Ballinrobe make their point

Ballinrobe make their point

DIVISION 1A
Ballinrobe 0-9
Kiltane 0-4

MIKE FINNERTY
BANGOR

NOTHING ever comes easy from a trip to the home of Kiltane GAA Club but this was especially true last Sunday as the wind roared in from the Atlantic and hailstones fell like nails.
To their credit, Ballinrobe made light of the location and the conditions to pick up an important and deserved victory in the opening round of this very competitive group.
Their success was achieved on the back of sheer hard work and an ability to convert enough chances despite the swirling wind and sleet.
Their defence was sharp and disciplined, they competed tigerishly around the middle of the field, and their forward-line linked up neatly on a day when quality ball was always going to be a rarity.
Kiltane never got motoring. Their central players were mostly peripheral figures and apart from sporadic runs from Tony Gaughan their forward-line lacked the craft to trouble their tight-marking opponents.
John Munnelly’s team also missed a string of frees during the second half that proved costly while Tommy Gallagher saw a speculative shot cannon off the crossbar.
Kiltane won the toss but elected to play against the gale-force breeze. By the 23rd minute they trailed by 0-7 to 0-1 and it seemed like they may have made the wrong decision.
However, the homeside finished with a flourish and two frees from Edmond Barrett and Shane Lindsay had the gap back to four (0-7 to 0-3) at half-time.
Ballinrobe had started positively. Maurice Horan, who was busy all through, pointed confidently in the fourth minute before Mayo goalkeeper Kenneth O’Malley (who lined out at centre-half forward here) smacked over a ’45. 
O’Malley then added a free from the left wing to ease Alan Flynn’s team into a three point lead and Sean Burke placed the influential Adrian Flannery for a clever score on eleven minutes.
Kiltane were playing catch-up but midfielder PJ Lally found space in the twelfth minute to fire over a point from play that was badly needed.
But Ballinrobe had settled by this juncture. David Killeen was a driving force at centre-back while Mark Walkin, Kieran Sheridan and Kevin Murphy worked hard around the congested middle third.
Adrian Flannery then fielded well and popped over a fine score in the 15th minute to restore the four-point cushion as the conditions worsened and the temperature dropped.
Sean Burke and Kenneth O’Malley (free) tacked on further points as Ballinrobe made the most of their purple patch and Kiltane struggled to stem the tide.
But the last five minutes of the half saw the locals nibble away at the deficit and the likes of Tommy Gallagher, PJ Lally and Tony Gaughan created the openings for the couple of pointed frees.
The second half was set up for a battle and when Gaughan found space to pop over an early point, Ballinrobe’s position looked precarious.
Playing into the teeth of the blizzard seemed to suit the visitors though and Paul Finnerty, Donal Vaughan, Colm Jennings, the aforementioned Killeen and Harry Murphy all battened down the hatches.
Kiltane failed to score for the final thirty minutes. During that time a combination of over-elaboration, terrible shooting and top-class defending prevented the homeside from adding to their meagre tally.
Ballinrobe, by contrast, managed to dig out two points against the wind in the second half that propelled them to victory.
The wily Adrian Flannery knocked over the first in the 40th minute with rangy midfielder Mark Walkin killing the game as a contest with a long-range point nine minutes later.
The closing stages were ragged around the edges as both teams tired but Ballinrobe kept their hosts at arm’s length and left for the long journey home with two points in tow.

Ballinrobe
P Tiernan; C Jennings, P Finnerty, D Vaughan; B Ansbro, D Killeen, H Murphy; M Walkin (0-1), P Costello; K Sheridan, K O’Malley (0-3, 2fs, 1’45), K Murphy; M Horan (0-1), S Burke (0-1), A Flannery (0-3). Subs used: M Feeney for Ansbro; K Keane for Sheridan; P  Staunton for Murphy; K McTigue for Keane (inj).
Kiltane
J Healy; P Bradley, E Brogan, S Sweeney; R Corrigan, P Sweeney, T Gallagher; PJ Lally (0-1), E Barrett (0-1, 1f); D Doherty, T Gaughan (0-1), J Scanlon; M Sweeney, S Lindsay (0-1, 1f), M Doherty. Sub used: U Corrigan for R Corrigan.
Referee: C Collins (Lacken)