South East junior football champions Ballygarvan survive early scare at Ballymartle to return to the final

Ballygarvan 2-12 Ballymartle 1-8

Ballygarvan brushed aside Ballymartle at Shanbally to reach the Procure.ie South East Junior A Football final.

After overcoming two early scoring chances, the defending champions posted an impressive 1-6 score in the second half. However, it was Ballymartle who got off to a storming start as Rickard Cahalane hit the post twice in the first seven minutes before Ballymartle took a two-point lead through Dan O’Leary.

Ballygarvan equalized in the 13th minute when the influential Evan O’Connor struck twice before giving his side the lead after 15 minutes.

As Gary White hovered over a 45, the Riverstick side were further rocked by a goal from Stephen Fenton in the 20th minute when the score read 1-4 to 0-3.

A little relief with a bally point from O’Leary, as a point from Deasy and a try from Daniel Mackey made the half-time score 1-5 to 0-4.

An opening point from O’Leary gave Bally a glimmer of hope, but Ballygarvan hit a purple patch as Sean Brady (2), White (2) and O’Connor gave the current division champions a 1-10 to 0-5 lead after 41 minutes.

Ballygarvan continued to fight with all their might as a red card for Liam Corry did not help his side’s cause.

This game ended as a contest when Daniel Mackey doubled his team’s goal tally in the 49th minute, leading them 2-12 to 0-5.

To their credit, Ballymartle never threw in the towel and a Ryan Deasy penalty in the 58th minute was a deserved reward for their efforts on the afternoon.

There actually followed a one-point lead over O’Leary and Luke O’Callaghan, but it was Ballygarvan who deserved the win.

Goal scorers for Ballygarvan: E O’Connor (0-2 f), A White (0-3 f, 0-1 45) each 0-4, D Mackey 1-1, S Fenton 1-0, S Brady 0-2, Z Davidson 0 -1.

Ballymartle: D O’Leary 0-6 (0-5 w), R Deasy 1-0 by penalty, R Cahalane, L O’Callahan 0-1 each.

BALLYGARVAN: G White; P Ryan, Conor Mackey, S O’Donovan; S. Fenton, M. O’Mahony, Z. Davidson; S Brady, J Fenton; D O’Mahony, C O’Regan, Callum Mackey; D Mackey, E O’Connor, N Dowd.

Subs: C Downey for E O’Connor (45), S Buckley for Callum Mackey (46), M Cussen for J Fenton (49), A Maloney for D O’Mahony (52), E Mackey for Conor Makey (52).

BALLYMARTLE: C Barry; E Cummins, S Dorney, P Dorney; L Corry, E O’Leary, L O’Callaghan; F Desmond, C Lordan; F. McCarthy, R. Cahalane, R. Deasy; P Cronin, N Crowley, DO Leary.

Subs: E Deasy and J Deasy for P Cronin and E Cummins (ht), S Cummins for F McCarthy (42), PR Cronin and M Higgins for C Lordan and E O’Leary (56).

Referee: K O’Sullivan (Valley Rovers).