Ballintubber and Ballagh set for final battle
Peter Forde’s side will meet Ballaghaderreen in the decider on October 21 after the 2008 Moclair Cup winners beat Knockmore by three points in the second half of the day’s double bill.
The champions — playing without the injured Cillian O’Connor — will be considerably relieved to still be in the title hunt as they trailed by 0-8 to 0-4 midway through the second half. Crossmolina seemed to be in control only for super sub John Duffy to make a dramatic and decisive intervention.
Just seconds after Alan Dillon had tapped over a free to end a run of 20 minutes without a score for Ballintubber, Duffy latched on to breaking ball from Danny Geraghty and fired a low hard shot into the corner of the net to level the match and ignite his side.
Crossmolina were kept at bay in the final 10 minutes with Geraghty adding a long-range point and Dillon completing his four-point haul on the day with his third free for a 1-7 to 0-8 victory. Forde’s men had grasped the opportunity and on an afternoon when they certainly didn’t look their normal selves.
For Michael Moyles and Crossmolina, the defeat will rankle as his side worked hard for their half-time lead. Brian Benson, Peadar Gardiner, David Howley and Paul Duffy all had excellent scores from play, Ciaran McDonald had added two frees as well. Crucially though the veteran centre forward was forced off with a stomach muscle injury before the break.
In the early stages of the second half, Joe Keane stretched the lead to three before a Cathal Carolan point had the watching crowd contemplating an end to the Ballintubber reign until Duffy’s introduction disrupted the momentum and in a forgettable and error strewn contest, the increased urgency proved just enough.
The second semi-final between the long suffering Knockmore, looking for a first title since their 1997 triumph, and Ballaghaderreen who hadn’t been back in the final since their 2008 success, ended in a 1-10 to 0-10 victory for the latter.
The game saw both sides line out in a more orthodox manner and the crowd were treated to an open contest. Mark Dowd’s side lay the foundation for victory in the opening 12 minutes as they hit Knockmore for a 1-3 conceding just the solitary point.
Their key target man, Barry Regan, delivered early with a tight angle point — the full-forward can score off both feet — and his duel with young up and coming inter-county star Shane McHale was one of the highlights of the game.
On eight minutes the men in white hit top gear, Shane Finn’s free came first before James Killcullen won primary ball in the middle of the park, off loaded to Barry Kelly whose pass put Joe Dillon in on goal, the corner forward cooly slotted home for what would prove to be the winning score.
Knockmore were rattled with Andy Hanley’s long range point minutes later, underlining as much but in Aidan Kilcoyne they had a sharp and incisive threat. He scored all of their six points in the first half including three just before the break. In fact if it wasn’t for David Drakes’ tremendous long range effort bang on the stroke of half-time, Ray Dempsey’s chargers would have gone into the break on a high.
As it was, they trailed by two and Barry Regan’s early second-half free settled the nerves for Ballagh. Knockmore edged the third quarter possession battle but the scores didn’t come. David Kilcullen’s tireless work around the middle proved enough for Ballaghaderreen who have reached this final without their talisman Andy Moran.
Meanwhile Mayo’s most successful club side, 2005 All-Ireland champions Ballina Stephenites, were will face either Aghamore or Kiltane in the SFC relegation final following their loss to Breaffy yesterday.
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