Stephenites steam into last eight

Mayo SFC Group 1, Round 3

Ballina Stephenites 1-24

Balla 2-12

Last year's beaten finalists cruised into the last eight and finished top of their group with a fully-merited win in Foxford. The Srath Garbh venue was resplendent for the game which was in essence a dead rubber, but that didn't hinder the efforts of both teams who threw themselves at everything.

Ballina were better team all through and certainly weren't flattered by the scoreline at the end. They were four clear at the end of the first half, 1-10 to 1-6, and the lead might have been much greater but for a lapse in concentration at the back after 20 minutes which saw a loose ball snapped up by Aaron Walsh and moments later Jack Harte bundled it into the net.

Gary McHale kicked five points for the Balla men in the first half and Val Roughneen landed a beauty from out the country but Ballina looked to be operating at a different level when they attacked at pace.

Sam Callinan, Ciaran Boland and David Tighe powered forward from the back while Dylan Thornton was in sparkling form on the half forward line. The team captain ran at Balla every time he got the ball and was the best player on the pitch by a distance.

However, the biggest threat to Balla's chances came from Ballina's full-forward line where Luke Feeney was causing all sorts of mayhem and Evan Regan was feeding off him.

The Stephenites goal arrived after just three minutes when Feeney crashed the ball to the roof of the net and that set the trend for the men in green and red. They nearly had another goal two minutes later but Robert McGough saved smartly to deny Conor McStay.

The Moysiders began the second half four clear and only extended it by one more in the third quarter as Balla played some of their best football. However, Ballina then hit overdrive and kicked seven points without reply courtesy of Regan, Thornton, McStay and Niall Feeney.

They were 1-23 to 1-11 clear when injury time arrived before Balla finished with a bit of a bang. Ryan Fadden kicked a fine point and Odhran O'Connor lashed home a goal before Evan Regan had the final say with a smart point for Niall Heffernan's men to leave them clear and deserving winners at the final whistle.