Marvellous Maher kicks Ballynacargy to third round win

Ballynacargy scoring proficiency stood them in good stead as they dispatched a hard working St Joseph’s in round three of the Junior championship at the Ballymore GAA Grounds.

This was an entertaining and free flowing game played in perfect conditions. The firm footing and slight breeze made the evening a pleasant experience for the spectator as well as the players, but the Ballynacargy team and supporters were the ones who benefited most from the experience.

Though St Joseph’s kept themselves in contention up to the final whistle Bal were full value for their win. A late surge by the Streamstown side excited their fans, but it was not enough to shore up the significant advantage the men in blue and gold had amassed.

The two teams made good use of space and played a decent tempo, but Bal were more dogged in defence and slightly more efficient in attack.

Early scores for Ballynacargy settled them into a rhythm and the ability of forwards like Troy Maher to continue to keep the scoreboard consistently ticking over was the main factor in their success.

Eoin Nally and Jack Penrose got the blue and gold off to a good start in the opening minutes with well taken points. Penrose almost immediately doubled his team’s haul with an impressive two pointer free kick.

Though the scores in the opening eight minutes were all for Ballynacargy their opponents mounted several well worked attacks. It took a Jordan McDonald free kick that went over off the upright to get St Mary’s off the mark.

Two consecutive T Maher points pressed the westerner most team’s advantage. Before the first half concluded a goal from Frankie Day and a two pointer by Penrose kept their team in the race, while further T Maher scores were augmented by Ryan Maher and Jamie Loran for their opponents.

The early exchanges of the second half failed to deliver the rewards of the opening act. Although both sides worked themselves into good positions it was either staunch defending, misplaced passes or a combination of both that saw successive attacks break down as they approached the scoring zone.

The first ten minutes after the sos beag were somewhat draining for the team ahead on the scoreboard. With 40 minutes on the clock Bal looked like they had burned through the fuel reserves, but by executing an impressive high fetch before turning into space and burying the ball in the net T Maher restarted the engines. The scoreboard flashed up 1-10 to 1-04, and the six point gap did not feel out of place,

It looked as if the Streamstown team were immediately going to find an appropriate reply. A fisted ball across the square saw Jordan McDonnell go full stretch to flick the ball toward the net, however this time the intervention came courtesy of the cross bar. A counter attack featuring another link up between T Maher and Loran pushed the Bal advantage.

A second half two pointer from J McDonald and superb goal by Dylan McDonald was all St Joseph’s could muster in that portion of the game. This haul failed to convey the number of times they worked into scoring positions, only to fall short.

A Troy Maher black card with three minutes to play, after he intervened in someone else’s dispute, was a penalty his manager will cope with.

The free scoring forward had done enough for the team at that stage. St Joseph’s were industrious in the closing minutes, but the extra man failed to yield any additional score.

Scorers

Ballynacargy: Eoin Nally 0-1, Jack Penrose 0-3 (1-2p), Troy Maher 1-06, James Loran 0-02, Ryan Maher 0-03 (1-2p). St Joseph’s: Jordan McDonnell 0-6 (2-2p), Frankie Day 1-0, Dylan McDonnell 1-0.

St Joseph’s: Sean Elliffe, Pearse Weir Norris, Mikey Lynam, Brian Fitzgerald, Frankie Day, Daniel Keegan, Andy Scally, Jordan McDonnell, Noah McDonnell, Aaron McDonnell, Dylan McDonnell, Jake Gannon, Alan Conlon, Niall Moran, Dean Slevin

Ballynacargy: Thomas Nally, James Baird, Gary Fagan, Niall Peyton, Conor Byrne, Ciaran Sheridan, Niall Ouchbakou, Jack Doran, Jack Penrose, Troy Maher, Eoin Nally, Conor Keena, Ryan Maher, James Rusinger, James Loran.