Goal-king Gibbons helps underdogs shatter ‘Glass

Oliver Kelleher Masters Cup Final 

Partry Athletic 5 

Ballyglass 4 

Paul O’Malley at Umbro Park 

Division Three underdogs Partry Athletic are the Oliver Kelleher Masters Cup champions for the first time after overcoming Division One champions Ballyglass in an epic encounter that ended 5-4 last Wednesday night.

Although they breezed past Ballyhaunis Town in the opening round, Partry had to run a veritable gauntlet to reach the final, beating Conn Rangers, Iorras Aontaithe and reigning cup champions Westport United, who had been aiming for their fifth cup in-a-row before Partry knocked them out in the semi-finals.

Ballyglass’s route was more straightforward, eliminating their ‘B’ team and Fahy en route to the final, with the biggest obstacle coming in the semi-finals when they beat Division Three’s Bangor Hibs whilst a man down for the whole second-half.

So, the stage was set for a big battle last Wednesday evening and it started in thrilling fashion when with just seconds played, John Byrne walloped in an effort from distance to make it 1-0 to Partry.

Not to be outdone, Ballyglass advanced straight up the field from kick-off and Jimmy Killeen fired in the equaliser. By the tenth minute, Partry had a two-goal advantage, both coming from Mark Gibbons.

The first, of what proved to be a hat-trick for Gibbons, came in the seventh minute when he whacked a shot towards goal. It smacked a Ballyglass player and came back to Gibbons who hammered in the rebound.

Two minutes later, Gibbons was left unmarked in front of goal when a deflected shot fell into his path and his touch put the ball in the net.

The lively nature of the game did not abate just yet; Alan Plunkett netted after a brilliant Ballyglass move. PJ Gibbons found Killeen down the left flank and his cross was perfectly measured allowing Plunkett an easy finish.

Six minutes into the second-half, Colm Boyle latched onto a ball Partry failed to clear and levelled things once more. Ten minutes later, Ballyglass jumped in front for the first time when Alan Plunkett smashed in a brilliant volley.

Partry were well up for this, and just as Ballyglass had responded to the game’s opening goal, their response was rapid-fire. John Byrne’s low cross went deep into the danger zone and found Mark Gibbons at the far post, who tapped in to complete his hat-trick.

Extra-time looked to be looming but up stepped Partry’s talisman John Russell to decide the destiny of the day. Kevin Dolan’s shot cannoned off the bar and Russell reacted quickest to toe poke it home.

Ballyglass pushed forward but time ran out on them.

Oliver Kelleher was on hand to present Mark Gibbons with the Player of the Match award and Partry captain Danny Lydon with the Masters Cup, drawing the curtain down on a truly entertaining season of Masters football at Umbro Park.

Partry Athletic: Derek O’Sullivan, Brendan Garry, Mark Gibbons, Patrick Kelly, John Byrne, John Russell, Kevin Dolan, Brian Naughton, Sean Bourke, Danny Lydon.

Ballyglass: Johnny Walsh, PJ Gibbons, John Duffy, Dermot Costello, Peter Quinn, Jimmy Killeen, Alan Plunkett, Colm Boyle, John Paul Reilly, Anthony Killeen.

REF: Alan English