'We know where we need to be better' - Ballinora ready for Ilen Rovers rematch

Ballinora needed Cork senior footballer Neil Lordan to come to their rescue as he scored a two-point free with the final kick of the first game to level the scores.

Fri, 14 Nov, 2025 - 17:30

Andrew Horgan

After waiting 28 years to take part in another county final, Ballinora are now looking ahead to their second showpiece occasion in the space of just two weeks.

Unfortunately for the club though, this Sunday’s Cork Intermediate A Football decider is just a replay following their thrilling draw with Ilen Rovers at Páirc Uí Chaoimh recently.

But the Nora may feel fortunate to have lived to fight another day, given they had trailed the initial clash by three points in injury time.

In the end, they needed Cork senior footballer Neil Lordan to come to their rescue as he scored a two-point free with the final kick of the game to level the scores.

But the assist for that score belongs to the Ballinora bench, who were alive to the fact that Ilen had breached the three-up rule and passionately let the officials know about the infringement.

“I’m not sure who the first person was that spotted it,” admitted team manager Willie Lyons.

“I think it was a player. It was a frenetic few seconds then as everyone followed in with it. It’s just something to be mindful of, the new rule of leaving three-up.

“It is something we have been caught out with ourselves earlier in the year but thankfully this time it went in our favour.

“Neil showed great composure to score the free. He has an outstanding pedigree, and he trusted his technique because there was a lot of wind there as well. He showed great courage.”

Lordan had missed a free from a similar position just a few moments earlier which had many believing it just wasn’t going to be Ballinora’s day.

The men in green and red had already seen a second half penalty saved by goalkeeper Damien O’Sullivan, who also made a couple of terrific saves throughout the contest, while they also sent 10 other efforts drifting wide of the posts, eight from play and two more from frees.

So, while there is a sense of relief that they have another chance to land a county title for the first time since 1997, they know where they can improve to ensure they emerge victorious this time around.

“Both teams will probably feel they should have won the game but both sides will be relieved at the same time,” continued Lyons.

“The number of wides was disappointing from our perspective but in fairness to their keeper, he made a number of fantastic saves as well, particularly from the penalty.

“But we know where we need to be better, we need to have a higher conversion rate on Sunday.

“We go again. I think it will be 50:50 game, it will be finely balanced, but we are confident we can win it.”