Balla Secondary School girls school beaten in Connacht final 

CLGFA PPS Senior (C) Two Cup Final

Presentation College Headford 4-16 Balla Secondary School 3-7

In Bekan

AN impressive display by Presentation College Headford scuppered Balla Secondary School’s dreams of provincial silverware at a chilly and foggy Bekan this morning.

Presentation College Headford’s Alisha O’Malley produced a virtuoso display and the dynamic centre-forward notched an eye-catching personal tally of 2-13.

Despite O’Malley kicking the opening point inside the first minute, Balla responded in sparkling fashion through a superb goal from Emily Vahey.

On seven minutes, the west Mayo scored the game’s second goal when Muireann Nolan teed up Amy Cunningham to finish with aplomb.

But just three minutes later, Alisha O’Malley bagged a goal for Headford, before her brace of frees shunted the purple and white into a 1-4 to 2-0 lead. 

The Galway school dominated the last ten minutes of the first half and held a commanding 1-11 to 2-2 advantage at the break. 

Balla began the second half with three unanswered points from Emily Vahey (free) and the energetic Riona Jordan (2), offering hope that all was not lost.

Balla’s Isabelle Basquille picked up a yellow card and was sin-binned on 39 minutes, but the chasers kept plugging away. 

Both sides upped the tempo and a frantic three-minute period saw both Headford’s Ava Heneghan and Balla’s Riona Jordan exchange goals.

However, when Headford’s Ava Heneghan slotted home a self-won penalty on 55 minutes, the Galway side had an insurmountable nine-point lead (3-14 to 3-5).

The winners added more icing to their cake when Alisha O’Malley scored a sublime individual goal. 

A full report will be carried in Tuesday’s Mayo News.