Keane leads Ballinrobe to victory over Westport

CONNACHT JUNIOR CUP

Westport 12

Ballinrobe 24

In Westport

What constitutes a good leader? Someone who puts trust in their teammates. Ballinrobe's fly-half Dylan Keane knew exactly what he had to do in the second half to defend his side's lead and secure the win in Wesport: Kick the ball to the opponents: “We knew with the game, the way it was going, they weren't going to kick the ball much. We trust our defence. That's what we've worked on all year and we trust it. So we'd rather give them the ball and let them play than us make a silly mistake.

Ballinrobe drew first blood in Carrowholly and led 10-0 after a Dylan Keane penalty and a try by Liam Burke. Westport came to life straight after that and replied with an unconverted try from Kevin Corcoran. 

However, Ballinrobe extended their lead again a few minutes into the second half. After a Westport knock-on in their own 22, the guests went through multiple phases until Sean Mullin scored the guests’ second try, duly converted by Keane. 

Westport never gave up. With only two minutes left on the clock, Conor McGraynor crashed over the whitewash, reducing the deficit to 12-17. And the 'Bulls' could have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in their last-ditch effort with a promising looking overlap but a sloppy pass was picked up by Ballinrobe and wing Liam Burke danced uninhibited towards the try line to touch down right between the posts. Joy for Ballinrobe who can now look forward to a quarter-final clash.

A full report and after-match reaction will be carried in Tuesday’s Mayo News.