Ballinhassig secure vital win in South East Junior A Football Championship against Ballymartle

Ballinhassig 0-15 (0-1-13) 

Ballymartle 1-7 (1-1-5)

Ballinhassig secured an all-important two points in the Procure.ie South East Junior A Football Championship against Ballymartle at Belgooly on Friday night.

The game had been played in good spirits until the 50th minute, but when Ballymartle pegged Ballinhassig back to a single score, tempers flared and Ballinhassig simply pushed ahead after three players were given their marching orders.

Ballinhassig were first out of the traps as Patrick O’Regan opened the Blues' account, but Ballymartle restored parity as Ryan Deasy found the range minutes later.

However, it was Ballinhassig who began to stamp their authority on the contest as Diarmuid O’Sullivan kicked a close-in free. 

They extended their lead on 14 minutes to 0-4 to 0-1 as O’Sullivan found the mark, while Brian Lynch and Evan Cullinane combined well for a well-taken score.

With Eoin Lombard marshalling the defence, Ballymartle were left to kick from distance as Patrick O’Regan was on target at the other end. It was all Ballinhassig over the next 10 minutes as they added a further two points through O’Regan and O’Sullivan.

Ballymartle, to their credit, kept battling and were rewarded with a Niall Crowley point just before the interval as the Blues led 0-7 to 0-2.

Ballymartle were right back into the contest minutes into the second period as two Ryan Deasy frees were followed by a Brian Hurley-esque two-point score as it landed in the square and bounced over the bar.

It was all square on 39 minutes as Cillian Lordan levelled the contest, but the Blues claimed the next three scores, with Cullinane getting one and O’Sullivan kicking two.

As Ballinhassig seemed to be cruising, Ballymartle rattled the Ballinhassig net following a neat pass from Fionn Desmond to second-half substitute Patrick Cronin on 48 minutes.

With only a point separating the sides, tempers flared on the pitch and referee Michael O’Mahony dismissed Simon Dorney and Lewis Keohane for Ballymartle, while Sean Lombard was shown the line for Ballinhassig.

The match lost its impetus over the remainder of the contest as O’Leary fired over two points and O’Sullivan added another to his tally to seal the win.

Scorers for Ballinhassig: D O’Sullivan 0-8 (2pt, 2F), P O’Regan 0-3 (2F), E Cullinane, P O’Leary 0-2 each.

Ballymartle: R Deasy 0-5 (2pt, 1F), P Cronin 1-0, C Lordan, C Cronin 0-1 each.

BALLINHASSIG: S Kearney; E Lombard, K Maguire, C Kirby; P O'Leary, C Desmond, J Grainger; D O'Donovan, G Daly; B Lynch, E Cullinane, D O'Sullivan; S Lombard, S O'Neill, P O'Regan.

Subs: O Meara for S O’Neill (39), R Casey for G Daly (56), T Madden for P O’Regan (58).

BALLYMARTLE: G Murphy; E Deasy, S Dorney, D Murphy; C Lordan, L O'Callaghan, L Hennessey; R Deasy, F Desmond; N Crowley, J Dwyer, R Sheehan; J O'Sullivan, S Cummins, L Keohane.

Subs: E O’Leary for S Cummins (39), P Cronin and A Harte for J O’Sullivan and R Sheehan (46), F O’Keeffe for D Murphy (55).

Referee: Michael O’Mahony, Kilbrittain.