Swans show signs of promise as Rangers are shown exit door
Ryan Connolly and his Ballyglass teammates were impressive in their defeat of Corrib Rangers on Sunday.
Ballyglass pulled away in the second-half to book their place in Round 2 of the Connacht Shield against Corrib Rangers on Sunday afternoon.
The two sides were level at the break but an additional bit of class in the second 45 gave Ballyglass the edge as they advanced against the club who won the Connacht Cup outright in 2019.
It was quite a solid starting XI for managerless Ballyglass, who were led by James Malone for this fixture, and one that could be poised for a crack at the Premier League title should they stick together while adding a few more reinforcements to the bench. Any prospective manager watching Sunday’s game could be assured by the presence of players on the team sheet like Ryan Connolly, Conor Heneghan, Liam Hughes and Dean O’Malley as building blocks for the season ahead.
Goals by Tiernan Egan and Evan Hudner ensured parity between the Swans and the Westsiders in the first-half in an evenly matched game.
Corrib Rangers had the better of things at the start of the second-half but one quick move from Ballyglass had the hosts in front. Corrib Rangers made a mess of a short corner and the ball fell to a Ballyglass man. The Candystripes counter-attacked and Dean O’Malley led the charge, dancing around the outrushing John Egan in the Rangers goal and finishing with coolness into the empty net.
This gave Ballyglass a bit of momentum and they stayed in control for the next couple of minutes. Phelim Prendergast looked lively on the left side of attack and he got on the end of a brilliant attacking move with 66 minutes played to put his team further ahead. Nathan McGurrin played Liam Hughes through in the centre and he spotted Prendergast on the overlap. He leaned back and curled the ball over the keeper, a sweet finish.
With eight minutes left on the clock, Patrick Maughan raced in behind the Ballyglass rearguard and slammed the ball past Alan Jennings to make it 3-2 but the goal proved a consolation. They never mustered the chance to bring the game to extra time and came closest when Victor Onas headed on Paddy Rocke’s long throw. It fell to Matthew Rafferty, whose half turn volley flew over the bar.
Ballyglass: Alan Jennings, PJ Gibbons, Dean O’Malley, Darren Reilly, Oisin Moran, Tiernan Egan, Jack Keane, Conor Heneghan, Nathan McGurrin, Liam Hughes, Phelim Prendergast. Subs used: Daniel Malone, Paddy Burke Corrib Rangers: John Egan, Colm Carroll, Cody Ward, Dave Goldbey, Paddy Rocke, Andrew Rabbitte, Jack Flaherty, Evan Hudner, Victor Onas, Matthew Rafferty, Nathan Ruffley. Subs used: Patrick Maughan, Jason Maughan, Gerard Maughan REF: Martin Keane
