Ballymacelligott’s late surge books All-Ireland final spot
Niall Collins of Ballymacelligott in possession of the ball against Keith Holligan, Grangenolvin. Pic: Brendan Gleeson
It will be Kerry v Tyrone in next Sunday’s All-Ireland Club JFC final in Croke Park with Ballymacelligott edging past Kildare’s Grangenolvin on Saturday – edging being the operative word.
The Kingdom champions struck early and late in a performance punctuated by erroneous tendencies. Grange came with a late surge and with five minutes remaining, they only trailed by a point, 2-11 to 0-15.
To their credit, Ballymac found a spurt of slick play from somewhere to knock over three points on the bounce, though one of them was a glaring goal chance that would have put this semi-final to bed, and the Kerry support out of their anxiety.
Ballymac have a tendency to do things the hard way, and this performance did little to alter that perception.
They burst out of the traps and had two goals inside the opening four minutes, but even in the final moments, Grange were dropping balls into the Ballymac red zone, looking for an equalising goal their second half display certainly merited.
Ultimately, Ballymac were grateful for the calming experience of 35-year-old midfielder Aidan Breen, who steered them through a turbulent last quarter. Flying wing forward Jack Joy was a constant threat too, but they were often second best around the middle where Grange brothers Cillian and Conall Bergin dominated, especially off Ballymac restarts.
When Joy was fouled on 42 minutes, Darragh Broderick’s free put Ballymac 2-10 to 0-11 ahead but the Kildar champions were far from done. Fionn Bergin continued his scoring form with a pair of points from play and Conall Bergin pointed off his left side to keep Grange in touch.
The impressive centre back Dylan Costigan blazed over another point in the 54th minute and suddenly we had a one-score game – with all the momentum with their Leinster men.
However, the moment prodded Ballymac to find their best stuff, which was only seen sporadically on the afternoon at Mick Neville Park. Daire Keane, Mairtin McKivergan and Donaly Daly all pointed to see Ballymac home.
It was a long way from the opening five minutes when they sliced impressively through Grangenolvin. Niall Collins and then Adam Sheehy’s improvised volley gave Ballymac the perfect launchpad.
But their opening salvo apart, they could scarcely be happy with their first half efforts that included a three-up breach, a needless black card and persistent, costly fouling. Each and all resulted in scores for the Grangenolvin scorer-in-chief Fionn Bergin, who finished the half with 0-7 from frees.
Early goals aren’t necessarily the best thing if they are not followed with positive intent. Collins and Sheehy struck with venom in the first and fourth minutes but thereafter the Kerry champions were too passive, more reactive than proactive.
Consequently, the Kildare men felt their way back from a seven-point early deficit, chiefly through wing forward Bergin, who landed a fine two-point free after 13 minutes and continued to chip away at Ballymac’s lead.
Midfielder Conall Bergin, one of four brothers, enjoyed an impressive surge in effectiveness, as did centre back Dylan Costigan. They led the Grange revival.
The Kerry side could have had a third goal but Donal Daly shot straight at the keeper after being fouled – he scored the 20th minute free to edge Ballymac 2-4 to 0-4 in front.
Tomas Cullen and Jack Joy swapped fine points, both on the burst, but when Dylan Dunne was black-carded in the 28th minute for a pull down, there was a perceptible shift in momentum - three points would follow for Grangenolvin, all for poor fouling by Ballymac players.
That early blitz seemed a lot longer than 30 minutes ago as Ballymac jogged down the tunnel 2-5 to 0-9 to the good.
But still to the good, importantly.
They stretched that advantage with a fine Darragh Broderick two-point free shortly after the interval, and once Dylan Dunne returned after his ten minutes on the bold boy bench, Ballymac looked to have taken a firm grip on a passage to play Clogher Éire Óg next weekend. Not so fast.
Grangenolvin left nothing in the tank in their bid to torpedo Ballymac dreams, but the Kerry men saw it out – with plenty to work on for the trip to Jones’ Road.
D Broderick (0-6, 1 2pf, 4 frees), N Collins, A Sheehy (1-0 each), J Joy, D Daly (0-2 each), A Breen, M McKivergan, D Keane (0-1 each).
F Bergin (0-9, 5 frees, 1 2pf), C Bergin (0-2), T Cullen (0-2), D Costigan, K McGloin, O Bergin (0-1 each).
C Leen; E Creedon, D O’Shea, E Moriarty; D Dunne, T Brick, M Reidy; A Breen, D Broderick; A Sheehy, M McKivergan, J Joy; N Collins, D Daly, D Keane.
D Galvin for D O’Shea (blood, 14-27); D Galvin for D Dunne (43); J O’Keeffe for Creedon (53); C Dunne for Sheehy (56).
C McMahon; G Ivory, L Gannon, L Doyle; P Huntingdon, D Costigan, B Cullen; Cillian Bergin, Conall Bergin; K Holligan, J Gannon, F Bergin; T Cullen, O Bergin, N Doyle.
K McGloin for L Gannon (half time); T Doyle for J Gannon (40), A Phelan for F Bergin (60).
J Molloy (Galway).
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