’Robe rise up again

Ballinrobe get back in the hunt

SFC Section b
Ballinrobe1-13
Louisburgh1-4

Seán Rice
Ballinrobe

FOR 50 minutes, Louisburgh fought tooth and nail to take something from their visit to Flanagan Park. Courage, however, was their only consolation. A flurry of late points eventually reflected Ballinrobe’s dominance, and stamped out the flickering hopes of a late Louisburgh resurgence.
But although the gap between them in play was always apparent, only four points separated them at the 52nd minute. And for a few brief moments a thought took hold that maybe Ballinrobe were about to pay dearly for some earlier wastage.
They had conceded two easy frees to the accurate right foot of Jarlath O’Malley stirring a mini rally by Louisburgh which was led by Marcus O’Malley, Darragh O’Grady, Stephen O’Grady and John Hegarty.
If Peter Staunton had not intervened, a blistering recovery might have been ignited. Four of the five points already scored by the Ballinrobe wing forward had come from frees. His fifth, was perhaps the most vital. In swinging the ball over the bar, Staunton broke Louisburgh’s short-lived momentum and restored the overall authority his side had been enjoying for so long. The visitors failed to register a further score after that point while Ballinrobe bagged four.
It was by no means a riveting encounter. Even though the home side had the edge in graft and polish, they were over-using the ball and waiting for things to happen. A defensive slip that led to Louisburgh’s goal in the eighth minute soon knocked heads together.
Under pressure in front of his own goal, corner back James O’Malley attempted to lift the siege with a backpass to his goalkeeper Paul Tiernan. The custodian made the fatal mistake of handpassing the ball across the face of his own goal and Louisburgh’s James O’Malley pounced on the opportunity, boxing the ball into the net.
That lapse, together with a bout of wides, eventually injected a shot of realism into Ballinrobe’s performance. Seán Grimes and Ronan Macken commenced to direct operations at midfield. There was more support for players in possession and strong leadership shown by Donal Vaughan, James O’Malley, the Killeens, Paul Finnerty, Seán Burke and Adrian Flannery.
Yet their goal in the 14th minute had a touch of the green about it. The cross from Peter Staunton was perfectly judged. The ball dipped dangerously, slipped from the arms of a Louisburgh defender and dribbled across the face of the goal where Mark Walkin, although off balance, managed to redirect it with his outstretched left foot into the far corner of the net.
In a way it reflected the quality of the play, but it created a solid base for Ballinrobe to launch their victory march. Louisburgh’s return for the remainder of the half was a single point by Joe O’Toole, and one fine save by Paul Tiernan from a snapshot by Geoffrey Gallagher.
Peter Staunton bagged three for the home side, two from frees, the third completing some nice work by Grimes, Keith McTigue and Walkin. Earlier, two cool points by Seán Burke helped the Robe to a lead of 1-6 to 1-1 at the interval.
After the break it was more of the same, Louisburgh striving in vain to get a decent supply to their inside men, Ballinrobe making the best of what they created. Flecks of hope lifted the visitors when Jarlath O’Malley replied with points from frees to similar scores by Staunton. And in the 20th minute when O’Malley cut the lead to four, Ballinrobe realised they were not out danger.
But Staunton steadied them with his sixth point, and set the pattern for Declan Reilly, Conor Keane (two) and Adrian Flannery to follow up with points from play, their most convincing period.

Ballinrobe
P Tiernan; J O’Malley, D Killeen, P Finnerty; R Keane, D Vaughan, C Killeen; S Grimes, R Macken; C Keane (0-2), A Flannery (0-1), P Staunton (0-6, 5f); S Burke (0-2, 1f), M Walkin (1-0), K McTigue (0-1).
Sub used: D Reilly (0-1) for R Macken.

Louisburgh
D O’Malley; A Mayberry, M Nee, S Gibbons; PJ O’Grady, D O’Grady, M O¹Malley; James O’Toole, Jarlath O’Malley (0-3, 3f); Joe O’Toole (0-1), S O’Grady, J Hegarty; G Gallagher, James O’Malley (1-0), D O’Malley.
Sub used: D Morahan for M Nee.

Referee: D Corcoran (Islandeady)