One-two sucker punch leaves Robesiders floored
Dylan McKee continued his red-hot form in front of goal against Ballinrobe Town. Picture: David Farrell Photography
Two quick-fire first half goals in the space of two minutes from Ballina Town mustered a 3-1 lead for the visitors and left their opponents reeling. Despite their best efforts, the Robesiders were always playing catch-up from there on in and they couldn’t snatch a goal that might have instigated a stirring comeback.
The embryonic stages of this Sunday morning cup tie at The Green were nip and tuck and the hosts were given a golden opportunity to take the lead after just six minutes of action, when Chris Moore felled the scuttling JP O’Gorman inside the 18-yard box and after consulting with his assistant, referee Martin Regan pointed to the penalty spot. O’Gorman dusted himself down and expertly struck home the spot-kick, much to the delight of his team-mates.
A minute later, however, the sides were level. Ballinrobe momentarily switched off and a sweeping Ballina attacking foray saw Conor Gorman’s wicked strike deceive Sean Shaughnessy and the ball hit the back of the net.
The high octane nature continued apace with Killian McHugh’s audacious long-range chip flashing narrowly past Emmet Peyton’s post, much to the relief of the Ballina ‘keeper.
Gorman was a busy presence for Ballina and he called Shaughnessy into action once again but he was equal to the challenge on this occasion.
At the other end, Peyton denied Peter Butler on 13 minutes, and the frantic action continued when Shaughnessy denied Gorman and Dylan McKee’s rebound.
On 34 minutes, and being momentarily down to 10 men as Killian McHugh received treatment for a knock on the side-line, Ballinrobe suffered the first of two real sucker-punches. The industrious Jamie Cawley broke free and his neat lay-off teed-up McKee and the latter made no mistake with a seasoned finish to the back of the net.
Then two minutes later, and whilst trying to regroup, the Robesiders conceded a sloppy and morale sapping third goal. A wicked corner-kick delivery from Gorman bypassed a static home rearguard and the poaching Tiernan Tighe was on hand to steer the ball home to the back of the net.
Matters could have been a whole lot worse for the hosts two minutes before the break, when Gorman’s in-swinging corner-kick took a deflection and clipped the crossbar, much to the relief of the home bench.
The Robesiders almost received the perfect tonic on the resumption, with JP O’Gorman’s header forcing Peyton into making a faint save on 50 minutes.
Ballinrobe huffed and puffed as the second half wore on, but they just lacked that vital bit of creativity in order to break down a stubborn and watertight Ballina rearguard.
The visitors didn’t rest on their laurels, with the goal-hungry Tighe forcing Shaughnessy into another save on 62 minutes, before Cawley’s rocket strike hit the upright on 65 minutes.
The South Mayo side made some tactical switches and introduced Dean Shaughnessy and Ben Place into the fray in a bid to find a way back into the tie.
The Ballina Town management then almost made a tactical masterstroke; when their busy substitute Derrick Odirile Phole, and who was barely two minutes on the pitch, saw his close-range chip from inside the box fly agonisingly over the Ballinrobe crossbar.
Ballina closed out proceedings impressively, and the Belleek Park outfit could have added further gloss to the score-line as the sands of time ran out, however, McKee’s effort hit the crossbar, with the poaching Odirile Phole’s attempted follow-up ruled out for offside.
