Brilliant Ballina battle past brave Ballyhaunis challenge

Bank of Ireland Connacht Junior Plate Final

Ballina 46

(Paul Brennan, Ian West (three), Ben Matheson, Luke Sweeney, Daniel Feeney, Brian Donohoe tries; Craig McCormick three cons) 

Ballyhaunis 21

(William Ganley, Barry McLoughlin, Seán Griffin tries; Scott Finlay two pens)

In Galway

Ballyhaunis threw down the gauntlet in the first quarter, but Ballina had all the answers, and powered to victory to underline what an exciting squad they are. 

This was a Connacht Junior Plate final that on paper, looked like a simple assignment for the Moysiders, but a rampaging start from Ballyhaunis meant that they had to dig deep in order to end their run of disappointing results in knockout games. 

Dig deep they did, as Ian West’s hat-trick and some outstanding running rugby generally saw them turn an 11-0 deficit into a 29-11 half-time lead, a score that was even more commanding since Ballina had the strong Atlantic breeze blowing at their backs in the second half. 

Ballyhaunis performed credibly after the turnaround and had the halves been the other way around, losing 19-10 in your wind-hampered 40 minutes might have seemed like good going. However, they needed a miracle. 

Their start felt miraculous enough. 

Patrick Egan and Barry McLoughlin made some strong carries to get them going, Scott Finlay’s kicking was impeccable, and it fell to William Ganley to break a tackle and crash over the line for the first try in the fifth minute. 

Fintan Crawley’s 50 metre burst set up another three from a Finlay penalty, and fully ten minutes passed before Ballina managed to put a handful of phases of possession together, and another penalty extended the Ballyhaunis lead out to 11. 

That was the cue for Ballina to produce their best rugby of the season. Calum Quinn’s direct running from the centre was the key to so much of their best play and while his first break was well-stalled by Michael Jordan in open space, the breakthrough wasn’t long in coming. 

They started to pick holes in the Ballyhaunis defence and every line break looked like a try waiting to happen. 

One such incision left Ballyhaunis stretched and a delightful skip pass from Craig McCormick to Paul Brennan enabled the full-back to scamper over. 

The underdogs were working hard in the tight exchanges, disrupting Ballina lineouts and dominating the scrums, but once Ballina got the ball moving, they seemed to create space over and over. 

Ronan Molloy and Thomas Hannigan set up Ian West in the left corner, the winger added his second try when he skipped past a tackle and gave the excellent McCormick another nightmarish touchline conversion, and whatever hope Ballyhaunis might have had was extinguished in a devastating few minutes before half time. 

First, the value of the break of the ball was shown when Finlay hoisted up a long clearance that was allowed to bounce, Paul Brennan caught it on the second hop with two Ballyhaunis players converging, but through his pace and his elusiveness, he turned a precarious situation into an attack, from which soft hands from Daniel Feeney, Billy McVann and Quinn left Ben Matheson with a simple finish. 

The half-time whistle sounded with Ballina pressing again and the score still at 22-11, but with the players just about to head to the dressing rooms, referee David Andreu spoke to his touch judge and went back for a Ballina penalty, also issuing a yellow card to James Frayne. 

Now up against 14, Ballina's captain Luke Sweeney drove across the line after two phases, McCormick tapped over the one simple conversion he had all day, and the score was 29-11. 

Jack Deegan and Fintan Crawley were involved as Ballyhaunis got the ideal start to the second half, barreling over through Barry McLoughlin with still just 14 men on the field, but the seeds of a revival never got the chance to germinate. 

A wonderful break down the left wing opened things up for Quinn to set up West’s hat-trick try, and while Ballyhaunis did get the next score through some great work from William Cunnane and a clinical Seán Griffin finish, Ballina were able to ease their way over the finish line, bringing their try tally to eight through scores from Daniel Feeney and Brian Donohoe. 

It wasn’t the league or cup victory that they craved, or that looked to be well-within their grasp after a scintillating first half of the season, but it was a win that should restore Ballina’s positive momentum, giving them some silverware to build on in advance of what already looks like an exciting 2026/27 season for the club. 

BALLINA: Paul Brennan; Ian West, Calum Quinn, Ronan Molloy, Daniel Feeney; Craig McCormick, Ben Matheson; Seán O’Connell, Billy McVann, Gary Kavanagh; Conor Boyce, Thomas Hannigan; Mark O’Dowd, Dylan Rice, Luke Sweeney.  

Replacements used: Danny Donegan for Kavanagh (21-30 mins, 43mins), Alan Duffy for O’Dowd (43), Brian Donohoe for Rice (51), Michael Caden for West (66), Gerard McKenna for Matheson (67), Brian Heffernan for Hannigan (73), Oisín Smyth Rouse for McCormick (73), Liam Masterson for O‘Connell (73), Rice for Sweeney (78).  

BALLYHAUNIS: Luke Walsh; James Frayne, William Cunnane, William Ganley, Seán Griffin; Scott Finlay, Rowan Gouws; Aidan Healy, Jason Morley, Seán Óg Frayne; Patrick Egan, Barry McLoughlin; Michael Jordan, James Doyle, Fintan Crawley.  

Replacements used: Hedd Morgan for Healy (9-18 mins), Jack Deegan for Gouws (40), Lui Holohan for Egan (half-time), David Lilly for S Óg Frayne (46), Daniel Hill for J Frayne (46), Michael Macken for McLoughlin (57), J Frayne for Ganley (62), Pádraic Carney for Healy (75), Clayton Nolan for Walsh (75). 

Referee: David Andreu