JACFC Div 3: Ballinlough advance to last four

Ballinlough's Benji Smith

Ballinlough 2-04-12 (26) Meath Hill 2-02-09 (19)

Ballinlough made the long trip to Meath Hill on Monday evening for Round 3 of the All-County JFC knowing only a win would suffice to get them through to the knockout stages, and even at that the abacus would be required to determine score difference and group positions to figure out who would go through !!

The visitors had the perfect start when Hugh Briody won the throw in and found fellow midfielder Robert O’Brien, who ordinarily wouldn’t make the height requirements for a midfield position, but that didn’t bother Robert as it’s not the size of the man but the size of his heart that matters, and his pass located Jamie Casserly who fired over for the games first score in the opening minute.

The home side soon kicked into gear and kicked a fine two point score aided by the breeze and followed that up with two further points from play by the seventh minute to leave them leading by three.

A Sean Tunney free kept Ballinlough ticking over and there was only a point between the sides when Robert O’Brien once again provided the assist as Kit Óg Lynch sent one sailing over the bar in the 10th minute.

The next score was a lovely worked goal for Meath Hill, as a ball was sent forward and Mark Tully showed great awareness and experience to duck out of the way of the passing ball, allowing Kyle Martin to collect possession and kick for goal, the ball taking a nick off the bottom of the post and ending up in the net in the 15th minute.

A lovely give and go from Luke Harte in the 18th minute saw him get his first point of the evening but Meath Hill retained their four point lead with a point from play in the 20th minute.

Great work for Rory Smith set Sean Tunney up for Ballinlough’s next score but again that was quickly cancelled out by a Meath Hill point in the 25th minute, and they extended their lead to six points with another well taken two point score in the 29th minute.

Ballinlough did well to finish the half strongly with Sean Tunney and Kit Óg Lynch pointing before the short whistle, so when Referee Gabriel Patterson blew the half time whistle the home side led on a scoreline of 1-08 to Ballinloughs 0-07.

From the restart Meath Hill extended their lead to five points before half time substitute James Brooks marked his entrance with a point from play in the 32nd minute.

Ballinlough could have lowered the deficit in the 34th minute when Luke Harte carried out brillant work but his goal effort was superbly stopped by Martin Tully in the Meath Hill net.

A Meath Hill point put five between them again but Ballinlough had inadvertently unleashed their own Roy of the Rovers from the bench, Podge Muldoon going from Goal-Keeper to Goal-Scorer in the 36th minute, Luke Harte doing a lot of the donkey work but Podge on hand to deftly flick the ball to the net with his left boot.

There was only a point between the sides when Jamie Casserly fired over in the 41st minute, but Meath Hill increased their lead with a point from play seconds later.

If the first Ballinlough goal was good their second was even better, as Mark Tynan hassled for possession around the middle of the park before releasing the ball to Jamie Casserly, and while he had quite a few Meath Hill men around him, he managed to pop the pass to the evergreen Podge Muldoon who fired to the net for the second time of the evening to leave Ballinlough leading by two points.

The lead was short lived however as Meath Hill seemed to take Podgies goal-scoring as a personal affront and they soon had the ball worked to the net up the other end in the 43rd minute.

This game had suddenly taken on a frenetic pace and it was end to end stuff as Kit Óg Lynch had a fine goal effort stopped a moment later, but he made up for the miss when he showed unbelievable strength and cleverness as he jinked his way past five Meath Hill defenders and fired over a two pointer in the 45th minute to level the sides again.

Meath Hill were having a knack of getting a score when they needed it and they added a point in the 46th minute, but Kit Óg Lynch had found his groove and he kicked two exceptional two pointers from play by the 50th minute to see Ballinlough leading by three points.

A Meath Hill point in the 52nd minute reduced the gap back to two points and the home side must have thought they had taken another score moments later but Senan McDermott was Brillant in bringing the ball down from above but not over the bar and working it away from danger.

With five minutes remaining on the clock and the abacus working overtime it was established Ballinlough needed a four point win to progress and they worked towards that objective with a Sean Tunney point from play in the 55th minute.

A lovely two point score from play for Jamie Casserly in the 57th minute, was followed by a tap over free in the 62nd minute when Meath Hill breached the 3v3 rule and Casserly opted for the handy point on offer.

Luke Harte put the tin hat on a superb second half performance for the Ballinlough men when he pointed in the 63rd minute leaving seven points between the sides.

So when Referee Gabriel Patterson blew the full time whistle Ballinlough had pulled off a remarkable turnaround and took victory on a scoreline of 2-20 to Meath Hills 2-13.

That result meant Ballinlough leap-frogged this evenings opponents into top spot in the group and they will await the details of our Semi-Final fixture against second place in Group B Blackhall Gaels.

Ballinlough Team: Senan McDermott, David Rogers, Lorcan Maguire, Eoghan Maguire, Niall McDonnell, Benji Smith, Luke Harte (0-02), Hugh Briody, Robert O’Brien, Ciaran Ryan, Sean Tunney (0-04(1f)), Rory Smith, Jamie Casserly (0-05(1f,one2pt)), Kit Óg Lynch (0-08(1f, three 2pt)), Mark Tynan

Subs: James Brooks (0-01) for M.Tynan H/T, Podge Muldoon (2-00) for R.Smith H/T, M.Tynan for R.O’Brien 38’, R.Smith for D.Rogers 41’, R.O’Brien for C.Ryan 52’, C.Ryan for K.Óg Lynch 58’

Referee: Gabriel Patterso