Jesse goes to Town in rout of Rovers
Jamie Cawley of Ballina Town climbs highest in the Glenhest Rovers box while under pressure from Matthew Reilly. Picture: John Corless
This was a stunning performance by Ballina Town. Propelled by ex-League of Ireland players, David Cawley, Raff Cretaro and Jesse Devers, who hit three goals on Sunday, they demolished an understrength Glenhest Rovers, and served notice of intent on the other clubs in the top half of the Mayo Super League that they mean business.
If Town can continue this level of performance for the remainder of the season, they will win the league. Castlebar Celtic might have something to say about that, of course; they won’t want to relinquish the title they have held for the past three years. And Ballyheane and Westport United too, will have a shout in the final weeks of the season. But on Sunday, Town were on fire.
Ballina got off the mark after two minutes when Jamie Cawley blasted home, when he was put in by David Cawley. They doubled the margin on 13 when Devers got his first – a fine individual effort again set up by David Cawley.
Devers’ second goal came thee minutes before half-time, and showcased his unique talent. An excellent threaded pass from Cretaro found Devers, but he had a lot of work to do. Most of that work was short-circuited by a clever body move that turned a half chance into a goal of real quality. This was top quality football from an outstanding player and on the day, an outstanding team, and they were only charging a fiver at the gate.
A minute before the break, Benny Lavelle, Town’s goal machine of the past fifteen years, reminded everyone of his prowess when he shot diagonally past the unfortunate Nathan Barrett to make it four.
Glenhest introduced Shane Finnerty and regular goalkeeper, Eoghan McMamamon for the second-half, and while they were a bit better, the game was lost and it was about keeping the score respectable.
Devers continued his masterclass, blasting a free-kick to the net just after the hour, before he was withdrawn. PJ Gilmartin, a late substitute returning from injury, showed his quality, getting the sixth in stoppage time, by beating two defenders before driving home.
If the three ex-LoI players shone, so too did Lavelle, Jamie Cawley and Dylan McKee. All were excellent, as usual.
Town had other chances too and might have won by more. McKee, Lavelle, Martin Delaney and Jamie Cawley had numerous shots either narrowly wide or saved.
It was a long hot day for Glenhest. In the absence of the injured Paddy Mulchrone, they relied on Connor McCarthy and he did his best, under pressure from Daire O’Connor and Chris Maughan who were determined to keep him scoreless. Shane Finnerty added a bit of energy on the right wing when he was introduced at half-time, but the match was long gone by then.
Jesse Devers was delighted to return to action after a spell on the sidelines and said it was “good to get the run out with the lads” after missing the previous few weeks through injury. He felt it was important to get valuable minutes under his belt ahead of the challenges that lie ahead.
Despite the convincing scoreline, Devers insisted Ballina had to remain focused throughout the game.
“It was a comfortable win, but we've got to keep it professional too,” he told the after the game. “Even when we scored a few goals, we had to keep the tempo up because we're going to get tougher tests in the next few weeks,” he said.
The victory leaves Ballina back at the top of the table alongside Castlebar Celtic, with Devers describing the title race as “wide open” and expecting every remaining fixture to be “a very, very tough test.” He praised his midfield teammates, saying they deserved much of the credit for creating the chances for his hat-trick.
“They make the runs and the ball is literally just placed on your foot.”
Glenhest boss, Stephen McLaughlin, was full of praise for Ballina Town.
“They are a super, super side,” he said. “They are the best that we've come up against. They moved the ball very well. They've got serious talent, serious creativity in there and I suppose we just didn't do enough in those opening 20, 25 minutes. We were facing a big uphill task after that.
“They're a fantastic team, and they deserve the win. They played some great football. The best of luck to them. We'll be seeing them again, obviously, before the year is out. But it was an impressive display they put on.”
Ballina Town: Matthew Fox; Martin Delaney (John O’Brien 71), Chris Maughan, Daire O’Connor, Alex Monaghan; Raff Cretaro, David Cawley, Dylan McKee; Jesse Devers (Oran Canavan 71), Benny Lavelle (Mathew Traynor 81), Jamie Cawley (PJ Gilmartin 81).
Glenhest Rovers: Nathan Barrett (Eoghan McManamon 46); Ciaran McCormack, Adrian Rowland, Eoin McNulty, Conor Murphy; Chris Rowland, Cathal Chambers, Bobby Canning; Niall Kirby (Shane Finnerty 46), Connor McCarthy, Paul McLoughlin.
REF: Damien McGrath
