Ballinamere show tremendous character to reach first final since 1908 as Rynagh's run out of legs late on
BALLINAMERE showed tremendous character and resolve to qualify for their first Senior Hurling Championship final since 1908 with a nerve tingling win over St Rynagh's in O'Connor Park on Sunday.
Molloy Precast And Environmental Systems Senior Hurling Championship semi-final
Ballinamere 1-21
St Rynagh's 2-14
In the unusual position of being favourites against one of Offaly hurling's most potent forces, Ballinamere were pushed to the pin of their collar, stared down disaster and found the means within themselves to power home.
It was a fantastic win for Ballinamere who were on the brink of defeat inside the last ten minutes, trailing by 2-14 to 1-14 but they staged a tremendous rally from here, scoring seven magnificent points without reply to make the decider on October 20.
We expected that Ballinamere would have the legs for an ageing St Rynagh's if they were in contention going into the closing few minutes. We were far from certain, however, that they would have the heads for it if trailing late on but they answered those questions very emphatically and impressively. It took real guts for them to win the game from three points in arrears but their heads never dropped and they kept working, kept trying to do the right thing.
It paid off spectacularly as St Rynagh's very much ran out of steam late on. John Murphy got three delightful points, his second one levelling it up with five minutes left. With victory in sight, Ballinamere were relentless. Murphy's brilliant 56th minute point gave them the lead, Brian Duignan added two frees to put them three ahead as it drifted into five minutes of injury time.
Aidan Treacy was off target with a long range St Rynagh's free and Joe Maher's 62nd minute point gave Ballinamere the four point cushion they needed to ease their nerves.
It was a terrific win for them and one they deserved over the hour plus. Since emerging as a force a few years ago, Ballinamere have made incremental steps forward – firstly beating the weaker teams, then competing with and taking bigger scalps, making the quarter-finals and now qualifying for the final.
St Rynagh's demise is not a big surprise. They received a ferocious hiding from Kilcormac-Killoughey in the group stages, have a few players heading down the wrong side of the hill and it was always possible that they would dip into the red late on here, which they very much did. However, they showed all of their traditional heart and appetite here, fighting for everything with their attack testing a strong Ballinamere defence to the hilt, asking the most serious of questions of them.
It looked like they would get home with a few minutes to go but Ballinamere were not to be denied and their win is a reward for the tremendous hurling work done in the area over a decade plus. The final will be a huge occasion for the whole Ballinamere and Durrow area – some of their best hurlers, Ciaran Burke, Sam and Dan Bourke, Ross and Dan Ravenhill and Brian Duignan are all permission players with Ballinamere while Jack Fogarty, David Magner and Kevin McDermott are also Durrow members.
It is a very much a combined effort and Ballinamere's perseverance was particularly impressive here on a day when plenty went wrong and their composure would have went in other years. They missed plenty of chances, some of them easy ones while Brian Duignan was wide with a 49th minute penalty.
It was an excellent game of hurling, played with real intensity with everything very tight and hard earned.
The first half was a real ding dong tussle and it was clear from the throw in that St Rynagh's would test every ounce of Ballinamere's fibre. Ballinamere were 0-4 to 0-3 ahead when John Murphy broke in for a breathtaking 12th minute goal but St Rynagh's dug deep. Their speed and skill merchants, Luke O'Connor, excellent sub Darragh Scully and Aaron Molloy made life very difficult for the Ballinamere defence.
At the other end, Aaron Maher had the game of his life in the first half, scoring four sensational points but Aidan Treacy's 27th minute goal after Shane Rigney was fouled by Ross Ravenhill gave St Rynagh's a 1-10 to 1-9 lead at the break. There were times when Ballinamere tried to shoot themselves in the foot here and one of those was coming up to half time when Brian Duignan had a bad wide, Sam Bourke underhit a chance and Dan Bourke over played another one.
They could very easily have been three points and for a while in the second half, it looked like there would be a price to pay. Ballinamere led by 1-13 to 1-11 after 41 minutes but St Rynagh's snatched the lead with a Luke O'Connor free and a goal from the same player in the 44th minute, after Eoin Woods made a great burst forward when Ballinamere lost the ball in the middle.
