By: Kevin Corrigan
Tullamore Court Hotel Senior Football Championship Group 2 Round 4
Ballycommon 0-15
Bracknagh 0-10
In a real knockout clash, Ballycommon were clearly the better team on the day and were full value for their five point win. Bracknagh once again displayed typical resilience and fighting spirit. They chased the game to the final whistle, almost getting a late goal that could have changed everything but they were fighting an uphill battle the whole way and didn’t play well enough to win.
It means that Ballycommon are in the quarter-finals with six points from their four games. Their group campaign is complete but they can’t be caught for a quarter-final berth and will be glad of the month break to their next game – the only black spot on the evening was the outstanding David Dempsey going off late on with a hamstring injury but a month gives him space to recover.
The defeat leaves Bracknagh hanging on by a very thin thread. They need to beat Clonbullogue in their parish derby shootout in the final round and they need Durrow to beat Clara to survive. It was also a bad evening for Clonbullogue who beat Durrow earlier in the day but needed Bracknagh to win this to have a realistic chance of qualification. A Bracknagh win would have turned the final round into a winner take all shootout but it means that Clonbullogue are also reliant on Durrow beating Clara to survive.
Neither Clonbullogue and Bracknagh will be harbouring much hope for that and it means that what should have been an eagerly awaited derby could now be a dead rubber – at least there is something at stake and the fact that a Durrow win would open up the path to the quarter-finals will keep both sides focused for the next two weeks.
This game, however, was all about the quality of Ballycommon’s football. They lived a bit on their wits defensively at times and weren’t fully comfortable at the back but they played some great offensive football, holding onto the ball with patience, breaking the line regularly and carving Bracknagh open. They took some fine scores and Ballycommon were the better side almost from start to finish
Playing with a slight wind in the first half, Ballycommon started brightly but missed a few chances before taking a 0-4 to 0-1 lead after 16 minutes. They could easily have had 2-6 on the board at this stage as Jack Kenny’s opening point should have been a goal from five metres and David Dempsey hit the post from point blank range after a great surge forward.
Bracknagh almost got in for a couple of goals themselves in the first half with Colm Cunningham drawing a good save from Robert Conneely, who didn’t expect the shot and wing back Charlie Keogh blasting over with the goal at his mercy.
Bracknagh had a couple of other wides but spent much of the first half trying to get the ball back and Ballycommon got a run of four points without reply in a great spell from the 21st to 26th minutes for a 0-8 to 0-3 half time lead.
It meant that they still had work to do but five points was still a decent cushion and Bracknagh needed goals to survive. It looked like Bracknagh might get back into it when Colm Cunningham and Mikey Cunningham (free) brought it back down to three within three minutes of the restart.
Ballycommon showed real quality to wrestle the initiative back from them. The excellent Chris Kenny settled them with a point and Ballycommon did what they had to do by keeping the scoreboard ticking over from here on.
They got another great run of four points without reply for a 0-14 to 0-6 lead after 45 minutes and it required a collapse for Ballycommon to lose. They had a let off when Jason Dempsey hit the post with a goal shot and Gareth Mann and sub Conor Dunne missed straightforward chances as Ballycommon floundered briefly.
The winners were suspect at the back, never truly at ease and Bracknagh almost got in for a 52nd minute goal when Robert Conneely saved from Jason Dempsey and Tom Mealiffe got back to make a brilliant save from the follow up. Peter Cunningham pointed the ’45’ but Bracknagh’s race was run. Their only other score was an injury time Cunningham two pointer but Ballycommon’s gap was big enough to ensure their supporters could relax in the remaining three minutes – Ryan Kenny came off the bench for his first game of the year for Ballycommon and kicked a quality closing point for them just befoee Cunningham’s two pointer, as well as moving the ball well late on.
MATCH ANALYSIS
THE SCORERS
Ballycommon: Gareth Mann 0-4 (2f), Chris Kenny 0-3, Paul Conway and Stephen Conneely 0-2 each, David Dempsey, Jack Kenny, Sean Conway, Ryan Kenny 0-01 each.
Bracknagh: Peter Cunningham 0-4 (1 x 2p, 1 ’45’), Charlie Keogh 0-3, Colm Cunningham, Jason Dempsey, Mikey Cunningham (f) 0-1 each.
THE TEAMS
BALLYCOMMON: Robert Conneely; Zach Wright, Aidan Bracken, Killian Owens; Brian Todd, David Dempsey, Jack Kenny; Tom Mealiffe, Paul Conway; Stephen Conneely, Chris Kenny, Karl Dunne; Sean Conway, Gareth Mann, Micheal Conneely. Subs – Conor Dunne for Michael Conneely (43m), Ryan Kenny for Mann (53m), Matthew Dempsey for David Dempsey, inj. (58m).
BRACKNAGH: Keith Keogh; Adam Kelly, Tom Hyland, Fionn Dempsey; David Costello, Anthony Cunningham, Charlie Keogh; Mark Dunne, Colm Cunningham; Sean Dempsey, Peter Cunningham, Jason Dempsey; Eoghan Geoghegan, Mikey Cunningham, Conor Melia. Subs – Eoin Hyland for Tom Hyland, inj. (40m), Sean Wyer for Sean Dempsey (46m), Colin Broderick for Melia (54m), Alex Broderick for Kelly (61m).
Referee – Kevin Williamson, Tullamore.
STATISTICS
Wides: Ballycommon – 7 (4 in first half); Bracknagh – 9 (5 in first half).
Yellow cards: Ballycommon – 0; Bracknagh – 1 (Charlie Keogh).
Black cards: 0
Red cards: 0
By Offaly Secretary Sun 16th Aug
