St Brigid's ease past Ballina to book place in Connacht SFC final

St Brigid's will face Galway champions Maigh Cuilinn in the Connacht Club SFC final.

FINAL BOOKED: St Brigid's Ben O'Carroll on the attack against Ballina Stephenites. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Connacht Club SFC semi-final: St Brigid’s (Roscommon) 1-21 (1-1-19) Ballina Stephenites (Mayo) 3-8 (3-1-6)

St. Brigid’s were able to concede three goals, kick ten wides and they still brushed Ballina Stephenites aside with ease in Dr. Hyde Park this afternoon, setting up a heavyweight Connacht final clash with Maigh Cuilinn at the same venue in a fortnight.

Mayo clubs have struggled at this grade since Castlebar Mitchels were their last provincial winner in 2015 and there was no obvious signs coming into this game that this would be any different.

Two high balls from Frank Irwin, the first touched to the net by Dylan Thornton and the second dropping just over the crossbar gave Ballina some early hope but for the remainder of the first half St. Brigid’s were scintillating, moving the ball through the lines and carving open the Ballina defence. Ben O’Carroll and Bobby Nugent were lively but inaccurate as a series of two-point attempts went wide of the posts, however it didn’t matter as the pressure was relentless and the white flags soon started to flow, Senan Kilbride shifting the game’s momentum when he snaffled a loose pass across the Ballina full-back line and rifled the ball to the net.

Evan Regan gave Ballina another lifeline with a remarkable goal from an overhead kick but he and his fellow Ballina attackers were starved of possession with Brian Stack, Paul McGrath and Ruaidhrí Fallon imperious across the half-back line.

Fallon fired over the winners’ only two-pointer while Brian Derwin, McGrath, Conor Hand and O’Carroll weighed in with points to make it 1-12 to 2-1 at half-time. The second half was more of the same, St. Brigid’s racking up the white flags, reeled in only by Ben Thornton hammering a low shot past Conor Carroll to keep Ballina in touch.

In the final quarter St. Brigid’s ran their bench and the lack of reserve strength of the Roscommon champions has been cited in some quarters as the team’s biggest weak spot. Ballina did pick some holes in the Brigid’s back line to tack on 0-6 from the 48th minute onwards but they still couldn’t stop the bleeding at the other end, with former Ireland U18 rugby outhalf Charlie O’Carroll catching the eye with two fine points to close out the win.

Scorers for St. Brigid’s: Ruaidhrí Fallon 0-4 (1tp), Ben O’Carroll 0-3 (0-1f), Senan Kilbride 1-0, Bobby Nugent 0-2 (0-1f), Brian Derwin 0-2, Paul McGrath 0-2, Ciarán Sugrue 0-2, Shane Cunnane 0-2, Charlie O’Carroll 0-2, Conor Hand 0-1, Ronan Stack 0-1.

Scorers for Ballina Stephenites: Evan Regan 1-3 (0-2f), Dylan Thornton 1-0, Ben Thornton 1-0, Mike Murray 0-3 (1tp), Sam Callinan 0-1, Frank Irwin 0-1.

ST. BRIGID’S: Conor Carroll; Robbie Dolan, Seán Trundle, Ruairí Smith; Ruaidhrí Fallon, Brian Stack, Paul McGrath; Shane Cunnane, Eddie Nolan; Ciarán Sugrue, Conor Hand, Bobby Nugent; Ben O’Carroll, Brian Derwin, Senan Kilbride.

Subs: Charlie O’Carroll for Kilbride (44), Eoghan Derwin for Nugent (44), Ronan Stack for Smith (46), Mark Daly for Cunnane (51), Eoin Sheehy for B O’Carroll (59).

BALLINA STEPHENITES: David Clarke; Liam Golden, Seán Regan, Luke Jordan; Ciarán Boland, David Tighe, Sam Callinan; Mike Murray, Frank Irwin; Niall Feeney, Pádraig O’Hora, Dylan Thornton; Evan Regan, Luke Doherty, Conor McStay.

Subs: Ben Thornton for Boland (29), Ciarán Treacy for Tighe (47), Luke Feeney for N Feeney (59).

Referee: Barry Judge (Castleconnor, Sligo).