Valiant Balla pipped by St Ciaran's in All-Ireland final after extre-time

ALL-IRELAND PPS SENIOR C FINAL

Balla Secondary School 1-19

St Ciaran's Ballygawley 2-18

(after extra-time)

In Ballyshannon

THE Mayo boys left everything on the pitch and showed a never-say-die attitude. But eventually, the Ulster champions were just that little bit more composed and ruthless during the 20 minutes of extra-time to claim the Dr Eamonn O'Suillivan Cup.

It was a heartbreaking end for Balla, as players and the backroom team had to watch scenes of joy unfold in front of their eyes. 

The Mayo boys had come so close but were denied the ultimate prize in a match of fine margins.

St Ciaran's excellent attacker Shea McDermott showed his skill and scoring prowess - an outrageous two point free to level the scores after 57 minutes to erase Balla's two point lead was just one example.

McDermott also scored the first goal for the Tyrone boys just before half-time, as well as setting up the crucial second net shaker at the start of extra-time. His total haul was 1-10.

Balla started the game in brilliant fashion. Helped by the breeze, they were 0-9 to no score up after 25 minutes. Excellent defensive work kept St Ciaran's scoreless until McDermott's goal.

Captain Sean Brohan, Ryan O'Donnell, Dean McCann were classy operators in the backs, as Mark Jennings and Dara Patten established Balla's dominance in midfield.

The Mayo outfit looked comfortable in the first half. Liam Glynn scored two two-point frees and Mark Jennings sent a long distance score over the bar from open play.

But St Ciarans' spurt of 1-1 just before half-time was a sign of things to come.

The Tyrone boys turned the screw on their opponents in the third quarter and Balla lost their way in that period.

Inspired by Elliot Kerr, Michael Mullin, Darren McAnespie and the aforementioned McDermott, the Ulster boys were on top in the second period.

And it looked like Balla were beaten with seconds to go, when Glynn placed the ball on the ground for a two point free. He sent it over, to the deafening roar of the big support that had made the journey to Donegal.

However, in extra-time, the game quickly seemed to be slipping away from Balla, as they found themselves down by six points at the interval.

Balla didn't manage to score a single point in the first half of extra-time. It was their ever dangerous corner forward Charlie Fallon was brought down inside the D for a free, but he went for a quick tap-and-go to go for goal. His shot was deflected by the goalkeeper, but ended up in the net to reduce the deficit to three points.

St Ciaran's showed resilience as they replied two quick points.

Liam Glynn kept his team's hopes alive as he boomed another two point free over to set up a hectic final finale.

The Balla players never threw in the towel, but as much as they tried, they would get turned over twice in last ditch attempts to score.

A remarkable journey ended for Balla in Ballyshannon. Their co-manager Gareth O'Donnell said afterwards, he 'couldn't be prouder of the boys'.

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