Swinford vs Ballycastle (WP)

 Swinford 0-15 

Ballycastle 1-8

Swinford 

Eoin Horkan

Swinford secured their first win of the Junior Championship campaign on Saturday evening  as they held off a late Ballycastle comeback to claim victory in their final group outing.

The home side made an excellent start, opening up an early two-point lead through Mark Forkan before Kevin McDonagh added a score from a dead ball.

Ballycastle settled themselves and began to find their feet, with Finn McDermott Cox driving through the centre before registering the north Mayo side's opening score before the ten-minute mark.

By the quarter-hour mark, Swinford had restored their advantage with Evan Rowley and Jack Ferguson both finding the target to leave a goal between the teams.

Ballycastle continued to apply pressure and, with ten minutes remaining in the half, Sam Kelly and McDermott Cox reduced the deficit to the minimum with well-taken scores.

Swinford responded strongly before the interval, enjoying their best spell of the opening half as Forkan and McDonagh added to their tallies before substitute Michael Daly also got on the scoresheet.

The oppsonets had the final say before the break, however, with Kelly converting a dead ball to leave the visitors just a goal adrift at half-time.

Swinford came out with renewed purpose after the restart and quickly extended their lead. Dylan Toner converted a 45 before Gavin Tuffy and captain Jack Ferguson added further scores to put the home side in a commanding position.

Ballycastle found it difficult to break through a resolute Swinford defence, but a number of positional changes eventually helped them get back into the contest.

One of the key moves saw Lorcan O'Donnell pushed into the full-forward line, and the change immediately paid dividends as he struck two points in quick succession to reduce the gap.

The east Mayo side  remained composed and continued to find scores as the final quarter progressed. Sean McDonagh, Toner, Ferguson and Thomas Tuffy all raised white flags as the home side once again looked to have put the result beyond doubt.

However, the visitors refused to surrender and Anthony Tighe gave them renewed hope when he found the net late on.

The visitors pressed in search of a second goal, but Swinford held firm to see out the remainder of the contest and deservedly claim their first Junior Championship victory.

The opposition  will feel they had opportunities to make the game even tighter, with a number of missed frees, particularly late on, ultimately proving costly.

They will now turn their attention to their final group game when they host Tourmakeady in two weeks' time.

Scorers:Swinford K McDonagh 0-2 (2fs),D Toner 0-3 (1 45),M Forkan 0-2,J Ferguson 0-3, G Tuffy, S McDonagh,T Tuffy,E Rowley,M Daly 0-1 each.

Ballycaste:S Kelly 0-4 (1 2ptf),A Tighe 1-0, L O’Donnell 0-2, F McDermott Cox 0-2.

Swinford:Emmet Peyton;James Lavin,Alan McLoughlin,Enda Lavin;Gavin Tuffy,Josh Smith,David Taylor;Dylan Toner,Jack Ferguson;Kevin McDonagh,Mark Forkan,Sean McDonagh;Darren Campbell,Thomas Tufffy,Evan Rowley

Subs Used M Daly (for Lavin),B Lord (for Smith),D Molloy (for Rowley), M Prendergast (for Tuffy).

Ballycastle:Jason O’Neill;Keith Carden,John Carey,Dean Kelly;Fionnan Mac Conghamhna,Kevin Healy,Michael Tighe;Shane Grier,Finn McDermott Cox;Shane Maughan,Fergal Forde,Lorcan O’Donnell;Tom Tomas,Eoin McDonnell,Sam Kelly.

Subs Used: M Forde (for Carey), A Tighe (for McDonnell.

Referee; Declan Leonard