Rosemount advance despite late Ballymore rally

Rosemount 0-16 Ballymore 3-6

Ten successive points either side of half-time were the catalyst for Rosemount's progression to the semi-finals of this year's Westmeath Intermediate Football Championship with this victory over Ballymore at TEG Cusack Park on Saturday afternoon.

However, despite being in the ascendancy by six points with seven minutes of the contest remaining, the black and amber men came under a period of sustained pressure from Ballymore and were relieved to hear match referee Sean Carroll blow the full-time whistle while holding a one-point lead.

Rosemount dominated possession over the game's duration and were worthy winners, but the concession of what could be deemed soft goals will be of concern for Karl Dermody and his management team as they plan for a semi-final meeting with Milltown.

The two teams had met a week previously in the closing round of the Section B fixtures, on that occasion Rosemount winning by six points, but Ballymore offered more resistance in Mullingar on Saturday, ensuring the winners had to work hard to secure their final four berth.

The game started at a frantic pace and with just two minutes played, a pinpoint pass from Ballymore's John Gilligan placed Brian Finerty in the clear and he fired to the net from close range. A perfect start for Ballymore.

But Rosemount responded strongly with three successive points. Wing back Ben O'Brien broke the lines to handpass over the crossbar, before Boidu Sayeh raised his first white flag of the game following a Lorcan Daly pass on five minutes. Padraig Geoghegan then brought parity to the game on nine minutes with an angled score.

Ballymore responded in kind with three successive white flags of their own. Gilligan pointed on ten minutes, before centrefielder Ivan Smyth placed Eoin Ryan to point and Owen McCabe added to the team's tally when complementing his strong run with a fine score.

On 15 minutes, Geoghegan added his second point of this evenly matched opening quarter, but Rosemount were soon rocked by the concession of a second Ballymore goal. Wing forward Eanna Keena floated in an angled ball towards the Rosemount goal and Gilligan reacted quickest to palm the ball into the net over stranded goalkeeper David Fox.

Despite the boost of a second green flag, this was to be Ballymore's last scoring contribution until the game's 45th minute as Rosemount reacted in fiery style to Gilligan's goal.

Full forward Eamon Boland reduced the deficit when his over the shoulder attempt raised a white flag before David O'Reilly majestically pointed with his left foot within 60 seconds. The lead was reduced to just two points when Boland pointed following a clever O'Brien pass and Boland had his third point of the afternoon on 25 minutes when well placed by the impressive Sayeh.

The flow was now completely towards the Ballymore goal and despite the loss of David 'DD' McCormack with an injury, Rosemount added to their scoring tally with points from O'Reilly, a placed ball from substitute Declan Mullen and David Tone, whose fisted score ended first half proceedings. Rosemount had overturned a five point deficit to take a two-point lead into the half-time break.

The second period was not as prolific from a scoring perspective and the strong Rosemount support present in TEG Cusack Park had to wait until the 41st minute before their team added to their tally - a fine two-pointer from Sayeh. The lead was out to five points on 44 minutes when substitute Enda Boland breached the Ballymore defence for a handpassed score.

Scoring accuracy finally returned to Ballymore's play with 15 minutes remaining when Ryan pointed on the run, but a further point from Sayeh ensured Rosemount stayed in control of the contest.

When Rosemount full back Padraig Nestor penetrated the Ballymore defence on 53 minutes for his team's 16th and final point of the game, it appeared to rubber-stamp the Roses' dominance. But Ballymore, realising their championship aspirations were coming to an end, responded in adversity as a McCabe goal on 57 minutes starting a revival for Philip Quinn's charges.

They pressed Rosemount into uncharacteristic errors and when Finerty pointed in the last minute of normal time the lead was suddenly reduced to a mere two points.

The game, now in injury time, continued to move from end-to-end, but as Rosemount retreated into defensive mode they attracted pressure from Ballymore. That pressure was rewarded in the fourth minute of additional time when Ballymore substitute Derek Molloy pointed but much to Rosemount's relief, the final whistle soon sounded and with it a place in the semi-final against Milltown was secure.

Man of the match: Boidu Sayeh (Rosemount). Sayeh's impressive club championship season continues apace. His relocation to centre forward has proved a masterstroke from the Rosemount management team and he is steadily becoming a dominant presence with each passing game. Sayeh contributed four points on Saturday, but it was his general play which was a standout feature of the contest, as he was the link player for the vast majority of Rosemount attacks, particularly in the first half during the black and amber side's sustained period of scoreboard dominance.

Scorers - Rosemount: B Sayeh 0-4 (1tp); Eamon Boland 0-3; D O’Reilly and P Geoghegan 0-2 each; P Nestor, B O’Brien, D Tone, Enda Boland and D Mullen (1f) 0-1 each. Ballymore: O McCabe, J Gilligan and B Finerty 1-1 each; E Ryan 0-2; D Molloy 0-1.

Rosemount - David Fox; Cathal Byrne, Padraig Nestor, Luke Kelly; Ben O’Brien, Andy McCormack, Lorcan Daly; David O’Reilly, David 'DD' McCormack; Darragh Healy, Boidu Sayeh, Padraig Geoghegan; David Tone, Eamon Boland, Ben Cox. Subs: Declan Mullen for McCormack (inj., 28 mins), Enda Boland for Cox (43); Ciaran Maxwell for Geoghegan (57); Padraig Geoghegan for Sayeh (inj., 60+4).

Ballymore - Conor McNeill; Darragh Monaghan, Brian McCabe, Jack Kearney; Mark Scally, Eoin Ryan, Dan Ennis; Ivan Smyth, Owen McCabe; Shane Kincaid, John Gilligan, Ronan McLoughlin; Brian Finerty, Colm O’Roarke, Eanna Keena. Subs: Derek Molloy for McLoughlin (41); Conaire Martin for Scally (52).

Referee - Sean Carroll (The Downs).