The Heath through to Senior ‘B’ Football final following victory over Ballyfin
The Heath made history by becoming the first team to qualify for the Laois Senior Football Championship 'B' final, securing a hard-fought victory over Ballyfin at the LOETB Centre of Excellence on Friday evening.
The game was marked by intriguing storylines, including the commitment of Ballyfin's dual players and The Heath's aspirations to build on their Intermediate Championship success from the previous year.
THE HEATH 1-9
BALLYFIN 0-8
Prior to the match, questions swirled about how seriously Ballyfin would approach the 'B' competition, given that many of their players are set to compete in the Premier IHC final in a couple of weeks. However, those concerns were quickly dispelled as Ballyfin's dual players took to the field.
For The Heath, this 'B' competition represented a golden opportunity to build upon their prior Intermediate Championship victory and add another piece of silverware to their collection.
Ballyfin earned their spot in the 'B' semi-final by overcoming Arles-Killeen, while The Heath secured their place with a significant win against Clonaslee St Manman's, quarter-finalists in last year’s championship.
The game itself, though lacking the intensity of a full-blown Senior Football Championship match, offered some decent football. Ballyfin initially dominated proceedings, but The Heath gradually found their stride, erasing their early deficit to hold a two-point lead by halftime.
Despite a late surge by Ballyfin, particularly led by Sean Moore, they couldn't recover from the seven-point deficit created by Jimmy Nerney's crucial goal 50 minutes into the match.
Ballyfin began the game on the front foot and took advantage of some early misses from The Heath, and they went into an early three point lead. The Heath struggled initially with their accuracy but eventually found their target through Dylan Kavanagh. JP Nerney added a point, and Brian Ging levelled the score with a determined run through the middle.
James Phelan's well-placed kick and another score from JP Nerney, this time from a free, gave The Heath a two-point advantage at halftime.
The Heath began the second half strongly, with Jordan Kavanagh finishing off a well-executed team move with a shot from inside the 45 that sailed between the posts.
Evin Keane, who had been kept scoreless in the first half due to resilient defending by Ballyfin, found his footing in the second half and hit Ballyfin for three points in a row. The first came after he gathered the ball inside the 21 and showed serious pace before popping the ball over. He followed that by winning and scoring a free before adding another moments later.
Aidan Keenaghan finally broke Ballyfin's 33-minute scoring drought, and Sean Moore followed with a free to make it a four-point game on 45 minutes.
However, Ballyfin's hopes were dashed when Jimmy Nerney made an explosive run down the right wing, executed a slick one-two with Dylan Kavanagh, and slotted the ball into the net, extending The Heath's lead to seven points with only five minutes remaining.
Ballyfin threw everything forward in a desperate attempt, with Sean Moore adding three more points from frees, but they couldn't find the elusive goal that would have given them a fighting chance.
In the end, The Heath emerged as four-point victors, securing their historic spot in the Laois SFC 'B' final.