Division 1A
Ballinrobe 1-11
Westport 1-10
Mike Finnerty
Ballinrobe
A PRETTY ordinary league game ended in extraordinary fashion as Ballinrobe goalkeeper Kenneth O’Malley converted a penalty five minutes into injury-time to snatch victory from a shell-shocked Westport on Saturday evening.
Tomás Tierney and his players were left stunned at the final whistle as they reflected on their third straight defeat of this campaign, after a game where they had led for sixty minutes and seemed destined for a deserved victory.
However, they were left to count the cost of playing ‘keep ball’ in injury-time in an attempt to run down the clock when leading by 1-10 to 0-11.
A smart interception by Ballinrobe full-back Paul Finnerty saw the ball swept downfield, and substitute Martin Burke was fouled in the square by a Westport defender.
Referee Ronan Gurren had no hesitation in awarding a penalty and Kenneth O’Malley jogged the length of the field before drilling the ball past his opposite number Tom Higgins.
Westport had a couple of late opportunities to organise a score but were unable to find a path to goal, and time eventually ran out for them almost seven minutes into added-time.
Ballinrobe can count themselves extremely fortunate to have picked up their first win of the campaign. They were second-best all over the field for long spells, especially around the middle, and the injured David Killeen and suspended Peter Staunton were both conspicuous by their absence in this sector.
However, they kept plugging away, held Westport scoreless for the final twenty minutes, and managed to nick the match-winning score in the dying moments. Not that the result disguises the work to be done in the weeks ahead.
This was especially obvious for most of the first half as Westport dominated the midfield exchanges. Kevin O’Malley (who shot 1-1 during an impressive purple patch) and Eugene O’Toole worked intelligently with Lee Keegan and James Gill (who posted two fine points on one of his last appearances before emigrating to the US), and Ballinrobe were chasing shadows.
It was no surprise then by half-time when the visitors led by 1-8 to 0-5; O’Malley smacked in the goal on the run on eight minutes with the unerring Damien Keane nailing three fine points from play and adding two excellent long-range frees for good measure.
Ballinrobe, meanwhile, were struggling to settle into any kind of pattern and found Westport defenders like Nathan Lally, Dessie Keane, Lee Keegan and David Horan, who turned in a superb display, to be in an uncompromising mood.
Micheál Keane seemed the only home forward capable of converting possession into scores and he tagged three good points from play in that first half to keep the locals in contention.
Sean Burke also converted two frees but, not for the first time this season, it was Ballinrobe’s defence that kept their team in it when the game-plan was misfiring further afield.
After watching Westport rack up 1-6 in the first sixteen minutes, they held the visitors scoreless from play for the rest of the match. Ballinrobe’s problem was trying to squeeze scores out at the other end.
Four points without reply during the third quarter did suggest that Norman O’Brien’s half-time team talk worked as Sean Burke (three frees) and Conor Keane both hit the target to reel Westport back in.
Damien Keane responded with a couple of trademark frees to keep the scoreboard ticking over, but, sandwiched in between, Donal Vaughan tossed over a classy long-range point.
This scoring burst meant that Westport led by 1-10 to 0-10 after 48 minutes.
Remarkably, they failed to add to that tally.
Eleven minutes passed without any score at all before Kenneth O’Malley smacked over a ‘45 in the 59th minute to set up a grandstand finish. He also held his nerve six minutes later to save his team’s day.
Ballinrobe
K O’Malley (1-1, 1-0 pen, 1f); E O’Malley, P Finnerty, R Keane; S Grimes, A Flannery, J O’Malley; D Vaughan (0-1), R Macken; K Murphy, C Killeen, S Burke (0-5, 5fs); C Keane (0-1), M Walkin, M Keane (0-3).
Subs used: M Burke for Walkin; D O’Connor for Flannery; D McDonnell for J O’Malley (inj); K McTigue for Murphy.
Westport
T Higgins; N Lally, Dessie Keane, E Horan; L Joyce, L Keegan, D Horan; K O’Malley (1-1), E O’Toole; R Cafferkey, J Gill (0-2), E Walsh; PJ Foy, S Broderick, Damien Keane (0-7, 4fs).
Subs used: L Kitterick for E Horan; D O’Connor for Cafferkey; J Walsh for E Walsh.
Referee: R Gurren (Aghamore)
