Late Donnelly score rescues champions Drom against Ballylanders

Drom-Broadford 0-8 Ballylanders 0-7

Having shown indifferent form in recent outings, it was a match that the 2003 champions had to win if they were to stay in contention.

The outlook did not look too healthy for them at half-time when they trailed 0-6 to 0-3. But with five minutes to go, they had clawed their way back to level terms before Donnelly chipped in with a crucial point.

Ballylanders looked good from the start when Willie Kelly, Stephen Fox and Paul Lonergan had them 0-3 to 0-1 in front. They stretched this to 0-5 to 0-2 after 25 minutes before Drom’s Michael Reidy reduced the deficit, only for Fox to restore a three-point lead for the South club.

Unfortunately for Ballylanders, they were unable to maintain the same tempo in the second half, leaving it to Donnelly (2), Ger and Ben Noonan and Michael Reidy to claim the points for Drom-Broadford.

Scorers: Drom-Broadford. P. Donnelly, G. Noonan, M. Reidy 0-2 each, M. Clancy, B. Noonan 0-1 each. Ballylanders. S. Fox 0-3, P. Lonergan, J. Murphy, W. Kelly, M. Mansell 0-1 each.

DROM-BROADFORD: E. Scollard; M. Clancy, T. Stack, D. O’Leary; N. Conway, T. McLoughlin, D. O’Connor; M. Boyce, P. Donnelly; B. Noonan, G. Noonan, S. Buckley; P. Lynch, M. Reidy, M. O’Connor.

BALLYLANDERS: D. O’Connor; M. Meade, S. Wall, P. Fox; S. Walsh, G. Murphy, P. Lonergan; J. Murphy, E. English; K. O’Callaghan, M. O’Brien, W. Kelly; C. McSweeney, M. Mansell, S. Fox.

Referee: J. Kearney (Limerick).

Fr Casey’s 2-7 Gerald Griffin’s 0-9

TWO goals from Shay McAuliffe provided the platform for Fr Casey’s to bring themselves back into the title chase yesterday with a hard-fought win over pointless Gerald Griffin’s at Newcastle West.

Griffin’s must have feared that their world was about to collapse around them when McAuliffe beat keeper Sean Prenderville in the third and fifth minutes, but to their credit, and taking inspiration from midfielder Damien Reidy, they put up a respectable performance in the first half at the end of which they trailed 2-3 to 0-4.

Pat O’Donnell gave Fr Casey’s more breathing space at the start of the second half but Griffin’s kept snapping at them and points from Sean O’Connor and Sean Lynch (2) left just a goal between them at 2-4 to 0-7.

The last quarter produced a host of goal-mouth incidents and, amazingly, Casey’s cleared off the line on three occasions inside 50 seconds.

Griffin’s were just unable to get within distance of their opponents.

Scorers: Fr Casey’s. S. McAuliffe 2-0, P. O’Donnell 0-3, D. Prenderville, P. Browne, S. Lenihan, D. Fitzgerald 0-1 each. Gerald Griffin’s. S. Lynch 0-5, D. Reidy, P. Cummane, S. O’Connor, D. Noonan 0-1 each.

FR CASEY’S: P. Curtin; P. Cahill, C. McCarthy, S. Lenihan; M. O’Connor, P. Brown, G. O’Connor; T. Cahill, K. O’Connor; E. O’Flaherty, P. Fitzgerald, P. O’Donnell; D. Fitzgerald, S. McAuliffe, D. Prenderville. Sub: B. Prenderville for O’Flaherty.

GERALD GRIFFIN’S: S. Prenderville; J. Hynes, W. Reidy, A. Lynch; S. Cummane, P. Mullane, B. Herbert; D. Reidy, S. Lynch; J. Chawke, P. Cummane, S. O’Connor; T. O’Brien, V. Mullane, D. Noonan.

Referee: M. Mann (Ballybrown).