again left ruing his luck as another of his close-range pile-drivers hit the woodwork.
Barrett, with a free for Kilmaine, and Eoin Gilrane swapped singles on 51 and 52 minutes respectively, with another free from the aforementioned Barrett once again being negated, this time by O’Connell.
The Robesiders were eager to copper-fasten the victory and a point from their substitute Evan O’Brien was the prelude to a second Ballinrobe goal on 60 minutes, as Liam Burke teed-up Joseph Burke and the latter’s crisp strike had too much purchase for the beaten Keady.
The hosts closed out proceedings impressively, courtesy of points from Ewan Duffy, a free, and John Enda Flannelly, with Barrett’s late dead-ball effort proving to be a mere consolation score for the guests.
Scorers – Ballinrobe: Joseph Burke 2-2, Ewan Duffy 0-4f, Kevin Quinn 0-3 (1m), Eoin Gilrane 0-2, Aaron McDonnell, Liam Burke, Cian O’Connell, John Enda Flannelly and Evan O’Brien 0-1 each.
Kilmaine: Adam Barrett 0-8f, Hugh O’Loughlin, Jarlath Mullin and Michael Hession 0-1 each.
Ballinrobe: Luke Jennings; Oran O’Malley, Aaron McDonnell, Eugene O’Malley; Sean Flannery, Eoin Gilrane, Peter Butler; James Murphy, Diarmuid Duffy; Ryan Corcoran, Ewan Duffy, Liam Burke; Cian O’Connell, Kevin Quinn, Joseph Burke.
Subs: Evan O’Brien (for O’Connell 56), Conor Jennings (for Quinn 60+1), John Enda Flannelly (for Flannery 60+3).
Kilmaine: Adam Keady; Darragh Acton, David Hughes, Naoise Burke; Kyle Munroe, Evan Heraty, Tomás Fahey; Finn O’Loughlin, Hugh O’Loughlin; Cathal Murphy, Adam Barrett, Kevin Mullin; Jarlath Mullin, John Heraty, Brendan Sheridan. Subs: Darren Munroe (for Acton 37), Michael Hession (for Murphy 45), Ciaran Burke (for Fahey 45-inj), Geoffrey Sheridan (for F O’Loughlin 52), David McGrath (for K Mullin 55), Niall Mullin (for Munroe 60+1).
REF: Garryowen McMahon (Davitts)
