Mayo schoolboys suffer defeat in John Murphy Senior Cup final
The highs of an All-Ireland semi-final win on Saturday gave way to the painful low of losing out in a national soccer final on Monday for Balla Secondary School, who were unable to convert their craft and style into sufficient scoring chances against their more direct and powerful north Dublin opponents, writes Kevin Egan.
After a fiercely competitive first half where there was little to call between two sides with sharply contrasting styles, Gaelcholáiste Reachrainn of Donaghmede took over after half-time, when they had the wind at their backs, creating the two best scoring chances and eventually wearing down a Balla side that ever so gradually started to show the effects of their exertions two days prior.
“We were under pressure there in the second half but everyone kept pushing and trying hard, we just ran out of legs at the end and they had a lot of quality in their team so they over-ran us in the end, there wasn’t a lot we could do about it,” said team captain Liam Glynn afterwards, who anchored a defence that was just under that bit too much pressure.
In the first half of today's FAI Schools John Murphy Senior B National Cup final, Balla looked the more creative and threatening side, even if they did give up a lot of possession and territory to Gaelcholáiste Reachrainn.
Their midfield line sat deep but they trusted in their footwork and passing to work the ball out of tight spots and bring their attacking talents into play, most notably Ryan Cunningham on the left side of the pitch.
Cunningham was part of Balla’s Under 15 All-Ireland win two years ago so he still has a lot of time to develop at this senior (Under 19) level, but even giving way height and size to most his peers on the Athlone astroturf, he was the star of the show here.
Two excellent efforts from outside the area came agonisingly close in the first half, one fizzing past to the top right-hand corner while the other grazed the foot of the post before going wide, and he also set up chances that Patrick McHale and Seán Brohan were unable to convert.
The Donaghmede side’s best chance was well-saved by Dara Patten in the Balla goal, but the custodian could do nothing on 29 minutes when hesitancy in the square meant that the ball was allowed to pinball around before being poked to the net by Luke Ó Donnchú.
Balla got their equaliser and when they did, they too capitalised on a situation that shouldn’t really have posed a threat to the defence. A long clearance down the right wing sailed over the heads of the back four, inviting Baileigh Mac Chonchairraige to come off his line and clear the danger.
The ball dropped a little too far short of where the goalkeeper would have wanted, however, and Seán Brohan didn’t need to be asked twice to take advantage, cleverly lofting the ball over Mac Chonchairraige’s head into the net from 25 yards out.
It remained 1-1 at half-time, but life got so much tougher for Balla after the interval. Without the option of floating measured passes out into space to be chased down by Dylan Dunne, Ryan Judge or, later on, Shane Cunningham, working the ball out of defence was so much tougher.
Oran Murphy, Seán McCann and Ryan Cunningham continued to work hard in the middle but even when they stepped or evaded one tackler, making ground was that much tougher and the only decent Balla chances came from two Ryan Cunningham crosses – one that was volleyed by Judge and saved by Mac Chonchairraige, and another that was sent across the ‘corridor of uncertainty’ but just evaded Dunne.
The Dublin side didn’t have a huge number of chances either but the two they had, they took. A tantalising cross from the right wing just about evaded McHale and fell perfectly for Ó Conaill to slide Gaelcholáiste Reachrainn into the lead early in the half. Then, with a little over 10 minutes remaining and desperation starting to creep into Balla’s play, McHale attempted to dive and block a cross from Ó Donnchú, meeting it with his arm inside the square.
The perfectly placed spot kick from the striker confirmed that unlike two years ago at this same venue, there would be no happy ending for Balla SS, whose efforts will now focus solely on the Gaelic football pitch in advance of their final in that code on Saturday week.
“The result (against Carrigaline) looked comfortable but playing a full game on the astroturf takes a toll on you too and then at the end of this game, you’d start to feel that you weren’t quite 100%. But we’ve no excuses – they were the better team on the day, and we’re still happy to be here,” said Glynn afterwards.
The road to recovery, and to another national final on Saturday week, begins now.
Balla Secondary School: D. Patten, C. Brett, P. McHale, L.Glynn, A. Jennings, O. Murphy, S. Brohan, S. McCann, R. Cunningham, R. Judge, D. Dunne.
Subs used: S. Cunningham, S. Scott Keane, K. Malone.
Gaelcholáiste Reachrann: B. Mac Chonchairraige, R. Stafort, T. Pennie, A. Ó Corráin, R. Ó Rua, R. Ó Gallachóir, E. Ó Fuaruisge, P. Stafort, T. Ó Domhnaill, O. Ó Conaill, L. Ó Donnchú.
Subs used: T. Ó Rua, S. Cinsealach, A. Ó Dúlaing.
Ref: C. McCormack.