Balla boys hold off Ballintubber to conquer Mayo

MAYO GAA U-16 LEAGUE DIVISION 1 FINAL

Balla 3-8

Ballintubber 1-12

In Mayo Abbey

TWO brilliant goals halfway through the second half sealed the deal for Balla. Matthew Vahey scored one himself, and then he stormed down on the wing, to serve Donal Keane, who raised a green flag only three minutes later. The boys in maroon and white had increased their lead to eight points, with only ten minutes to go.

But Ballintubber weren’t going to go away lightly. Driven on by the likes of Ciaran Earley, Teegan Heneghan, Cillian Reilly and Séan Feeney, who came on a substitute, they managed to close the gap to two points. Reilly scored 0-8, including a brace of two-point frees in the second half.

It seemed, referee Declan Corcoran would blow the final whistle any moment, when Balla were caught on their own kick-out, fumbling the ball. A Ballintubber player was brought down, and the superb Cillian Reilly grabbed the ball, walked behind the two-point arc and aimed for the posts.

A two-point free would have brought extra-time, but his effort went wide, and Balla players and management stormed onto the pitch from the sideline.

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“It's not something we win too often now, a Division 1 title for a small enough club,” said Balla coach Tom Walsh, told The Mayo News: “It's a great pathway for these guys into senior football. Playing at the highest level, winning this, it's a good thing.”

Balla were the better team in the first half. James Heaney scored an impressive 1-4 in the first 20 minutes and Ethan Duffy was a towering figure, using his strength and stride to command the middle of the field.

On the other hand, Ballintubber found it hard, to get into position from which to have a go at the sticks. At half-time, Balla were in control, leading 1-6 to 0-3, but the lead should have been much higher.

They had missed three excellent goal chances in the first half. In total, Balla recorded eight wides in the first 30 minutes. Usually that sort of wastefulness gets punished.

“The only thing positive was we were creating them,” Walsh said: “That was a big positive. Eventually, you're going to get some of them. In the second half, luckily enough, we did get the chances, and we took them.”

And when the Balla scored those two quickfire goals, points were badly needed, as they ended a considerable scoring drought. From the restart, for 15 minutes, Ballintubber had held the best offence in Division 1 scoreless.

But just about when the supporters in the stand and around the pitch in Mayo Abbey sensed that the momentum was shifting, Ballintubber were caught on the counter-attack and conceded the two goals, which would eventually put the game beyond their reach.

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