Ballymac unleash second-half blitz to sink Clogher and bring junior crown back to Kerry

Clogher Éire Óg had led Ballymacelligott by two points at half-time but the Kerry side produced a superb second half to become the 12th side from the Kingdom to win the All-Ireland Club JFC title

Jack Joy of Ballymacelligott celebrates scoring a point . Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

All-Ireland Club JFC semi-final: Ballymacelligott 1-16 Clogher Éire Óg 0-13

The All-Ireland junior club championship cup heads to Kerry for a 12th time after Ballymacelligott produced a splendid second half to dispense with Clogher.

Ballymac outscored their opponents 1-8 to 0-3 in a period where they did little wrong and their Tyrone rivals were dreadfully off target.

A rash of early second-half points, four without answer in less than five minutes, put Ballymacelligott into a lead they never surrendered in Croke Park.

Captain Daire Keane opened his account with the first and last of them, either side of Aidan Breen’s third converted free and Jack Joy’s opening score.

At the other end, Clogher’s radar was wildly off. Marc McConnell’s 36th minute point was their only score for the first 27 minutes of the second half. Aside from that, there were eight wides and a shot that dropped short. Two of the wides were goal attempts by Ryan McCaughey and Ciarán Bogue.

Joy’s second point in the 47th minute widened Ballymac’s cushion to four points. Keane could have put the cap on victory but his shot for goal after spinning around went wide.

No fear. From the resultant kick-out, Ballymac won possession and Daly weaved his way around his marker to bulge the net. And glory was theirs.

Ballymacelligott didn’t require intensive analysis at half-time to realise where they were going wrong. Their deficit, 0-8 to 0-10, was down to the two four-back infringements they committed although Clogher were also guilty of breaching the equivalent three-up rule the second time in additional time.

For the middle part of the half, their kick-outs were also going awry. Christy Leen just couldn’t hit his targets especially on his right wing.

And then there was the profligacy. Clogher’s starlet Ciarán Bogue may have kicked three wides including a goal chance but they would have been considered lower percentage opportunities compared to the couple of wides Mairtín McKivergan kicked towards the end of the half.

Ballymac certainly suffered in midfield when Darragh Broderick shipped a heavy foul challenging for a ball with Barry McKenna and the Clogher man was fortunate to avoid sanction.

Broderick battled on but was clearly suffering although Daniel O’Shea had to make way with his injury in the 25th minute when the margin was two points.

Clogher could have been four down after five minutes but the second Ballymac two-pointer from Jack Joy was cancelled after a three-back technical foul was highlighted to referee Seamus Mulhare.

Ballymac were undeterred and did go four up after 13 minutes only to find themselves two behind seven minutes later. Clogher make plenty of their opponents’s restart woes. Ciarán Bogue and his captain Conor Shields landed successive two-pointers and Cillian Barkey and Seán Bogue followed them with scores of the one-point variation.

Adam Sheehy broke the chain of Clogher scores and a mighty McKivergan 45 again brought Ballymac to within a point but the Ulster winners were doing enough to remain ahead. They didn’t know what was coming for them.

Scorers for Ballymacelligott: D. Broderick (0-4, 2 frees, 1 tpf); D. Daly (1-1); A. Breen (0-3, frees); D. Keane, J. Joy (0-2 each); A. Sheehy, M. McKivergan (45), M. Reidy, N. Collins (0-1 each).

Scorers for Clogher Éire Óg: C. Bogue (0-5, 0-2 frees, 1 tp); M. Shields (1 tp), M. McConnell (0-2 each); C. Barkey, S. Bogue, R. McCaughey (free), M. McCaughey (0-1 each).

BALLYMACELLIGOTT: C. Leen; E. Creedon, D. O’Shea, E. Moriarty; C. Dunne, T. Brick, M. Reidy; A. Breen, D. Broderick; J. Joy, M. McKivergan, A. Sheehy; D. Keane (c), D. Daly, N. Collins.

Subs for Ballymacelligott: D. Dunne for D. O’Shea (inj 25); D. Regan for A. Sheehy (60); J. O’Keeffe for N. Collins, S. Rice for E. Moriarty, B. Cassidy for M. Reidy (all 60+4).

CLOGHER ÉIRE ÓG: R. McElroy; E, Mellon, R. McCaughey, J. Callaghan,; M. Bogue, C. Shields (c); B. McKenna, D. Mellon; S. Bogue, C. Bogue, V. Lowry; C. Barkey, M. McConnell, R. McCaughey.

Subs for Clogher Éire Óg: M. McCaughey for V. Lowry (34); F. McCaughey for B. McKenna (51); E. McCarron for C. Barkey (55); D. McKernan for S. McCaffrey (59).

Referee: S. Mulhare (Laois).