SFC Group 4
Ballina 0-8
Westport 0-8
Mike Finnerty
Ballina
BOTH sides would have walked away from this tough, uncompromising first round match with mixed emotions last Sunday evening.
Westport could, and probably should, have taken a famous scalp yet were relieved to see Rice College student, Liam Staunton, convert a close-range free on 62 minutes to earn a share of the spoils.
The West Mayo side squandered a plethora of match-winning scoring opportunities through poor shot selection and unforced errors, but will still take heart that they gave as good as they got against the 2005 All-Ireland club champions.
Tomás Tierney will also be reminding his team that they got a ‘result’ against one of the title contenders, and that will galvanise them ahead of next month’s meeting with Tourmakeady.
Ballina, on the other hand, will be well aware that they were fortunate not to be turned over on home soil on a day when they were well below-par.
Without Pat Harte (suspended) and Ger Brady (injured), they were particularly toothless up front and just two points from play from the six starting forwards tells it own story.
Discipline is another issue that is likely to feature prominently in Anthony McGarry’s next team meeting with his players.
The Stephenites finished with fourteen men after the dismissal of David O’Mahoney in the third minute of injury-time for clashing with Westport’s roving corner-forward Lee Keegan.
By that stage, Ballina should have been down another player for a similar offence. However, neither the referee, Martin Murphy, or linesman, Charlie Collins, saw the incident that left Westport midfielder, Gary Keane, with a broken jaw early in the second half.
The off-the-ball clash left a sour taste in most observers’ mouths, and spoiled what was, in the main, a typical war of attrition between two sides with genuine ambitions of making the knock-out stages.
Westport, who lined out without Mayo defender, Kevin Keane, only played in patches in the first half but that was just enough to see them lead at the break by 0-5 to 0-4.
The sides were level twice during an uneventful opening period with Liam Staunton (3, two frees), Shane Scott (free) and David Horan nailing the white flags for Westport.
At the other end, three of Ballina’s scores came from open play. There were twenty minutes between their first and second points (Seán Regan and Stephen Mullins hitting the target) while promising midfielder, Austin O’Toole, also swung over a fine score on the stroke of half-time.
Westport number eight, Eugene O’Toole, did an excellent job of containing Ronan McGarrity for the most part but the former Mayo captain did pull some strings in the second half.
So too did Eanna Casey and two points (one free) from Evan Regan, who was tightly-marked and well-marshalled by Liam Ketterick, eased Ballina ahead by 0-6 to 0-5 at the end of the third quarter.
Corner-back David O’Mahoney then popped up to drill a long-range score to double the Stephenites’ advantage as they looked to make the decisive break.
However, Westport never looked like losing touch as Brian Fleming, James McHale, Shane Scott and the dynamic Lee Keegan continued to drive them on.
Two frees from Scott and Liam Staunton tied the game up on 50 minutes but Ballina nicked the lead again moments later when Evan Regan tossed over a free from his hands.
The last ten minutes saw Westport lay siege to the Ballina goal but they were unable to convert possession and territory into hard currency as Shane Geraghty and Liam Staunton both missed gilt-edged chances.
It looked ominous for the Covies as the clock ticked down but they stuck at their task and got what they deserved in the dying moments.
Their young team will learn from this experience and remain a work in progress.
We haven’t heard the last of Ballina either.
Ballina
D Clarke; D O’Mahoney (0-1), G Cafferkey, T Doherty; S Mullins (0-1), C Leonard, L Healy; R McGarrity, A O’Toole (0-1); C Sweeney, E Casey, P McHale; E Regan (0-4, 3fs), P McGarry, S Regan (0-1).
Subs used: B Ruane for Healy.
Westport
M Conway; Dessie Keane, L Ketterick, N Lally; B Fleming, L Joyce, J McHale; E O’Toole, G Keane; S Scott (0-2, 2fs), S Broderick, D Horan (0-1); L Staunton (0-5, 4fs), Damien Keane, L Keegan.Subs used: R Cafferkey for G Keane (inj); S Geraghty for Damien Keane; B McDermott for Horan; K O’Malley for Scott.
Referee: M Murphy (Ballinrobe)
