Delighted Ballycommon stay up on merit as Bracknagh wait for boardroom reprieve

WHILE Bracknagh will almost certainly compete in the Senior Football Championship in 2025, Ballycommon were delighted to secure their status on merit when they won the final relegation play off in Croghan on Friday evening.

Tullamore Court Hotel Senior Football Championship Relegation Final

Ballycommon 2-9

Bracknagh 0-8

The Senior Football Championship is set to be increased to ten teams this year and when that is sanctioned next January, it will cancel relegation, granting Bracknagh a reprieve.

Both sides knew that this safety net was there going into this game. It still had to be played as the rules of this year's format had to be fulfilled and a lively, well contested game emerged.

Ballycommon were clearly up for it and after enduring a testing time in their first year back in the top flight in a few decades, they were clearly determined to secure senior status the proper way. They set that target after bowing out so unluckily in the quarter-finals against Shamrocks. They gave Rhode a run in the relegation semi-final and ended their year on a high here.

For Bracknagh, it has been a bitterly disappointing end to the year. They competed well in the quarter-final loss to Edenderry but were blown out of the water by Durrow in the relegation semi-final and were well enough beaten here, really losing their way in the third quarter as they fell nine points behind.

Maybe they lost interest once the quarter-final was over and the knowledge that the format would change next year may have been on their minds but it was still a poor end to the campaign for them,

Still, it will probably not be fatal and doesn't really matter, which does make a bit of a mockery of these relegation play offs – though the format still has to be sanctioned for next year and you never know what rabbits will be pulled from the hat.

It was a solid Ballycommon performance. Once again, they failed to hit double digits with points but 2-9 was a decent return and was always likely to win this – they failed to get over nine points in any of their six games this year, scoring 5, 7 and 7 in their three group games while they got 9 in their quarter-final loss to Shamrocks but that was with extra time and 4 against Rhode.

For all their honesty and obvious desire, that was not good enough as they really struggled to break down the more defensive structure of teams in the top flight. However, they did find a way of scoring goals in the knockout stages, registering three against Shamrocks and one against Rhode.

Their two goals here was the difference and the reason they recorded a deserved win.

Considering the safety net that was there, neither side pulled back here with plenty of hard hitting and they both clearly went for it. Ballycommon led by 0-3 to 0-1 after 15 minutes but Eoghan Geoghegan's point gave Ballycommon a 0-4 to 0-3 lead a few minutes later

That was Bracknagh's last time to lead and the decisive score in the first half was an excellent Ballycommon goal in the 22nd minute. Chris Kenny made a searing run through the middle and laid off to Sean Conway who finished very well.

Ballycommon led by 1-5 to 0-4 at the break and went for the jugular in the second half. Gareth Mann intercepted and broke through for a 41st minute goal to give Ballycommon a 2-7 to 0-4 lead and it looked all over.

In a way, it was. On an October evening under floodlights, nine points was a huge gap and couldn't really be hauled in.

Bracknagh to their credit did fight hard in the last quarter. Ballycommon could only add two more points while Bracknagh's haul of four was nowhere near enough, they did throw everything at the winners late on. They tried hard to get in for the goals that would have changed it but Ballycommon defended very well and while there celebrations were restricted to smiles and pats on the shoulder, this was a very sweet win for them and a nice way to end their season.

The Scorers

Ballycommon: Sean Conway 1-2 (0-1 Free), Gareth Mann 1-1 (Free), Chris Kenny 0-3, Brian Todd 0-1, Stephen Conneely 0-1, Ryan Kenny 0-1.

Bracknagh: Peter Cunningham 0-2 (0-1 Free), Mikey Cunningham 0-2 (Frees), Eoghan Geoghegan 0-2, Robin Galbraith 0-1, Mark Dunne 0-1.

THE TEAMS

BALLYCOMMON: Paul Scally; Aidan Bracken, David Dempsey, Matthew Dempsey; Brian Todd, Chulainn Boland, Michael Conneely; Tom Mealiffe, Karl Dunne; Sean Conway, Gareth Mann, Stephen Conneely; Paul Conway, Chris Kenny, Conor Dunne. Subs: Ryan Kenny for Chris Kenny (46 mins), Chris Kenny for Gareth Mann (59 mins).

BRACKNAGH: Keith Keogh; Charlie Keogh, Fionn Dempsey, Adam Kelly; Colm Cunningham, Anthony Cunningham, Eoin Hyland; Chris Whittle, Jason Dempsey; Mark Dunne, Eoghan Geoghegan, Ricky Geoghegan; Sean Dempsey, Peter Cunningham, Mikey Cunningham.

Subs: Josh Maher for Chris Whittle (38 mins), Tom Hyland for Charlie Keogh (42 mins), Colin Broderick for Ricky Geoghegan (46 mins), Robin Galbraith for Sean Dempsey (46 mins), Conor Melia for Eoin Hyland (56 mins).

Referee: Marius Stones (Clara).