Anthony Cunningham: 'There were some brilliant passages of play and loads of areas we can still improve on'

WORK TO DO: St Brigid's manager Anthony Cunningham is happy with the win but his side still has loads of areas to improve on. 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 far from flawless in this Connacht semi-final, but that only made their swashbuckling dismissal of Ballina in Dr. Hyde Park yesterday all the more impressive.

Their ten wides included some howlers from normally reliable attackers. They finished the Roscommon SFC with the worst record of all 12 clubs when it came to two-pointers and once again had a horrific day from outside the arc, shooting one from six in the first half before abandoning the ploy entirely in the second half. They conceded three goals, proving that the cracks exposed by Pádraig Pearses in the Roscommon county final replay still hadn’t been patched.

Yet for all that, the South Roscommon powerhouse club are still genuine All-Ireland contenders, purely because of the fluency and slickness of their play through the middle third.

“There were some brilliant passages of play and loads of areas we can still improve on for the final,” said Anthony Cunningham afterwards. That might seem like pretty standard manager-speak from a master of the craft, it was a fair description of the game that unfolded.

Ballina got the start that any underdog would have wanted. Frank Irwin sent two high balls into the Brigid’s square, Dylan Thornton flicked the first past Conor Carroll and the second dropped over the crossbar.

There were 13 more scores in the first half, a remarkable overhead kick from Evan Regan for a second Ballina goal, and 12 from St. Brigid’s. Senan Kilbride pounced on a sloppy pass to fire in their only goal but outside of that they were dominant, building on the rock solid foundation established by Brian Stack, Paul McGrath and Ruaidhrí Fallon across the half-back line.

“Their movement was excellent,” conceded Niall Heffernan, Ballina manager.

“They seemed to always have an extra player coming through, they got guys into space. Yeah, we got a dream start but sometimes those dream starts can give you a false sense of achievement in a game. Today it didn't do us any harm, it didn't do us any good either really. They were well-deserving of the lead they had at half-time”.

1-19 from play, 11 different scorers and a decent contribution off the bench – something that has been perceived as an area where the Kiltoom and Cam parish club aren’t quite as strong in 2025 as they were previously – summed up their dominance. Fallon was an impregnable wall at one end and a steady contributor on the scoreboard at the other to lead the way, but Eddie Nolan, Conor Hand and McGrath were all far more effective than their scoring tallies would suggest.

Ben Thornton found a pocket of space to hit another goal for Ballina but 0-6 of their 3-8 arrived in the last 12 minutes, when the game was done and dusted as a contest.

“We've really kicked on from the two great matches with Pearses,” said Cunningham.

“Maigh Cuilinn are a formidable side, very consistent and very strong over the last number of years, so we'll have to be as sharp and better than we were today” he added, referring to the upcoming Connacht final on Sunday week, also at the Hyde.

Heffernan was more effusive in his praise.

“They have everything going for them. They have pace, power, they can score, they have really good understanding of themselves, good communication on the pitch, good management structure. They're going to take some stopping,” he warned.

Scorers for St. Brigid’s: R Fallon (0-4, 1tp), B O’Carroll (0-3, 1f), S Kilbride (1-0), B Nugent (0-2, 0-1f), B Derwin (0-2), P McGrath (0-2), C Sugrue (0-2), S Cunnane (0-2), C O’Carroll (0-2), C Hand (0-1), R Stack (0-1).

Scorers for Ballina Stephenites: E Regan (1-3, 2f), D Thornton (1-0), B Thornton (1-0), M Murray (0-3, 1tp), S Callinan (0-1), F Irwin (0-1).

ST. BRIGID’S: C Carroll; R Dolan, S Trundle, R Smith; R Fallon, B Stack, P McGrath; S Cunnane, E Nolan; C Sugrue, C Hand, B Nugent; B O’Carroll, B Derwin, S Kilbride.

Subs: C O’Carroll for Kilbride (44), E Derwin for Nugent (44), R Stack for Smith (46), M Daly for Cunnane (51), E Sheehy for B O’Carroll (59).

BALLINA STEPHENITES: D Clarke; L Golden, S Regan, L Jordan; C Boland, D Tighe, S Callinan; M Murray, F Irwin; N Feeney, P O’Hora, D Thornton; E Regan, L Doherty, C McStay.

Subs: B Thornton for Boland (29), C Treacy for Tighe (47), L Feeney for N Feeney (59).

Referee: B Judge (Sligo).