Ballintubber ensure Mayo representation in Connacht Minor A Club decider

A dominant second quarter into the breeze was the platform on which Ballintubber built their comfortable win over Roscommon Gaels last Tuesday night in Bekan in the FBD Connacht Minor A Club Championship, writes Kevin Egan.

An unaswered 2-5, kicked off by Noah Donnelly’s flicked goal, set Michael Hoban’s side on course for a Connacht final clash with Micheál Breathnach’s back in Bekan on Friday.

The Gaeltacht side have caught a lot of attention with a stunning run of results in Galway and their comprehensive win over Curry in the other semi-final will see them installed as the favourites for Friday’s decider, but the depth and balance of this Ballintubber performance, with the little bit of stardust sprinkled on top by Conor Hoban, should make for a competitive decider.

Hoban was the only Ballintubber scorer in the opening quarter as he lofted over an outstanding two-point free into the breeze but even though the Mayo club trailed by 1-3 to 0-2 at the midway point in the half, they arguably would have been the happier team at that stage of proceedings.

Roscommon Gaels enjoyed a touch of good fortune for their goal from Cathal Nerney, striker of the 30-metre free that dipped at the last second and grazed the Ballintubber crossbar en route to the net.

Seamie Carthy, who along with Nerney featured prominently for the Roscommon minor side that won this year’s Connacht title, landed two excellent frees, while he and Darragh Killeen also picked off some fine catches in the middle.

When in possession, however, there was far more purpose and cutting edge to Ballintubber’s attacking football, with Cillian Reilly, Mattias Dolan, Richie Finnerty and Hoban all very strong in possession around the middle third, breaking tackles and creating chances.

It took a Roscommon Gaels error – a misplaced goal kick that was seized by Donnelly – to open the door for Ballintubber, but once the corner forward played his clever give-and-go with Seán Prendergast and flicked the ball to the net, the ‘Tubber boys never looked back.

Richie Finnerty added their second goal at the end of a similar running move that featured Cillian Donnelly, and a run of points from Hoban (two), Reilly and Dolan before half-time left Roscommon Gaels in a world of trouble.

The Roscommon side arguably played their best football in the third quarter, where the contest turned into a more tactical affair, with long spells of possession and far fewer breakaway opportunities.

Finnerty opened the scoring after half-time for Ballintubber but the Gaels kicked the only point in the next 10 minutes of action, capitalizing on the numerical advantage that arose when a brief conflagration of disgruntled footballers on both sides ended with two yellow cards for the Rossies and a black for Noal Donnelly.

The shouts from the Ballintubber sideline made it clear that they had prepared for this eventuality, however, and just before Donnelly’s time in footballing purgatory expired, Cillian Reilly cut in from the left corner, fired in a low shot that was brilliantly saved by Ruairí Kerr, but then followed up to roll a soccer-style shot to the net off the rebound.

That score lifted the last weight of fear off Ballintubber shoulders and forced Roscommon Gaels to play with real desperation, and the extra space that opened up led to impressive Ballintubber scores, particularly another point from Reilly that featured great footwork from the scorer and a stunning 40-metre pass from Rory McGreal to open up the opportunity.

Adam Burton drove though a gap to set up another point for Hoban and goal number four, this time from Eoghan Lyons, wasn’t long in coming.

Cathal Nerney drove through to get what looked like a consolation goal for Roscommon Gaels and another followed; though in a tighter game, the decision to deem Jack Loftus’ pull on a Gaels runner some 25 metres out from goal as a black card penalty would be seen as a harsh.

Despite having to finish the game with 14 men, the last two points were chipped over by Hoban, to add a last note of dominance to what was a comprehensive win.

Ballintubber: Noah Murphy; Ross Malone, Ciarán Earley, Jack Loftus; Ronan McGreal, Finnian Brady, Matthias Dolan (0-1); Conor Hoban (0-7, 1tpf, 3f), Adam Burton; Cillian Donnelly, Richie Finnerty (1-2), Noah Donnelly (1-0); Niall Spellman, Cillian Reilly (1-2), Seán Prendergast.

Subs used: Christopher Feeney for Spellman (41), Darragh Breslin for Prendergast (48), Eoghan Lyons (1-0) for C. Donnelly (52), Cian Brady for Malone (58), James Staunton for Finnerty (58).

Roscommon Gaels: Ruairí Kerr; Michael McGuinness, Eli Okambawa, Conor McNeill; William Godfrey, Daniel Nerney, Eoin Naughten; Darragh Killeen, Seamie Carthy (1-4, 3f, 1-0p); Cathal Nerney (2-0, 1-0f), Daithi Kelly, Max O’Reilly; Senan Hoey, Sam Walsh (0-1), Senan Grogan.

Subs used: Seán Nugent for O’Reilly (29), James Doyle for Grogan (38), Noah Feeley for Hoey (41), Grogan for Okambawa (53),

Referee: Michael McGirl (Leitrim).