Ballyheane hit Ratoath Harps for seven to advance in FAI Junior Cup

FAI Junior Cup Round 3

Ballyheane 7

Nathan Reilly Doyle 6, Rory Morris 12, Dan Purcell 22, 76, Ben Edeh 59, Alan Hegarty 73, Sean Rabbette 89

Ratoath Harps 0

In Ballyheane

Ballyheane cruised into the next round of the FAI Junior Cup with a comfortable 7-0 victory over Ratoath Harps of Meath in Pat Quigley Park on a wet Sunday afternoon.

The home side flew out of the blocks and were two goals to the good after 11 minutes. Nathan Reilly Doyle opened the scoring on five minutes before Rory Morris curled a corner straight into the net in the 11th minute.

Dan Purcell scored his first after brilliant build-up play from Ben Edeh in the 24th minute.

Morris, Edeh and Jack Tuffy saw excellent chances go just the wrong side of the goal before Luca Meldrum denied Harps by pulling off an excellent close-range save from Aaron Kelly on 55 minutes.

Edeh eventually got the home side’s fourth goal two minutes later, tapping in from close range after Morris lobbed a deft cross into the box.

That goal ensured Ballyheane’s passage to the fourth round and they capped off the day with three further goals in the final 20 minutes.

First Alan Hegarty fired an excellent 25-yard effort to the net before Purcell grabbed his second from the penalty spot. Substitute Sean Rabbette rounded off the scoring in the 89th minute.

This was an excellent all-round display from the Mayo side and nobody will look forward to being drawn against them in the next round.

A full report will carried in Tuesday’s Mayo News.