Ballaghaderreen boys blast their way to provincial title

CONNACHT PPS SENIOR C FINAL

St Nathy's Ballaghaderreen 2-10

St Joseph's (The Bish) Galway 1-8

Connacht Centre of Excellence

TALENT, attitude and application were all in sync for St Nathy's on Friday night when the boys from the borderlands powered their way to the provincial crown.

The boys in green played some fine football, but it was their attitude and work-ethic which was the fuel that powered them past their impressive Galway opponents.

Nathy's were deserving winners but were never allowed rest on their laurels as the boys from The Bish played with great desire from first whistle to last.

The Ballaghaderreen students hit the front early when Dean Casey split the sticks. The Ballinameen clubman impressed all night from centre-half-forward and showed why he's so highly-rated.

However, Conor Langan Monaghan and Shane Rather were doing well in attack for St Joseph's while midfielder Dillon Gacquin was excellent all night.

The first-half was hard-fought and low-scoring and the decisive score of the opening period arrived after 19 minutes when overlapping wing-back James Cassidy got on the end of a long ball and flicked it to the net.

That left Nathy's 1-4 to 0-4 clear at the break, but it was hard to separate the sides.

The Ballagh' boys changed that script in the opening minutes of the second period when Casey kicked a point and powerful midfielder Sean Buckley ran through to send a scorcher to the net.

Suddenly, there was clear blue water between the sides and Nathy's were looking good all over the field. Conor Moriarty and Ryan O'Sullivan were catching the eye in attack, Declan Duffy was commanding at the heart of the defence and midfielder Oran Frain had a huge influence in the middle of the pitch.

That said, St Joseph's refused to fade away with wing-back Aaron Hyatt, attacker Shane Rather and excellent midfielder Dillon Gacquin to the fore. The boys in blue kept looking to get back into it and when Rather crashed home a goal, the gap was down to three with time ticking away.

The momentum seemed to be with the chasers at that stage, but Nathy's never pacicked. They kept their composure and when Noah Gill landed a superb point from the right and Casey added another in injury time the deal was sealed.

After the final whistle, Hugh Rudden of the Connacht Council presented the Richie Bell Cup to winning captain Conor Moriarty.

A full report and reaction will be carried in Tuesday's Mayo News.