Rampant Ballinrobe show no mercy to visiting Ballina
Rory Murphy scored the first of Ballinrobe's eight tries in their resounding win against Ballina 2nds in the Connacht Junior Cup last Sunday.
Ballinrobe sauntered to a comprehensive victory at The Green on Sunday as the hosts had too much firepower for their beleaguered guests.
The signs were ominous for Ballina at an early juncture, with Rory Murphy pilfering an early five pointer for the South Mayo side after just three minutes. Steven Conroy’s radar was slightly askew with the difficult conversion, but Ballinrobe had already set an early marker.
A 49 points defeat for Ballina would have been difficult to imagine on seven minutes, especially after Ronan Connolly had just guided over an inch-perfect penalty for the guests, which was just rewards for their early endeavour.
However, the hosts were beginning to exert their dominance and looked dangerous on the counter-attack, with a fine try from the rampaging Killian McAleenan causing a seven points gap between the sides.
Things went further downhill for an under-pressure Ballina on 14 minutes, when some great build-up play and vision from Jarlath Mullin culminated in Tom Staunton crossing the whitewash for the Robesiders, with Conroy slotting over the conversion.
Try as they might, a brave Ballina couldn’t reel in the deficit before the break, whereas Ballinrobe ended the half in a sprightly fashion and their attacking forays posed endless problems for an under-siege visiting defence. Sean Mullin notched an excellent try on 27 minutes, as he weaved his way past a static Ballina rearguard. That five-pointer was further enhanced courtesy of a Tom Lynagh try on the stroke of half-time, and coupled with Conroy’s subsequent conversions the locals held an unassailable 31-3 half-time lead.
The J1A outfit made a blistering start to the second period, with Conroy plundering a touchdown before kicking a majestic conversion.
The Heffernan Park men regrouped and very nearly notched a consolation try on 45 minutes, however, after collecting possession and darting towards the try line, Michael Moran slipped just yards from the scoring zone and the chance went a begging.
Despite holding a commanding 38-3 lead, Ballinrobe refused to step off the gas, with sub John Enda Flannelly finding a pocket of space and sprinting over the try line on 60 minutes, with Conroy once again converting.
As the game petered out to its inevitable conclusion, a battle weary Ballina conceded an eighth touchdown on 65 minutes, as the raiding Evan O’Brien gleefully crossed the whitewash, with Conroy’s sixth conversion the icing on the cake for the Black and White.
Ballinrobe: James McTigue, Michael Walsh, Craig Hansberry, Stephen O’Connor, David Madden, Tom Lynagh, Jamie Treacy, Rory Murphy, Cillian Walsh, Steven Conroy, Killian McAleenan, Sean Mullin, Tom Staunton, Eoghan Lynagh, Jarlath Mullin. Replacements: John Enda Flannelly, Evan O’Brien, Jack Carter, Marcin Mikolajewski, Patrick Moylette.
Ballina: Danny Donegan, Conor Brown, Dimitri Pavlyuk, Jonathan Epstein, Kevin Howley, James Walsh, Gerard McKenna, Niall Brennan, Neil Molloy, Ronan Connolly, Chris Walsh, Michael Moran, Matthew Cribben, Oisin Smyth Rouse, Jordan Keighley. Replacements: Thomas Rodgers, Calum Green, Stephen Tuffy.
REF: Kevin Bolger