Suddenly, the Banagher club were 2-12 to 1-13 ahead and brilliant points from Darragh Scully and Shane Rigney had them 2-14 to 1-14 ahead with 47 minutes gone. When Brian Duignan missed the penalty two minutes later after Dan Ravenhill was fouled, it looked like Ballinamere's worse nightmare was emerging, a partly self inflicted defeat looming, but in the closing fifteen minutes, including injury time, they showed that they had the guts, head, composure, quality and skill to win those type of games.
MATCH ANALYSIS
MAN OF THE MATCH
John Murphy (Ballinamere): A tough call between Ballinamere's John Murphy and Aaron Maher. Maher was on fire in the first half and continued to work hard in the second, laying off simple but effective passes. It was arguably his best game in the Ballinamere colours and certainly his best in a game of such importance.
John Murphy just edges it here. His first half goal was crucial, he oozed quality at times and he got crunch late scores to power them home. Murphy doesn't matgch the talent he has every day but he certainly delivered here in a sensational display. Dan Ravenhill was also outstanding at times, Mark Troy showed his value in goals and Jack Fogarty worked like a trojan in defence and Dan Bourke did his share up front.
St Rynagh's had several players who performed well. Joey O'Connor and Eoin Woods worked so hard in midfield and Darragh Scully brightened up the afternoon with some great skill after coming on – the decision to replace him near the end was surprising. Luke O'Connor went well beside him on a giant of a Ballinamere performer Ciaran Burke, who did finish very well. St Rynagh's were not far away but have no complaints.
THE SCORERS
Ballinamere: John Murphy 1-4, Brian Duignan 0-6 (4f), Aaron Maher 0-4, Dan Ravenhill 0-3, Joe Maher and Dan Bourke 0-2 each.
St Rynagh's: Aidan Treacy 1-5 (goal from a penalty, 2f and 1 '65'), Luke O'Connor 1-3 (3f), Darragh Scully 0-3, Shane Rigney 0-2, Aaron Molloy 0-1,
THE TEAMS
BALLINAMERE: Mark Troy; Chris McDonald, Ciaran Burke, Eoin Boland; Jack Fogarty, Ross Ravenhill, Sam Bourke; David Magner, Kevin McDermott; Dan Ravenill, Dan Bourke, Aaron Maher; Joe Maher, Brian Duignan, John Murphy. Subs – Darragh Wyer for McDermott (49m), Mike O'Brien for Dan Ravenhill (59m),
ST RYNAGH'S: Conor Clancy; Keelan Rigney, Dermot Shortt, Simon Og Lyons; Matthew Maloney, Ben Conneely, Conor Hernon; Joey O'Connor, Eoin Woods; Shane Rigney, Stephen Quirke, Aidan Treacy; Gary Conneely, Luke O'Connor, Aaron Molloy. Subs – Darragh Scully for Quirke, inj. (10m), Paul Quirke for Keelan Rigney (51m), Sean Dolan for Molloy (57m), Aaron Kenny for Scully (62m),
Referee Adam Kinahan (Clodiagh Gaels).
REFEREE WATCH
Adam Kinahan was focused and in control the whole way. There were no big talking points and little reason for either to talk about the referee. A melee broke out early in the 2nd half up the far end of the field as Kinahan dealt with an injured player. A couple of Rynagh's officials out on the field did not help that – Kinahan talked to a linesman and both umpires before showing a yellow card to Chris McDonald and a red card to a St Rynagh's mentor.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
In the wind up, John Murphy's first half goal was instrumental in Ballinamere's win and kept them going when things were unravelling.
VENUE WATCH
The O'Connor Park pitch looked in sensational shape and as expected, there was a lot of interest in this clash.
WHAT'S NEXT
Ballinamere are in the final against holders and hot favourites, Kilcormac-Killoughey.
STATISTICS
Wides: Ballinamere – 11 (3 in 1st half); St Rynagh's – 12 (6 in 1st half).
Yellow cards: Ballinamere – 2 (Chris McDonald and Ross Ravenhill); St Rynagh's – 0.
Red cards: 0