Home loss puts Ballina under pressure to reach Super 4

Connacht J1A League – Round 6 

Ballina 9 

Connemara 15 

Stuart Tynan at Heffernan Park 

Storm Darragh wreaked havoc across Mayo at the weekend and it inflicted one final show of force at Heffernan Park as Ballina fell to defeat to Connemara on Saturday evening.

It is a second defeat on the bounce for Ballina and they will now need to defeat Mayo rivals Castlebar in their final round-robin game next month. Ballina are now tied with Castlebar on 17 points in the table after the county town’s bonus point win over Dunmore, and Ballina need the league points to ensure their spot in the top four before the Super 4 stage begins in mid-February.

The gale force wind was always going to play a major part and Ballina had it at their back in the first-half. Craig McCormick put Ballina in front with a penalty in front of the posts but the All-Blacks hit back through Ian Staunton as he converted his side’s first try, although he couldn’t follow up with the conversion against the inclement conditions.

McCormick missed another penalty and the chance to edge Ballina in front but Connemara’s discipline was proving a major issue for the visitors. Tommy Mullen was sinbinned, the first of seven players of the night, and McCormick made no mistake with his next dead ball to put the hosts in front.

Ballina lost their man advantage soon after when Niall Feeney was shown a yellow and the game began to get mired by niggly challenges and off the ball incidents, the latter seeing Ballina’s Oisin McNicholas and Connemara’s Michael O’Toole both sinbinned. Ballina would extend their advantage with the last kick of the half through a third McCormick penalty to put them 9-5 in front, although Connemara would now have the blistering wind at their backs for the second-half.

Ballina were temporarily reduced to 13 players moments after the restart after Daniel Bloomfeild was also shown a yellow card. Connemara ramped up the pressure on the Ballina backline inside their own 22, as Ballina attempts to kick it away only resulted in the oval ball blowing back into danger. Following persistent pressure, Kevin Keogh got the All-Blacks second try, which was successfully converted by Ian Staunton, to put them 12-9 in front with 10 minutes gone.

Despite a valiant showing, the strong wind was making Ballina’s life extremely difficult to get the ball away even despite Connemara losing another man to a yellow card, this time Eoin Bourke the guilty party.

The relentless press by Connemara continued and while Ballina’s last line of defence held firm, an infringement allowed Ian Staunton to kick over a penalty to extend the gap to six points.

Ballina had to go for broke at this stage. Daniel Feeney, Brian Donoghue, Daniel Bloomfield and Sean O’Connell all looked for a way through in added time, but Connemara repelled their last efforts for a crucial win to put them top of the table and guarantee their spot in the Super 4 stage.

For Ballina, an all-or-nothing showdown with Castlebar awaits on January 25.

Ballina: Liam Golden, Liam Jones, Oisin Smyth Rouse, Robert Fridd, Niall Feeney, Craig McCormick, Ronan-Cian Lawerence, Sean O’Connell, Conor Brown, Brian Donoghue, Gerard McKenna, Oisin McNicholas, Caolan Hopkins, Alexander Hennigan, Jonathan Bloomfeild. Replacements: Danny Donegan, Alan Duffy, Ronan Molloy, Neil Molloy, Daniel Feeney.

Connemara: Malachy Gorham, Eoin Bourke, Ethan Griffiths, John O’Brien, Marty Conelly, Ian Heanue, Michael O’Toole, Mike Ryan, Brendan Guckian, Ian Staunton, Jack Keaney, Oran O’Neill, Diarmuid Roche, Tommy Mullen, David McDonagh. Replacements: Kevin Keogh, Peter Barry, Cian Laffey, Patrick Keaney.

REF: Fergal Brislane (Nenagh)