Glynn gives a masterclass for Claremorris

Claremorris ace Glynn gives a masterclass


Ballina Town    1
M Duffy 22

Claremorris          3
D Glynn 13, 30, 88

Patrick Ward
Ballina

A MONUMENTAL defensive effort and a clinical Derek Glynn hat-trick put a serious dent in Ballina Town’s hopes of retaining their Super League crown as Claremorris bravely held on to take the spoils in Belleek Park on Saturday evening.
Claremorris striker Glynn’s ability to score with every chance helped the visitors prevail in this hard-fought contest. Claremorris hit only three shots on target in the 90 minutes, resulting in three goals, whilst Ballina only hit the net once from the 11 efforts they had on goal.
The men in green had come out of the traps fastest, and could have had the perfect chance to open the scoring. Nicky Pilbrow seemed to be be pulled down inside the area, but their serious appeals for a penalty were waved away by referee Kevin Cox. Pilbrow started the game in impressive fashion and he was unlucky to see his glancing header float just past the post after latching on to an Andrew Shally free kick.
Claremorris hit the opener on 13 minutes when John Hutton played forward a superb chipped through ball that Derek Glynn controlled with his head before lobbing the on-rushing Kieran O’Malley.
But the lead evaporated inside ten minutes after possibly the visitors’ only piece of bad defensive work all evening. John Durkan’s cross was met with a poor clearing header from a Claremorris defender, which fell to Michael Duffy, and the striker lashed the ball into the net.
But parity was again wiped out by the lethal Glynn as confusion in the home sides defence led to the visitors second. Nicky Pilbrow’s free kick ended up in a crowd of players before it lay dead on the ground with three Claremorris players on their own in front of goal. Brian Gallagher smashed the ball down the middle and O’Malley saved brilliantly, but Glynn followed in and made no mistake with his finish. Ballina players and supporters screamed for offside but the goal was awarded.
If the first period was largely dominated by Claremorris, the second half was a completely different story. Just four minutes after the restart, Ballina had already found the net, but Philip Devers’s volley was ruled out after Michael Duffy was adjudged to have pushed Niall Kitching in the build-up. Duffy came close to doubling his tally just minutes later, but Claremorris goalkeeper Alvin McCallig saved his low drive from 20 yards.
Things were starting to get desperate for the reigning champions with just nine minutes remaining when they nearly forced a goal out of nothing. A long ball from the Ballina defence found Philip Devers, who lobbed a superb ball into John Durkan. The former Moy Villa man beat the visiting goalkeeper, but the superb Andrew Shally dived across the line and kept the ball out of the net.
Claremorris were hanging on for dear life now and almost saw their hard work go to waste when Dwayne Helly came agonisingly close to snatching a late equaliser, but his low drive cannoned off the outside of the post.
From the resultant kickout, Claremorris put the game beyond all doubt. A goal kick fell to Pilbrow, and he released Brian Gallagher, who squared the ball to Glynn to finish off the tie.

Ballina Town
K O’Malley; D Helly, R Kenny, D O’Connor, M McCarron; T O’Connor, J Durkan, D Gorman, M Duffy; P Devers, E Gorman.
Sub used: D McCormack for Durkan (65 mins).

Claremorris
A McCallig; C Heneghan, A Shally, J Hutton, N Kitching; M Gallagher, N Pilbrow, A Cregg, D Glynn; B Gallagher, M Doble.
Sub used: A Fenwick for Doble (52 mins).

Referee: K Cox