Shinrone show quality of champions in second half as Ballinamere year grinds to disappointing end

ASKED very serious questions by a very highly motivated Ballinamere in the first half, Shinrone showed the class of champions with a superb second half display to return to the Offaly Senior Hurling Championship final.

Molloy Environmental Systems Senior Hurling Championship semi-final

Shinrone 1-19

Ballinamere 0-16

Pushed to the pin of their collar by Ballinamere in the first half, Shinrone got on top all over the field in the second half and were in no way flattered by their 1-19 to 0-16 win in O'Connor Park on Saturday.

Winners of the Sean Robbins Cup for the first time last year, Shinrone look to have all the ingredients to retain it. A final will present new challenges but they have raised the bar further this year and are playing with a confidence and maturity that only manifested itself in fits and starts last year.

They have the belief that can only come from winning and this showed in the way they performed with a truly excellent second half display here as they left Ballinamere floundering all over the field. When they had to turn on the style, they did it in surpreme fashion with players standing up all over the field.

Their defence ensured a miserable second half for the Ballinamere attack with Darren O'Meara, Michael Cleary, Conor Doughan and Dara Maher all brilliant – the half back line of Cleary, Doughan and Maher were impenetrable in the second half. Declan Cleary and Luke Watkins had great games in midfield while Killian Sampson had another super showing in defence and brother Jason came to his milk in the second half – displaying real leadership qualities once again.

It all ended up very disappointingly for Ballinamere, who looked capable of winning as they played very well in the first half. However, when it entered the business end of things in the second half, there was a marked difference between the teams and it just didn't happen for them. They looked like losing from a long way out as their dreams of a fairytale final appearance went down the pan.

It has been a good year for Ballinamere and they have made definite progress. During some of the group stages, they seemed to have the potential to do a Shinrone and win a first title but this game more or less lived up to expectations. It pitted a tried and proven Shinrone against exciting young pretenders and it more or less went to type – Shinrone had a maturity and confidence that Ballinamere didn't.

Ultimately, the difference between the teams was in the volume of mistakes made. Ballinamere had a catalogue of mistakes in all sectors. Many of them were basic, minor ones – balls not coming up at the first touch, passes to a team mate with an opponent on his back, misdirected balls. None of them fatal but collectively, they painted a bleak picture and eventually, they grinded the fight out of Ballinamere. They paid a dear price – every time it took a second attempt to get a ball up, it meant the delivery was done under pressure and Shinrone were able to defend it.

It wasn't that Ballinamere were guilty of anything criminal, far from it but they weren't 100% clinical and this was a definite factor in their loss – even when they were so competitive in the first half, this was also prevalent, just on a less noticeable scale, and when Shinrone upped their intensity levels in the second half, the frequency of it all increased.

Shinrone weren't flawless in this regard – if they were, they would have won by more but the volume was much less than Ballinamere's and when they did make mistakes, they seemed to recover and find room quicker to send in the ball that they wanted.

Some of Ballinamere's key players experienced this. Ciaran Burke was a giant at full back but was guilty of a handful of those punishing errors while Brian Duignan, at the heartbeat of everything good that Ballinamere in the first half, was not able to dominate in the second half, hitting a couple of wides as the game began to drift away from them. Ronan Cleary, Jack Fogarty, Sam Bourke, David Magner, Dan Bourke, Brian Duignan and John Murphy all had very good spells for Ballinamere but as a unit, they have absolutely no complaints – the impression that some of their weaker players would struggle at this stage of the championship also proved to be fairly correct.

The first half was exceptional in terms of quality, intensity and how even the teams were. There was almost nothing separating them as they went helter skelter at each other. It made for terrific viewing and it was rare to witness such a finely balanced game. Ballinamere had first use of a slight wind but trailed by 0-9 to 0-8 at the break – the sides had been level on seven occasions before Shinrone got three of the last four points for that lead.

The clever people would have put their money on Shinrone at that stage. They were just a fraction better, they looked more likely to get in for goals and Ballinamere were not quite as clinical as they needed.

