A fisted goal by corner forward David Walsh, one minute into the second half of extra time gave Ballinameela a two point lead and put them on course for victory in this tense Inter-mediate Football final replay at Fraher Field on Sunday last. The western champions finished the game strongly with Jim Curran and John Stack each adding a point with just one in reply from Ballyduff’s Stephen O’Leary before the final whistle.
Played on a very slippery surface this game always looked like going down to the wire with neither side able dominate and throughout the game there was never more than a couple of points between them. Bally-duff had the better of the exchanges in a tight opening half and they opened the scoring with a John O’Leary point in the third minute. Ballinameela levelled from a John Stack free in the 6th minute and a minute later they seemed to have a cast iron case for a penalty when Caimin Radley was brought down inside the large square but were awarded a free which Stack put wide.
Emmet Power and Eoghan Walsh exchanged points in the 12th and 15th minutes before Stack put Ballinameela into the lead from a free in the 20th minute. Emmet Power hit back to level matters again but in the 28th minute Ballinameela regained the lead with a David Phelan point.
Ballyduff got a viyal breakthrough in the 29th minute when Ballinameela goal-keeper James McGrath lost his footing when coming away with the ball and John O’Leary was on hand to smash the loose ball to the net. Caimin Radley replied with a point but Ballyduff went in at the break full value for their 1 - 3 to 0 - 5 lead.
Seconds into the second half Jim Curran had the sides level and a second David Phelan point gave Ballinameela the lead in the 32nd minute. Almost immediately Jack Kennedy levelled the tie again and in the 40th minute Emmet Power pointed a free to put Bally-duff back into the lead. Ballyduff were now very much on top as Eoin Cummins added a point and Pat Fitzgerald gave his side a three point lead in the 47th minute as he finished a great run from inside his own half with a splendid point.
It was looking bad for Ballinameela when Cummins added another point from play but the showed great fighting spirit to wipe out the deficit between the 50th and 58th minutes with two pointed frees from Stack and a point apiece from Conor Buckley and Eoghan Walsh. With the game going into the 60th minute Bally-duff seemed to have clinched victory with points from Pat Matthews and Cummins but in the second and third minutes of added time Eoghan Walsh saved the day with a point from a free followed by the equaliser from play abnd it was on into extra time.
In the first half of extra time it was Ballyduff who grabbed the initiative with points from Jack Kennedy and Eoin Cummins with Eoghan Walsh pulling one back for Ballinameela. It was going to take one break of the ball to decide the issue and that break fell to Ballinameela in the first minute of the second period when David Walsh caught the Ballyduff defence unawares as he fisted a lob-bing ball to the Ballyduff net. Tempers became frayed in the tense closing minutes as a result of a dangerous challenge on Eoghan Walsh but when order was restored Ballyduff’ Stephen O’Leary received a yellow card. In the final minutes it was Ballinameela who pushed on for victory with those points from Curran and Stack but overall it was a great effort by both teams over the 140 minutes of play and the pity now is that Ballinameela will not be able to test themselves in the Munster championship after a gutsy and gritty display.
MATCH FACTS
Scorers :- Ballinameela - E. Walsh 0 - 5, (1F), J. Stack 0 - 4(Frees), D. Walsh 1 - 0, D. Phelan, J. Curran and C. Radley 0 - 2 each, C. Buckley 0 - 1.
Ballyduff Lower - J. O’Leary 1 - 1, E. Cummins 0 - 4(2F), E. Power 0 - 3(2Fs), J. Kennedy 0 - 2, P. Fitzgerald, P. Matthews and S. O’Leary 0 - 1 each.
BALLINAMEELA - J. McGrath, S. Flavin, C. Buckley, Jay McGrath, J. Harrington, Eamonn Walsh, T. Curran, A. Ahearne, B. Phelan, J. Curran , D. Phelan, J. Stack, D. Walsh, C. Radley, Eoghan Walsh. Subs - T. Power for Jay McGrath, T. McCarthy for Harrington, J. Fletcher for Radley, S. McGrath for McCarthy.
BALLYDUFF LOWER - M. Millea, C. Power, R. Barron, S. O’Leary, K. O’Brien, P. Fitzgerald, G. Fitzgerald, J. Kennedy, P. Matthews, P. Kennedy, J. O’Leary, N. Clifford, E. Cummins, B. O’Leary, E. Power. Subs - P. Kirwan for G. Fitzgerald, R. Ryan for B. O’Leary, G. Harris for Kirwan, E. Kenny for Ryan.
