Honours even in exciting South Mayo derby
JP O'Gorman netted a crucial equaliser for Ballinrobe Town.
A rollercoaster South Mayo El Clasico ended honours even at a sun-splashed Concannon Park on Saturday.
Ballinrobe Town displayed plenty of fortitude in this game as twice they came from behind after conceding goals early in both halves.
Supporters were still filing their way into the ground when the locals made the dream start to this derby after just two minutes of action. Ballinrobe Town were caught napping and a simple through ball from Brandon Walsh set-up Mark Maloney and the latter skipped past the static cover before finishing with aplomb for Claremorris.
To their credit, the Robesiders hit the reset button and the White and Black levelled proceedings on nine minutes. Oisin Connolly gamely won possession and his precise delivery was snaffled up by the roving Jose Poblaciones, whose initial strike hit the butt of the upright and rolled across but not over the goal-line. The tenacious and goal hungry Poblaciones was on hand, however, to make sure the rebound rustled the back of the net.
Both sides were fired up for this clash and Claremorris could well have regained the lead on 30 minutes, however, Simon Butler’s strike was thwarted by Sean Shaughnessy in the visitors goal.
Two minutes later, it was the turn of Town to be left ruing their luck. This time JP O’Gorman set-up Gary Mellett Connolly, with the latter’s effort being tipped away by the outstretched glove of the vigilant Keith Saunders.
Oisin Connolly very nearly helped give his team the lead but in a crowded penalty box his effort clipped the upright.
Just before the break, Xavi Vasquez’s troops almost received the perfect half-time fillip but after making a whooshing run into the 18-yard box, O’Gorman’s tame chip trickled harmlessly wide.
The Claremorris half-time pep-talk seemed to have worked wonders, as in a similar vein to the start of the tie the Green and White pilfered the lead just one minute into the new half. This time the busy Rokas Mikuckis was the architect, as his through ball bamboozled the Ballinrobe Town defence, thus allowing Butler a golden opportunity and the ace striker didn’t need a second invitation, much to the delight of the home supporters.
The Robesiders were under the cosh, and just one minute after conceding the lead, they very nearly conceded a morale-sapping third, however, Mikuckis skied a decent opportunity after latching onto an exquisite delivery from Calvin Joyce.
Relieved at Mikuckis’ miss, the Town upped the tempo and they restored parity for the second time in this encounter on 55 minutes. The hardworking duo of Poblaciones and O’Gorman combined, with the former’s wicked delivery across the face of goal finding O’Gorman and the latter applied a cool finish, much to the delight of the away bench.
Indeed, Poblaciones could well have provided the lead for Ballinrobe on 66 minutes but his fizzing volley flashed inches wide.
Both sides were full of endeavour as they bravely searched for the elusive three points, with Shaughnessy producing an excellent save to deny Cathal Walsh a certain goal after 69 minutes, with Mikuckis once again the provider.
The Green and White then very nearly took the lead for the third time in this gripping encounter but Joyce’s effort hit the crossbar.
The game continued to ebb and flow, with Ballinrobe’s Rory Walsh releasing O’Gorman on 73 minutes, but after making a darting run into the 18-yard box, the latter dragged a decent chance inches wide.
At this stage it was nigh impossible to predict a winner, however, the visitors peppered the home goal during the final throws of this encounter and the Robesiders very nearly plundered the winner on 85 minutes. Danny O’Toole, who did a Trojan amount of work on the day, delivered a teasing ball into the path of O’Gorman, but his close-range stooping header was expertly gathered by the vigilant Saunders.
In the end, a draw was probably a fair result and both sides will be eager to take the positives from this thrilling derby clash.