Still a historic Ballinamere win was very possible and this was still on the cards early in the second half. Ballinamere started well and three points had them 0-11 to 0-10 up after 33 minutes. They were level at 0-11 and 0-12 each before Shinrone found another gear. An almost imperceptible raising of the bar took place all over the field and in the blink of an eye, this changed from a 50-50 game to a 65-35 one.

Shinrone were absolutely brilliant from the 39th to 46th minutes as they scored five points without reply from Sean Cleary, Killian Samspon, Donal Morkan (free), Dara Maher and Jason Samspon. The spread of scores between five players and the areas they came from was significant and it really broke Ballinamere.

They dug in with a John Murphy point but by now, the horse had bolted and 1-2 from the 48th to 53rd minutes ended it all. Defenders Darragh Landy and Conor Doughan lofted over sensational points, Doughan's while falling to the ground under the stand and then sub Dan Doughan scrambled home a 53rd minute goal after Sean Cleary diverted the ball to him. Shinrone's lead was now 1-18 to 0-13 and while Ballinamere got three of the last four points, the miracle they needed never looked like emerging. Ballinamere had rallied late to beat Shinrone in the group but the champions were in a much different mood here and never allowed them a scent of a comeback.

It ended up a very impressive, convincing win for Shinrone. They are almost at the perfect age for a team, more or less at their prime and Ciaran Cleary got his first taste of action, coming in as a late sub, after being in Australia for most of the year.

MATCH ANALYSIS

MAN OF THE MATCH

Darren O'Meara (Shinrone): Shinrone had several contenders and you could justify any of them. Their spread of scorers was particularly noteworthy – they had twelve scorers, three defenders, both midfielders, all six attackers and one sub. Very few teams can match that and it is part of the reason Shinrone are so hard to beat. You could make a case for Michael Cleary, Dara Maher, Declan Cleary, Luke Watkins and Killian Sampson here. My choice is a defender who didn't score, Darren O'Meara. He was almost flawless at full back, concentrating on his primary defensive duties, keeping Ballinamere players away from the goals; mopping up any dangerous ball that did drop near him and doing the simple thing so efficiently.

THE SCORERS

Shinrone: Donal Morkan 0-4 (3f), Killian Sampson and Declan Cleary 0-3 each, Dan Doughan 1-0, Paul Cleary 0-2, Darragh Landy, Conor Doughan, Dara Maher, Luke Watkins, Adrian Cleary, Sean Cleary, Jason Sampson 0-1 each.

Ballinamere: Brian Duignan 0-10 (7f), Dan Bourke and John Murphy 0-2 each, Dan Ravenhill (f) and Joe Maher 0-1 each.

THE TEAMS

SHINRONE: Eamon Cleary; Darren Crean, Darren O'Meara, Darragh Landy; Michael Cleary, Conor Doughan, Dara Maher; Declan Cleary, Luke Watkins; Adrian Cleary, Donal Morkan, Killian Sampson; Sean Cleary, Jason Sampson, Paul Cleary. Subs – Dan Doughan for Watkins (49m), DJ McLoughlin for Declan Cleary (54m), Ciaran Cleary for Sean Cleary (54m).

BALLINAMERE: Mark Troy; Chris McDonald, Ciaran Burke, Gerry Spollen; Ronan Cleary, Jack Fogarty, Sam Bourke; David Magner, Ross Ravenhill; Dan Bourke, Brian Duignan, Aaron Maher; Dan Ravenhill, John Murphy, Kevin McDermott. Subs – Joe Maher for Spollen,inj. (30m), Mike O'Brien for McDermott (43m),

Referee – Adam Kinahan (Clodiagh Gaels).

REFEREE WATCH

Adam Kinahan had a very good game. He was always in control and there were no issues.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

It was a bit more than a moment but the five points that Shinrone scored between the 39th and 46th minutes was where the game was won and lost.

VENUE WATCH

Fortunately the weather improved before this game and the pitch held up well. A good crowd created a real championship atmosphere.

WHAT'S NEXT

Shinrone play St Rynagh's or Kilcormac-Killoughey in the final.

STATISTICS

Wides: Ballinamere – 7 (4 in first half); Shinrone – 7 (5 in first half).

Yellow cards: Shinrone – 1 (Darren O'Meara); Ballinamere – 0.

Red cards: 0.