Tullamore Court Hotel Senior ‘B’ Football Championship Round 4
Ballinagar 0-13
Tullamore 0-11
When the excellent Robbie Gallagher kicked three points in-a-row to put them 0-13 to 0-8 up in the 55th minute, last year’s finalists looked to be home and hosed but, with the finishing line in sight, panic set in and they were left hanging on for the win after Tullamore came close to snatching a last-gasp winning goal.
After Shane Dooley nailed a free and then a two-point free to reduce the deficit to two, Ballinagar butchered a great chance to go at least three up when substitute Conor Bracken found Adam Mangan – who had been down injured moments earlier – totally unmarked on the Tullamore 20-metre line. He could have taken an easy point, but instead went for goal and the groans from the Ballinagar supporters were palpable when his shot flew a few inches outside the left post.
That miss almost came back to haunt Benny O’Brien’s men in the third minute of injury-time when, amid a goalmouth scramble, Tullamore midfielder Shane Horkan had a shot deflected out for a ’45 by Ryan Kinahan which nothing came of. It was one of a number of outstanding saves the Ballinagar goalkeeper made in what was his first start of this year’s championship.
The final whistle was greeted with a mixture of relief and delight by Ballinagar who had Kinahan and the woodwork to thank for keeping a clean sheet. At the other end, Robbie Gallagher was once again their go-to-man and didn’t disappoint with a haul of 0-8, including 0-5 from play. Adam Mangan atoned for his late miss by chipping in with three vital points, while captain Jack Gorry led by example in the full back line after the winners lost the influential Oissinne Troy to injury after just eight minutes.
On another day, Tullamore could have won with a bit to spare, but they weren’t clinical enough, hitting 12 wides and the post twice, while they relied on Shane Dooley for all but two of their scores. They were also unlucky to come up against a goalkeeper who simply refused to be beaten.
After a disastrous defeat to Daingean in Round 3, this was a good response by Ballinagar who are assured of knockout football with a round to spare. Despite losing to Daingean and now Ballinagar, Tullamore will qualify too if they beat Tubber in the last round. And they mightn’t even need to if Cappincur fail to win their remaining games against Daingean and Ballinagar.
In perfect conditions for football, Adam Mangan scored points either side of a fisted effort from Shane Dooley inside the first three minutes. A 12-minute scoring drought followed before midfielder Shane Horkan tied up the scoring for Tullamore, who lost Oisín Keenan-Martin and Liam Dillane to the senior team in recent weeks.
Martin Keogh struck the upright after corner back Jake Moore had burst forward to join the Tullamore attack before Dooley had to settle for a point after Kinahan saved his initial shot with his feet. That was the only time the Blues led as Robbie Gallagher restored parity from a 24th minute free before slotting over a two-point free and fisting over his first from play.
A Dooley two-pointer made it a one-point game before Craig Strong sent Ballinagar into the break with a 0-7 to 0-5 lead.
After Kinahan had saved again from Jake Moore, Ballinagar doubled their advantage through frees from Mangan and Morgan Tynan, who had a quiet game by his standards. As the tempo increased, Strong blazed a goal chance high and wide before Tullamore ‘keeper Donncha Keoghan struck the upright from an attempt for a two-point free.
His opposite number pulled off another great save from Dooley before the former county hurling star finally opened Tullamore’s second half account from a 46th minute free. Mangan set up Gallagher for an instant response before a Tom Furlong sideline was helped over the bar by the deftest of touches from the ever-dangerous Dooley.
Gallagher was really coming into his own now and scored three of the next four points, with Furlong replying for a Tullamore side which included Kevin O’Brien, son of opposing team manager Benny O’Brien! A five-point lead with five minutes of normal time remaining should have been enough for Ballinagar, but they left the door open for Tullamore to very nearly pull it out of the fire in a nail-biting finale.
MATCH ANALYSIS
THE SCORERS
Ballinagar: Robbie Gallagher 0-8 (1 x 2ptf, 1f), Adam Mangan 0-3 (1f), Craig Strong and Morgan Tynan (1f) 0-1 each
Tullamore: Shane Dooley 0-9 (1 x 2pt, 1 x 2ptf, 2fs), Shane Horkan and Tom Furlong 0-1 each.
THE TEAMS
Ballinagar: Ryan Kinahan; Kevin Byrne, Declan Crombie, Jack Gorry (captain); Oisine Troy, Brian Malone, Adam Joyce; Aaron Gorman, Alex Cully; Adam Mangan, Craig Strong, Jacob Beatty; Morgan Tynan, Robbie Gallagher, Jack Sheil. Subs: Evan Gorman for Troy (8 min, injured), Conor Bracken for Strong (48 min).
Tullamore: Donncha Keoghan; Jack Moore, Dylan Hensey, Shane Enright (captain); Kevin O’Brien, Jay Sheerin, Patrick Fahey; Davin Keegan, Shane Horkan; Tom Furlong, Daire Foley, Martin Keogh; Peter Fox, Shane Dooley, Ben Connolly. Subs: Ryan Sheerin for Foley (34 min, injured), Thomas Grace for O’Brien (54 min).
Referee – Eamonn O’Connor (Ballycommon).
STATISTICS
Wides: Ballinagar 10 (3 in the first half); Tullamore 12 (5 in the first half).
Yellow cards: Ballinagar – 3 (Declan Crombie, Alex Cuddy and Adam Joyce); Tullamore – 0.
Black cards: Ballinagar – 0; Tullamore – 0.
Red cards: Ballinagar – 0; Tullamore – 0.
By Offaly Secretary Sun 16th Aug
