MATCH REPORT
August 8 2021
Mayo Senior Football League Division 4A Round 1
Ballintubber 1-9 Eastern Gaels 4-10
Our juniors suffered a heavy defeat to Eastern Gaels earlier this afternoon after shipping four goals in the second half.
Despite leading 1-5 to 0-7 at half time, our opponents came out supercharged after the break and mustered an almighty purple patch, hitting 2-2 before the water break.
Running at us with a warrior-like ferocity, the East Mayo men hit the net twice more before the final whistle as hopes of a Ballintubber revival collapsed.
Gary Walsh’s charges will now direct their focus at Wednesday evening’s West Mayo Junior B Championship final against Louisburg in Kilmeena.
Lining out with many younger players, including first junior starts Ryan Wilson and Sean McEvilly, it looked like this was going to be a right contest from the off.
Played out in sunny if slightly breezy conditions, neither team wasted any time in getting stuck into each other.
Our attacking play looked smooth in the early stages as we posted five unique point-scorers to lead 0-5 0-3 after 15 minutes.
Our best play came straight after the water break when midfielder Darragh McGovern drove through the middle like a tank before handing the ball off to young Darragh Fahey who crashed it high into the net.
Although we lost Cillian Joyce to injury and shipped seven points in the first half, the omens still looked positive as we finished the half with a one-point lead.
However, Eastern Gaels began to threaten our goal with greater frequency in the third quarter.
Cheered on by a sizeable travelling support, the visitors saw one goal chance flash low and wide, an opportunity which would have given them the lead.
Two Ballintubber scores - including one cracker from out wide by Robbie Finnerty – looked to have steadied the ship.
However, we were soon put on the back foot when our opponents hit the first of four goals after working the ball rapidly up the field through the hands.
The east Mayo men raised a second green flag only moments later before adding a point, leaving them 2-10 to 1-8 ahead at the water break.
With Ballintubber well and truly rattled, the visitors hit a third goal immediately after the water break to put themselves well and truly out of sight.
One outrageous point from substitute Eoin Heneghan was all we managed in the final quarter as Eastern Gaels buried a fourth and final three-pointer to claim a ten-point victory.
Ballintubber team that lined out: (1)Niall Staunton (2)Ryan Wilson (3)Paul Early (4)Luke Murphy (5)Sean McEvilly (6)Magnus Malone (7)Darragh Fahey (1-0) (8)Darragh McGovern (9)Cillian Joyce (10)James McGing (0-1) (11)Adrian Murphy (0-1) (12)Sean Larkin (13)Alan Larkin (0-1) (14)Ray Geraghty (0-2, 2f) (15)Robbie Finnerty (0-2)
Substitutions used: Jack Walsh for Alan Larkin (38 min), Declan Murphy for Luke Murphy (38 min), Eoghan Heneghan for James McGing (45 min), Damien Jennings for Adrian Murphy (45 min) Adam Lally for Magnus Malone (50 min)
Regards Mike Murphy