Ballina Town capture Mayo Super League title

Ballina paint the town red


Ballina Town 4
Lavelle 9, Helly 15, 61, 86 (pen)

Swinford 0

Daniel Carey
Ballina

IN the end, there was not even the hint of a slip-up. Ballina Town captured their second successive Super League title on home turf last Sunday, winning at their ease against a Swinford side whose mission of retaining their top flight status had already been achieved.
But if the outcome was predictable, the hat-trick hero certainly wasn’t. Right back Dwayne Helly doesn’t score many goals, so having bagged one in either half, he was the obvious candidate to take a late penalty, and he stuck it away.
Brendan Lavelle had opened the scoring after nine minutes, applying the deftest of touches after good work on the left by Michael Duffy and Philip Devers. Word came through that Castlebar Celtic were leading Ballina’s title challengers Westport United, and things got better for the north Mayo side after 15 minutes. Town appealed unsuccessfully for handball, but when play went on, Helly was on hand to tap home from inside the six-yard box.
On a cold but dry day, the lively Lavelle had two further chances, shooting wide when one-on-one with Neil McNicholas and then heading over. In between, Swinford’s Trevor McDonnell beat the offside trap, but Kieran O’Malley got off his line quickly to avert the danger. McDonnell later went close with a back header which O’Malley failed to gather, but SeΡn Kelly was on hand to clear the danger. Niall Feeney and Nigel Sweeney both made big tackles for a game Swinford outfit, but it was 2-0 at the break.
A thumping McDonnell shot early in the second half left Ballina captain and long-throw specialist Derek Tansey winded, while Lavelle blazed over after Duffy’s effort was blocked. The table-toppers grabbed goal number three just after the hour mark, however, as Helly headed in from a Ross Kenny corner.
The hard-working Devers set up Lavelle four minutes later, but the striker didn’t get hold of his shot properly, and McNicholas had a straightforward save to make. At the other end, O’Malley dived at McDonnell’s feet to claim the ball. Ballina sub John Mountney, just back from a trial with Charlton Athletic, picked out Helly on the right, but the full-back’s angled hat-trick attempt was well saved. “I said I’d try and take it!” he said to the bench with a smile, and ultimately he got that elusive third.
In the meantime, Swinford’s Barry McShea thought he had got one back after heading in from a Thomas Kavanagh header, but the goal was flagged offside. Four minutes from the end of normal time, Ross Kenny was tripped. Swinford argued that the offence occurred outside the penalty area, but referee Tony Cosgrove pointed to the spot, and the shout for Helly to step forward went up immediately. The defender rolled the ball home for a popular goal.
Having played the game in red jerseys, Ballina changed into their traditional blue and white for the presentation. In any colours, they were clearly the outstanding team in Mayo this year, and are thoroughly deserving champions.

Ballna Town
K O’Malley, D Helly, B Giblin, D Tansey, S Kelly, D O’Connor, T O’Connor, R Kenny, B Lavelle, P Devers, M Duffy.
Subs used: J Mountney for D O’Connor (69); D Gorman for Devers (83); E Kenny for Duffy (88).

Swinford
N McNicholas, N Feeney, P Quinn, T Kavanagh, N Sweeney, D Brennan, P Noone, G Carter, B McShea, T McDonnell, C Reddington.
Subs used: R Quinn for Noone (56); M Gallagher for Reddington (73, inj); K Regan for McDonnell (86).

Referee: T Cosgrove