Ballinacor 1-11
Ballymanus 1-7
Eoin Horkan
Parses Park
Last Friday night in Arklow there was a fiercely contested Intermediate Championship game played between two close rivals that were hard to separate.
The game started brilliantly for Ballinacor when their corner forward James Nolan got on to a ball on the 21 yard line and went to put the ball over the bar but it was one of those days for ballinacor as his miss hit shot dropped short of a point and surprised the Ballymanus goalkeeper as it dropped into the back of the net. This was just the start ballinacor needed as this was a must win game for them. This goal sparked Ballymanus into life getting a couple of unanswered scores. With wing forward Roan Lynch getting the scoreboard ticking over with a point from play before full forward P Byrne scoring a fine point from play before getting another one from a free. After the few unanswered scores Ballincor then started to play again with wing forward B Hanlon and corner forward Ger Byrne scoring two fine points from play. The scores started coming thick and fast from both teams then with ballyamnus corner forward Ger Farrar getting a point from play before wing forward K Byrne also slotting a ball over the bar Brian Hanlon then got another score from play before some great play from ballymanus ended up with the ball in the hands of the corner forward Ger Farrar who calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net. Coming into half time this was a great score to get but just as Ballymanus thought they were going into the break with a lead Ballinacor Full forward Ronan Phelan got the ball on the half way line and started slaloming through the Ballymanus defence before putting the ball over the black spot this score made the game level at half time.
Ballincor started the second half well with midfielder P Byrne scoring a great point from play before industries wing forward Brian Hanlon working hard to put another one of the bar. Ballymanus then got a score back through full forward P Byrne from a free. Then the game started to two and fro with the defenders coming out on top. Ballinacor then went on the attack this is when the pivotal moment in the match occurred when Ballymanus midfielder Ronan Stapleton made a fairly innocuous challenge in the midfield and got a 2nd yellow card and was sent off. This was the game changing moment as there was only one score in the game. Soon after the red card Ballinacor started to empty their bench to get fresh legs on the pitch and almost immediately this worked when sub James Murphy scored a fine point from play. Ballinacor then started to use their extra man to great advantage. They started playing direct football and it started to pay dividends when corner forward G Byrne won a breaking ball on the 21 yard line and slotted it over the bar before the same man got another point from a free. At this stage Ballinacor had gone two scores up but Ballymanus hadn’t given up hope with centre back Martin Kenny trying to burst through a stern Ballinacor defence nut Ballincaor defence never let the ball into the net. Some great defending with a bit of luck involved with ballymanus putting the ball wide on a few different occasions. Then Kenny went on one last run combining well with some of the forwards before a goal bound shot was blocked by a Ballinacor defender. Ballymanus got a free kick for a foot block but as Ballinacor had everyone back on the line Kenny had to just tap the ball over the bar and hope there was time for one last attack. There was time for one last attack but it was for Ballinacor as full forward R Phelan got one last monster score to put the game to bed. After a great game the Sending off for Ballymanus made a huge difference .
Ballinacor; C O Neil; S Boyle, C Kennedy, JP Byrne; M Byrne J Byrne D Byrne ;D Dowling P Byrne , ; C Murphy, D Carter B Hanlon;, J Nolan, R Phelan, G Byrne
Scorers J Nolan (1-0) ,B Hanlon (0-3) G Byrne( 0-4) R Phelan (0-2) P Byrne (0-1) J Murphy (0-1)
Subs used B Heffernan for JP Byrne , P Byrne for C Murphy J Murphy for D Carter
Ballymanus; B Doyle ;, A Byrne , S O Neil , D Byrne ; , S Whelan, M Kenny , L Byrne ;, D O Keefe R Stapleton ;, R Lynch, P Byrne K Byrne, ; C Coogan, P Byrne , G Farrar
Scorers P Byrne (0-3) , R Lynch (0-1) G Farrar (1-1) M Kenny (0-1) K Byrne (0-1)
Subs used G Farrar for A Byrne, C Whelan for D O Keefe, P Murray for G Farrar, P Coogan for G Farrar, A Byrne for P Coogan ( Black card)
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