Sheehan strikes late for Ballinhassig
It was a complete reversal of the drawn game on Sunday last, which saw Tracton pull off a draw thanks to a last-minute George Jagoe goal. On this occasion, Tracton have only themselves to blame for letting this final slip through their fingers as they dominated the game throughout but racked up a staggering 14 wides.
Tracton boasted a two-point lead in the closing minutes of normal time and as extra time drew to a close — but on both occasions they couldn’t shut out Ballinhassig and were made to pay the ultimate price for not finishing off a team they had outplayed for long periods.
After 10 minutes of play the teams were deadlocked at 0-1 each. O’Leary and Kingston traded frees as both sides struggled to find scores from open play, a late O’Leary free left Ballinhassig 0-4 to 0-5 behind at the break.
Tracton took tighter control in the second half but again relied on Kingston frees for scores as they continued to misfire from open play. Ballinhassig rallied in the closing stages and points from Brendan Holland and Diarmuid O’Sullivan left the teams on 0-8 each at full time.
Extra-time scores from Kingston and Michael O’Sullivan looked to have finally swung the final in Tracton’s favour but Sheehan rose highest to claim a long Brian O’Sullivan delivery and made space for himself inside the Tracton square before blasting in the late winner.
Scorers for Ballinhassig: M Sheehan 1-0, F O’Leary 0-3 (3f), D O’Sullivan 0-2 (1f), S Dineen 0-2, P O’Sullivan and B Holland 0-1 each, K Walsh 0-1 (f).
Scorers for Tracton: J Kingston 0-9 (6f), M O’Sullivan, K Lynch, K Corrigan 0-1 each.
BALLINHASSIG: J Coleman; S McCarthy; E Finn; B O’Sullivan; M Desmond; M Ahern; P O’Sullivan; M Sheehan; P Lombard; S Dineen; F O’Leary; D O’Donovan; D Duggan; P Coomey; D O’Sullivan.
Subs: S McCarthy for Lombard (ht), D Brennan for O’Donovan (41), K Walsh for Duggan (45), B Holland for Coomey (48), D O’Sullivan for Walsh (60).
TRACTON: E O’Callaghan; B Lynch; G Jagoe; C McGuinness; G Kingston; S O’Sullivan; M O’Sullivan; M Barry; D O’Callaghan; R Walsh; K Lynch; J Nunan; J Kingston; B Kelleher; K Corrigan.
Subs: R Cronin for Kelleher (45), J Lyons for Walsh (76), T McGuinness for Nunan (79).
Referee: B Coniry (Crosshaven).
