Tensions run high as Town claim first win

Elverys Sports Super League – Round 9 

Ballyglass 2 

Ballinrobe Town 3 

John Corless at Michael Keaveney Park.

Ballinrobe’s best performance of the season earned them their first win of the campaign after eight games, when they saw-off a late challenge from Ballyglass on Saturday evening.

The match was played at the frantic pace one normally expects in a cup tie, and overheated briefly, ten minutes into the second-half, but settled down again until near the end, when Ballinrobe had two players sent off in separate incidents.

Ben Place lobbed the goalkeeper after three minutes, when he was sent through by Mairton Ferreira Dos Santos, to put Ballinrobe in front. Three minutes later Place should have made it 2-0 but sent his effort over the crossbar. Ballyglass equalised through Bryan Walsh when he neatly tucked the ball to the keeper’s right, after Evan Connolly’s pass with eight minutes gone.

Ballinrobe had the better of what remained of the first-half but couldn’t add to the scoreline before the break. Veteran goalkeeper Alan Canny made a great save from Liam Kilcullen and Tariq Yassin came close as the visitors pressed the Ballyglass goal. At the other end, Connolly was fouled by Jamie O’Donnell outside the box, but the free-kick came to nothing, and Place and Kilcullen had chances to put Ballinrobe back on top.

The break-through came just after half time when Ballyglass defender Liam Glynn knocked the ball into his own net under pressure from Place, to restore the Ballinrobe lead.

Yassin and Evan Connolly were yellow-carded for their involvement in a row that broke out near the Ballinrobe goal, ten minutes in, but referee, Óisin Walsh, calmed matters and sporting play resumed.

Ballyglass equalised when Ryan Judge connected with Dean O’Malley’s free-kick 12 minutes into the half.

Ballinrobe brought on Seán Vahey on 67 minutes and his was an eventful cameo. He picked up a yellow card six minutes later. He then went on to score the winning goal when he finished off a good move started by Gary Mellet Connolly, and involving Kilcullen, with six minutes remaining. But two minutes later, he saw a straight red card for unsporting behaviour, and was joined on the sideline soon after by his teammate Yassin, who picked up his second yellow of the evening.

Ballyglass might have had a penalty three minutes into stoppage time, but they did have a real chance at the death but the ball trickled just outside the post. When you at the foot of the table, it can be hard to get a break.

Ballinrobe are improving and on this performance, should pick up more wins in the second half of the campaign. Ballyglass are extremely unlucky. They played well on Saturday evening but that first win of the season remains elusive.

Shane Ryan, the Ballinrobe coach described the victory as hard fought.

“It was always going to be a bit of a battle, with two teams at the bottom of the table and thankfully today we came out on top of it,” he told the Western People. “I suppose it was like a cup-tie for both teams. We wanted to go into the second half of the season on a win and try and build off that.

“It was an open game, it was back and over, no one was really sitting back. We’ve brought in a few lads. We lost a lot at the beginning of the season, with lads travelling and Gaelic and whatnot, but we're starting to settle now. We found a few players to replace them.

“Mairton Ferreira Dos Santos works locally in Ballinrobe. He came up. He's very good. Jamie O'Donnell has been a great addition this year and we've brought in a few other lads. Tariq Yassin then came down from Ballyhaunis. He’s a great signing at centre-back. He’s a big man. So yeah, we've improved and now we're starting to build, and the lads are starting to gel, so hopefully it'll lead to a more positive second half of the season.” Ballyglass manager Fergal Burke, said he was hugely disappointed to lose the match.

“We had a great chance at the end and we had a penalty shout just before that but look, that's just the way it goes,” he said. “It was a tough battle, you know, with the local rivalry. There wasn't much in it in the end. There was a lot of hectic stuff going on at the end, fouls and shouting at referees and everything. Everyone's trying to gain an advantage, but it just wasn't to be. We are having a tough season, but that's just the way it is in the Super League. It's never going to be easy.

“There's no problem lifting the players after a defeat like this. They're up for every game, and we'll go again. The lads are enjoying that top level of football. It's better being up there in the top division even if we are getting beaten, than being down in the lower divisions hammering everyone.” Ballyglass: Alan Canny; Eddie Lennon (Kevin Shannon 72), Dean O’Malley, Liam Glynn, Zac Coyne; Darren Murray, Bryan Walsh, Evan Connolly; Ryan Duggan, Ryan Judge (Fergal Fitzpatrick 82), James Joyce.

Ballinrobe Town: Ajay Gormley-Walsh; Conor Keleghan, Tariq Yassin, Iarlaith Killeen, Mairton Ferreira Dos Santos; Jamie O’Donnell (Gary Mellet-Connolly 70), Jesper Frisch (JP O’Gorman 60), Rodrigo Rosado Da Costa, Nico Petrovic (Eoin Langan 60); Liam Kilcullen, Ben Place (Seán Vahey 67).

REF: Óisin Walsh