Ballina still going

They get knocked down but they get up again ...

ROUND SIX
St Kevin’s Boys             2
A Cameron 47, D O’Hara 92
Ballina Town                 3
B Lavelle 57, 109, P Devers 97
(AET)

Daniel Carey
Santry

THERE was an unusual start to one FA Cup draw during the 1990s when the number one ball was was the first taken from the drum. When that was followed by number two, a ripple of amusement went through the crowd. But when one of the players who was making the draw announced a pre-emptive ‘three’ before looking at the third ball, FA Chief Executive Graham Kelly ticked him off for a crime which one indignant football fan compared to ‘sniggering at a funeral’.
There was more sniggering in the closing stages of Sunday morning’s FAI Junior Cup draw, which took place during Robbie Irwin’s Sportsbag programme on 2FM. Cork City manager Alan Matthews and FAI Junior Council Chairman Tom Hand were perfectly composed as they read out the numbers, but Irwin was laughing so hard that the words ‘Ballina Town’ were an almost inaudible afterthought at the very end of the draw. Many listeners were presumably mystified by the host’s hysterics, but to junior soccer fans, the sub-text was clear. The draw may have read ‘Killester United or Ballynanty Rovers v St Kevin’s Boys or Ballina Town’, but the RTÉ man was anticipating an all-Dublin seventh round tie, and couldn’t contain his anticipation.
But not for the first time (remember Croke Park in 2006?), a Mayo team upset a Dublin coronation. Ballina Town hadn’t read the script, and for the second week in a row, got the better of a five-goal thriller thanks to a goal from Brendan Lavelle. On the Shanowen Road in Santry on Sunday afternoon, against a club which once fielded the likes of Liam Brady and Damien Duff, they carved out another chapter in an ever-expanding story.
It was clear from the beginning that Brendan Kenny’s side would hold their own with St Kevin’s Boys. They matched their hosts in a first half marked by a frantic pace. What was far from clear was that we would see five goals before the afternoon was out. In fact, there was only one clear-cut chance in the scoreless first half. That came after 37 minutes, when St Kevin’s broke quickly down the right, Keith McDermott crossed, and Gary Mahoney’s volley was superbly tipped onto the crossbar by Niall Gallagher.
Within two minutes of the restart, however, Kevin’s had their goal. Substitute Stephen McCormack took a free kick on the left, Stephen Lynch’s effort arced across the penalty area, and Aaron Cameron was on hand to profit. Ten minutes later, Ballina were level, after a thunderous half-volley from Brendan Lavelle flew into the net from distance. With Pat Duffy battling hard at midfield, and substitute Fergal Forde contesting everything, the tide seemed to be turning Ballina’s way.
Yet Kevin’s might have seized the advantage again with a few minutes remaining. Former Westport United player Eoghan McHale, introduced as a substitute, hared down the left and found Paul McMillan. He was arguably fouled, but in any event, the ball found its way to Aaron Cameron, alone on the right of the box. Somehow, the goalscorer failed to grab a second. Both McMillan and Cameron were incredulous – a bad moment all round for the Conservative Party. Town had a decent chance of their own shortly afterwards. Fergus Quinn played a fine pass which found Brendan Lavelle inside the last defender, but the ball just slipped away from him and out of play.
Extra time had only begun when Kevin’s hit the front again. Fergal Forde got a touch on Cameron’s cross, but it came as far as McCormack. He knocked the ball into the path of Declan O’Hara, who netted from close range. A pall of gloom to match the by now dismal weather descended the Ballina fans in Santry.
But in the seventh minute of the first period of extra time, the rain was temporarily forgotten. Full-back Dwayne Helly crossed from the right and Philip Devers took the ball down before firing sweetly with an effort that just eluded Kevin’s goalkeeper Iain Doran.
There were claps and words of encouragement as Ballina regrouped for the last ten minutes, but there were just 15 seconds left on the clock when the Mayo men took the lead. Iain Doran couldn’t hold Daniel O’Hara’s effort from way out the country, and that man Brendan Lavelle was on hand to score his second last-minute winner in as many matches. They get knocked down, but no matter what, it seems they get up again. Onwards and upwards.

ST KEVIN’S BOYS
I Doran, M Gannon, G Lynch, J Carroll, S Higgins, D O’Hara, P McMillan, G Mahoney, K O’Sullivan, K McDermott, A Cameron. Subs used: S McCormack for McDermott (h-t); E McHale for O’Sullivan (66 mins); C Dillon for O’Hara (109 mins).
BALLINA TOWN
N Gallagher; D Helly, D O’Hara, D Tansey, D O’Connor, P Duffy, T O’Connor, F Quinn, P Devers, B Lavelle, E Gorman. Sub used: F Forde for D O’Connor (57 mins).

Referee: L White (AUL Dublin)